Wilhelm scream: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
Reverted good faith edits by CollinFlame (talk): Not in that source |
|||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Widely used sound effect}} |
|||
The '''Wilhelm scream''' is a stock [[sound effect]] first used in [[1951]] for the movie ''[[Distant Drums]]''. It has been featured in [[List of films using the Wilhelm scream|dozens of movies]] since. Alongside a certain recording of the cry of the [[Red-tailed Hawk]], the "Universal Telephone Ring" and "Castle Thunder", it is probably the most well-known [[List of movie clichés|cinematic sound cliché]]. |
|||
{{About|2=the band|3=A Wilhelm Scream|4=the song by James Blake|5=The Wilhelm Scream}} |
|||
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}} |
|||
{{multiple image |
|||
<!-- Essential parameters -->| align = right |
|||
| direction = vertical |
|||
| width = 300 |
|||
<!-- Image 1 -->| image1 = |
|||
| alt1 = cartoon drawings |
|||
| caption1 = Illustration of Wilhelm scream by ''WikiWorld'' |
|||
<!-- Image 2 -->| image2 = Wilhelm Scream.ogg |
|||
| alt2 = |
|||
| caption2 = Audio sample of the Wilhelm scream |
|||
<!-- Image 3 -->| image3 = VOXScrm Man eaten by alligator; screams (Wilhelm CS USC).wav |
|||
| alt3 = |
|||
| caption3 = Complete recording session of the Wilhelm scream |
|||
}} |
|||
The '''Wilhelm scream''' is an iconic [[stock sound effect]] that has been used in countless films, TV series, and other media, first originating from the 1951 movie ''[[Distant Drums]]''. The scream is usually used in many scenarios when someone is shot, falls from a great height, or is thrown from an explosion. The scream is named after Private Wilhelm, a character in ''[[The Charge at Feather River]]'', a 1953 [[Western (genre)|Western]] in which the character gets shot in the thigh with an arrow. This was its first use following its inclusion in the [[Warner Bros.]] stock sound library, although ''The Charge at Feather River'' was the third film to use the effect. The scream is thought to be voiced by actor [[Sheb Wooley]]. It was featured in all of the original ''[[Star Wars]]'' films. |
|||
==History== |
|||
The Wilhelm's revival came from [[Star Wars]]-series sound designer [[Ben Burtt]], who tracked down the original recording (which he found as a studio reel labeled "Man being eaten by alligator"). He named it after Wilhelm, a minor character who emitted the scream in the [[1953]] movie ''[[The Charge at Feather River]]''. Its use in the ''Star Wars'' films was the beginning of something of an [[in-joke]] amongst some sound designers of the film industry, especially at [[Skywalker Sound]]. They continue to try to incorporate it into movies wherever feasible; [[action movie]]s are naturals, but film sound [[wikt:cognoscente|cognoscenti]] are particularly impressed when it is used naturally in films such as ''[[A Star Is Born (1954 film)|A Star Is Born]]'' (with [[Judy Garland]]) and ''[[A Goofy Movie]]''. In a tribute to its origins, the clip was used in the film ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]'' when the villain Mola Ram was eaten by alligators. |
|||
[[File:Sheb Wooley 1971.JPG|thumb|The voice of the scream, [[Sheb Wooley]] ]] |
|||
The Wilhelm scream originates from a series of sound effects recorded for the 1951 movie ''[[Distant Drums]]''.<ref name="Wired" /><ref name="times" /> In a scene from the film, soldiers fleeing a [[Seminole]] group are wading through a swamp in the [[Everglades]], and one of them is bitten and dragged underwater by an [[American alligator|alligator]]. The screams for that scene, and other scenes in the movie, were recorded later in a single take. The recording was titled "Man getting bit by an alligator, and he screams." The fourth take of the scream was used for the soldier in the alligator scene.<ref name="times" /><ref name="Lost1" />{{efn|The fourth and sixth screams recorded in the session were used earlier in the film, reportedly when several [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] are shot during a raid on a [[Fortification#North America|U.S. Army fort]].}} That take, which later became known as the "Wilhelm scream", is thought to have been voiced by actor [[Sheb Wooley]] (who also played the uncredited role of Pvt. Jessup in ''Distant Drums'').<ref name="Widow" /> |
