Saturday, November 1, 2008

Fun fact: the Wilhelm Scream

Here is a bit of trivia for you. This is on the most famous sound bite in movie history.

The Wilhelm's revival came from motion picture sound designer Ben Burtt, who re-discovered the original recording (which he found as a studio reel labeled "Man being eaten by alligator") and incorporated it into a scene in Star Wars. Although the identity of the individual who recorded the scream (which was actually one of a series of six) is unknown, Burtt uncovered documentation suggesting the scream might have been recorded by singer Sheb Wooley, who was one of the actors in Distant Drums. Burtt named the scream after "Pvt. Wilhelm", a minor character who emitted the same scream in the 1953 film The Charge at Feather River.[4] Burtt began incorporating the effect in other films he worked on, including Raiders of the Lost Ark. Other sound designers picked up on the effect, and inclusion of the sound in pictures became a tradition among the community of sound designers.[5] Use of the effect spread beyond use in television and films made in English-speaking countries; several anime and video games have included at least one instance of the scream.

Some familiar movie this scream was in include
all 6 Star Wars movies, all 4 Indian Jones movies, History of the World Part 1, Space Balls, Star Trek The Motion Picture, Batman Returns, Aladdin, the Fifth Element and Lethal Weapon 4 to name a few.
Here is the link to the full list: http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm.html

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