|||
Because the costs of creating sound effects were high at that time, the scream was reused in a number of other [[Warner Bros.]] films in that era.<ref name="cbs morning">{{cite video | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fm39bUqjqU | title = An iconic Hollywood sound effect called the Wilhelm scream was uncovered in an archive | publisher = [[CBS News]] | date = June 28, 2023 | access-date = June 30, 2023 }}</ref> In addition to ''[[The Charge at Feather River]]'' (1953),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/04/23/wilhelm-scream/ |title=The origin of the Wilhelm scream, the most famous sound effect in the history of cinema |first=Domagoj |last=Valjak |date=April 23, 2018 |access-date=August 24, 2018 |work=The Vintage News}}</ref> other films using the scream include [[A Star Is Born (1954 film)|''A Star Is Born'']] (1954),<ref name="Lost1" /> ''[[Them!]]'' (1954), ''[[Land of the Pharaohs]]'' (1955), ''[[The Sea Chase]]'' (1955), ''[[Sergeant Rutledge]]'' (1960), ''[[PT 109 (film)|PT 109]]'' (1963), ''[[The Wild Bunch]]'' (1969),<ref>{{cite web |title=Facts about "The Wild Bunch" (p3) : Classic Movie Hub (CMH) |url=https://www.classicmoviehub.com/facts-and-trivia/film/the-wild-bunch-1969/page/3/ |website=Classic Movie Hub - CMH |access-date=June 17, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407193003/http://www.classicmoviehub.com/facts-and-trivia/film/the-wild-bunch-1969/page/3/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''[[The Green Berets (film)|The Green Berets]]'' (1968).<ref name="Lost1" /> |
|||
Due to its relative obscurity to the general public, the [[Massachusetts]] [[Punk rock|punk]] band [[A Wilhelm Scream]] has used the name for the last two years. |
|||
The Wilhelm scream became iconic in popular culture when motion picture sound designer [[Ben Burtt]], who had come across the original recording on a studio archive sound reel, incorporated it into the scene in ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' (1977) in which [[Luke Skywalker]] shoots a [[Stormtrooper (Star Wars)|Stormtrooper]] off a ledge. The effect is heard as the Stormtrooper is falling.<ref name="Wired" /><ref name="StarSound" /> Burtt named the scream after Pvt. Wilhelm, a minor character from ''The Charge at Feather River'' who appears to emit the scream, and adopted it as his personal sound signature.<ref name="Lost1" /> Burtt also found use for the effect in ''[[More American Graffiti]]'' (1979); and over the next decades he incorporated it into other films that he worked on, such as ''[[Willow (1988 film)|Willow]]'' (1988),<ref name="Lost1" /> ''[[Gremlins]]'', ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy|Anchorman]]'', ''[[Die Hard with a Vengeance]]'', ''[[Lethal Weapon 4]]'', ''[[The Fifth Element]]''<ref name="cbs morning"/> and several [[George Lucas]] and [[Steven Spielberg]] films. Notably, the rest of the ''[[Star Wars]]'' films made under Lucas<ref name="Wired" /> and all the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' movies included the effect.<ref name="ABC" /><ref name="Wired" />{{efn|It was announced in February 2018 that the ''Star Wars'' franchise would no longer use the Wilhelm scream, with ''[[The Force Awakens]]'' (2015) being the last film in the series to use it.<ref name="retired" /><ref name="CBR" />}} |
|||
[[Sheb Wooley]] is considered by many to be the most likely voice actor for the scream, having appeared on a memo as a voice extra for ''Distant Drums''. |
|||
Following its use in ''Star Wars'', other sound designers have picked up and used the sound effect in works. Inclusion of the sound in films became a tradition among a certain community of sound designers.<ref name="on-the-media" /> |
|||
==Examples== |
|||
As of mid-2023, the scream had not been made available in any commercial sound effects library.<ref name="ABC" /> The entire collection of original sources of the sound effects made by Sunset Editorial, which includes the Wilhelm scream, was donated to the [[USC School of Cinematic Arts]] in 1990.<ref name="freesoundcraigsmith" /> In 2023, Craig Smith released a copy of the complete recording from the original session on [[Freesound]] on behalf of the USC under the [[CC0]] license, along with the rest of Sunset Editorial sound effects.<ref name="freesoundcraigsmith">{{cite web |url=https://blog.freesound.org/?p=1515 |title=Preserving the Sunset Editorial Sound Effects Library from the USC Archive |first=Craig |last=Smith |date=March 10, 2023 |access-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408155643/https://blog.freesound.org/?p=1515 |url-status=live }}</ref> On May 20, 2023, the entire collection of Sunset Editorial SFX was mirrored in the [[Internet Archive]] (also under the CC0 license) for the purpose of enabling a wider distribution, especially thanks to its [[BitTorrent]] support.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Scott |first1=Jason |author1-link=Jason Scott |title=CRASH! BARK! BOOM! The USC Sound Effects Library |url=https://blog.archive.org/2023/05/20/crash-bark-boom-the-usc-sound-effects-library/ |website=[[Internet Archive]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230531185859/https://blog.archive.org/2023/05/20/crash-bark-boom-the-usc-sound-effects-library/ |archive-date=May 31, 2023 |date=May 20, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> |
|||
*The [[Peter Jackson]] film [[King Kong (2005 film)|King Kong]] features a Wilhelm during the dinosaur chase when a man falls off a cliff edge. |
|||
Also, the scream has been used in many YouTube videos as a joke among the internet. It has been used in many scenes where someone falls to their death, being struck by a weapon, being knocked out, being thrown by other person, or being hit. |
|||
*In the movie [[Aeon Flux (film)|Aeon Flux]] the Wilhem scream can be heard in a firefight as a Breen soldier falls off a roof. |
|||
===Voice of the scream=== |
|||
*In ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy|Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'' the Wilhem scream is used in the fight sequence between the news groups, when Champ throws another man into a car window. |
|||
Research by Burtt suggests that Wooley, best known for his 1958 novelty song "[[The Purple People Eater]]" and his character of American Indian scout Pete Nolan on the television series ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'', is likely to have been the voice actor who originally performed the scream. This has been supported by an interview in 2005 with Linda Dotson, Wooley's widow.<ref name="Widow" /> Burtt discovered records at Warner Bros. from the editor of ''Distant Drums'', including a short list of names of actors scheduled to record lines of dialogue for miscellaneous roles in the movie. Wooley was one of a few actors assembled for the recording of additional "pick-up" vocal elements for the film. Dotson confirmed Wooley's scream had been in many Westerns, adding that he "always used to joke about how he was so great about screaming and dying in films."<ref name="times" /><ref name="ABC" /> |
|||
==Uses== |
|||
*The Wilhelm scream can be heard in the [[Spider-Man 2 (video game)|Spider-Man 2 video game]] for the [[Nintendo DS]] when the player throws an enemy off a building. It is also featured in the game [[Bounty Hunter]] when an enemy falls off a ledge. |
|||
Since the late 20th century, the Wilhelm scream had been used in numerous films. The [[National Science and Media Museum]] says the yelp has been featured in more than 400 films.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dudley |first=Joshua |date=June 22, 2023 |title=The Wilhelm Scream: The History of Film's Most Popular Sound Effect |url=https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/wilhelm-scream-explained-75982/ |website=[[Backstage (magazine)|Backstage]]}}</ref> |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
*In [[Doom]], the video game, the Wilhem scream can be heard when certain soldiers are shot off of ledges. |
|||
* [[List of filmmakers' signatures]] |
|||
== Explanatory notes == |
|||
*If a player uses Johnny Cage to defeat [[Goro]] with a flawless victory in [[Mortal Kombat]], the villain emits a Wilhelm scream. |
|||
{{notelist}} |
|||
==References== |
|||
*The Wilhelm scream is used in ''[[Madagascar (film)|Madagascar]]'' when the people are fleeing from the animals in Grand Central Station. |
|||
{{reflist|refs= |
|||
<ref name="times">{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggghhh-v62r36ldbvv |title=Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggghhh!! (Paywalled) |last=Malvern |first=Jack |date=May 21, 2005 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |access-date=December 12, 2009 |archive-date=December 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212084329/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggghhh-v62r36ldbvv |url-status=live }}</ref> |
|||
*The Wilhelm Scream is used twice in [[Kill Bill]] vol. 1, in the battle at the house of blue leaves. |
|||
<ref name="on-the-media">{{cite podcast |url= https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/128898-wilhelm |title=Wilhelm |website=[[On the Media]] |publisher=WNYC Studios |date=December 30, 2005 |access-date=October 13, 2024}}</ref> |
|||
<ref name="Wired">{{cite magazine | url=https://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/15-10/st_scream |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |title=Cue the Scream: Meet Hollywood's Go-To Shriek |issue=10 |date=September 25, 2007 |first=James |last=Lee |volume=15 |access-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref> |
|||
*The Wilhelm Scream can be heard in [[Reservoir Dogs]] when Mr. Pink pushes past pedestrians on the street after the botched robbery. |
|||
<ref name="ABC">{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=3728693&page=1 |newspaper=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |title=Does That Scream Sound Familiar? |date=October 14, 2007 |access-date=December 26, 2017 |archive-date=October 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001220204/http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Story?id=3728693&page=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
|||
<ref name="StarSound">{{cite book |last=Rinzler |first=J. W. |title=The Sounds of Star Wars |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oCFlRwAACAAJ |year=2010 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=San Francisco |isbn=978-0-8118-7546-2 |pages=304 |access-date=September 13, 2020 |archive-date=November 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106152645/https://books.google.com/books?id=oCFlRwAACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
|||
*The Wilhelm Scream can be heard in every [[Star Wars]] movie, and nearly every [[Peter Jackson]] film. |
|||
<ref name="Lost1">{{cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm/index.html |title=The Wilhelm Scream |work=Hollywood Lost and Found |first=Steve |last=Lee |date=May 17, 2005 |access-date=December 26, 2017 |editor-first=Ben |editor-last=Burtt |editor2-first=Richard |editor2-last=Anderson |editor3-first=Rick |editor3-last=Mitchell |editor4-first=Gary |editor4-last=Rydstrom |editor5-first=Curt |editor5-last=Schulkey |editor6-first=Chris |editor6-last=Boyes |editor7-first=David |editor7-last=Whittaker |editor8-first=David |editor8-last=Stone |editor9-first=Phil |editor9-last=Kovats |editor10-first=David |editor10-last=Fein |editor11-first=Chris |editor11-last=Linke |editor12-first=Jack |editor12-last=Malvern |editor13-first=Linda |editor13-last=Dotson-Wooley |archive-date=December 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217042933/http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |
|||
<ref name="retired">{{cite web |url=https://uproxx.com/hitfix/star-wars-wilhelm-scream/ |title=A 'Star Wars' Tradition Dating Back To The Original Movie Has Been Retired |first=Josh |last=Kurp |date=February 21, 2018 |access-date=August 24, 2018 |work=[[Uproxx]] |archive-date=August 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824065756/https://uproxx.com/hitfix/star-wars-wilhelm-scream/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
|||
*The Wilhelm Scream has been used in a number of episodes of the [[Cartoon Network]] animated series [[The Life and Times of Juniper Lee]]. |
|||
<ref name="CBR">{{cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/star-wars-wilhelm-scream/ |title=Star Wars Has Abandoned the Iconic Wilhelm Scream |first=Ananda |last=Dillon |date=February 21, 2018 |access-date=August 24, 2018 |work=[[Comic Book Resources]] |archive-date=August 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823233712/https://www.cbr.com/star-wars-wilhelm-scream/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
|||
<ref name="Widow">{{Cite web |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article524937.ece |title=''Times'' article in which Sheb Wooley's widow states her belief that her husband was the man behind the scream |access-date=April 27, 2008 |archive-date=October 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017125348/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
|||
*[[Decline of Video Gaming|The Decline of Video Gaming 2]] [[Macromedia Flash|Flash animation]] features the Wilhelm Scream, along with the caption "pain". |
|||
}} |
|||
*''[[Storm (film)|Storm]]'' is the first [[Sweden|Swedish]] feature to use the Wilhelm Scream. |
|||
* Several examples including some from [[George Lucas]]' movies and coverage of the surrounding story can be heard in the last segment of the [http://www.onthemedia.org/otm123005.html December 30, 2005] edition of NPR's [http://www.onthemedia.org On the Media]. |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
*[[List of films using the Wilhelm scream|List of films and other media using the Wilhelm Scream]] |
|||
==External links== |
==External links== |
||
* [https://archive.org/details/WilhelmScreamSample Wilhelm Scream Sample (1951)] from The [[Internet Archive#Audio collection|Community Audio collection]] at the Internet Archive |
|||
* [http://www.folkbildning.nu/wilhelm.wav The Wilhelm Scream in .wav sound format] |
|||
* [https://www.imdb.com/keyword/wilhelm-scream/ Most Popular "Wilhelm Scream" Titles] at IMDb.com |
|||
* [http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm.html A Wilhelm Scream filmography] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20030622105312/http%3a//www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm.html cached version]) |
|||
* [[iarchive:wilhelmscreamremastered|Wilhelm Scream remastered files (free to use)]] |
|||
* [http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_020901_wilhelm.html Radio report about the Wilhelm scream, with transcript and audio examples of uses of the scream] - This Links to the [[WNYC]] ([[NPR]] affiliate) show "On-The-Media". There you'll find a thorough and (nearly scholarly), yet entertaining treatment audio report of the history of The Wilhelm scream. You can read the transcript, or to hear the original Real Player Audio of the show, move 43 minutes into the 53 minute show. |
|||
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvmgHyPeAXI Wilhelm Scream Compilation] on YouTube.com; 14:06 |
|||
* [http://www.filmsound.org/cliche/ Film Sound Clichés] |
|||
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM_-TOMwMCA Female Wilhelm Scream] on YouTube; 0:04 |
|||
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fm39bUqjqU CBS This Morning: ''An iconic Hollywood sound effect called the Wilhelm scream was uncovered in an archive'' June 25, 2023] |
|||
{{Ben Burtt}} |
|||
{{Authority control}} |
|||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelm scream}} |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
[[Category:Sound effects]] |
[[Category:Sound effects]] |
||
[[Category:1951 in American cinema]] |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
[[Category:1950s neologisms]] |
|||
[[Category:Easter egg (media)]] |
|||
[[Category:In-jokes]] |
[[Category:In-jokes]] |
||
[[de:Wilhelmsschrei]] |
|||
[[nl:Wilhelmschreeuw]] |
|||
[[fi:Wilhelm (äänitehoste)]] |
|||
[[sv:Wilhelmskriket]] |
|||
Latest revision as of 19:01, 28 November 2024
Audio sample of the Wilhelm scream
Complete recording session of the Wilhelm scream
The Wilhelm scream is an iconic stock sound effect that has been used in countless films, TV series, and other media, first originating from the 1951 movie Distant Drums. The scream is usually used in many scenarios when someone is shot, falls from a great height, or is thrown from an explosion. The scream is named after Private Wilhelm, a character in The Charge at Feather River, a 1953 Western in which the character gets shot in the thigh with an arrow. This was its first use following its inclusion in the Warner Bros. stock sound library, although The Charge at Feather River was the third film to use the effect. The scream is thought to be voiced by actor Sheb Wooley. It was featured in all of the original Star Wars films.
History
[edit]
The Wilhelm scream originates from a series of sound effects recorded for the 1951 movie Distant Drums.[1][2] In a scene from the film, soldiers fleeing a Seminole group are wading through a swamp in the Everglades, and one of them is bitten and dragged underwater by an alligator. The screams for that scene, and other scenes in the movie, were recorded later in a single take. The recording was titled "Man getting bit by an alligator, and he screams." The fourth take of the scream was used for the soldier in the alligator scene.[2][3][a] That take, which later became known as the "Wilhelm scream", is thought to have been voiced by actor Sheb Wooley (who also played the uncredited role of Pvt. Jessup in Distant Drums).[4]
Because the costs of creating sound effects were high at that time, the scream was reused in a number of other Warner Bros. films in that era.[5] In addition to The Charge at Feather River (1953),[6] other films using the scream include A Star Is Born (1954),[3] Them! (1954), Land of the Pharaohs (1955), The Sea Chase (1955), Sergeant Rutledge (1960), PT 109 (1963), The Wild Bunch (1969),[7] and The Green Berets (1968).[3]
The Wilhelm scream became iconic in popular culture when motion picture sound designer Ben Burtt, who had come across the original recording on a studio archive sound reel, incorporated it into the scene in Star Wars (1977) in which Luke Skywalker shoots a Stormtrooper off a ledge. The effect is heard as the Stormtrooper is falling.[1][8] Burtt named the scream after Pvt. Wilhelm, a minor character from The Charge at Feather River who appears to emit the scream, and adopted it as his personal sound signature.[3] Burtt also found use for the effect in More American Graffiti (1979); and over the next decades he incorporated it into other films that he worked on, such as Willow (1988),[3] Gremlins, Anchorman, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Lethal Weapon 4, The Fifth Element[5] and several George Lucas and Steven Spielberg films. Notably, the rest of the Star Wars films made under Lucas[1] and all the Indiana Jones movies included the effect.[9][1][b]
Following its use in Star Wars, other sound designers have picked up and used the sound effect in works. Inclusion of the sound in films became a tradition among a certain community of sound designers.[12]
As of mid-2023, the scream had not been made available in any commercial sound effects library.[9] The entire collection of original sources of the sound effects made by Sunset Editorial, which includes the Wilhelm scream, was donated to the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1990.[13] In 2023, Craig Smith released a copy of the complete recording from the original session on Freesound on behalf of the USC under the CC0 license, along with the rest of Sunset Editorial sound effects.[13] On May 20, 2023, the entire collection of Sunset Editorial SFX was mirrored in the Internet Archive (also under the CC0 license) for the purpose of enabling a wider distribution, especially thanks to its BitTorrent support.[14]
Also, the scream has been used in many YouTube videos as a joke among the internet. It has been used in many scenes where someone falls to their death, being struck by a weapon, being knocked out, being thrown by other person, or being hit.
Voice of the scream
[edit]Research by Burtt suggests that Wooley, best known for his 1958 novelty song "The Purple People Eater" and his character of American Indian scout Pete Nolan on the television series Rawhide, is likely to have been the voice actor who originally performed the scream. This has been supported by an interview in 2005 with Linda Dotson, Wooley's widow.[4] Burtt discovered records at Warner Bros. from the editor of Distant Drums, including a short list of names of actors scheduled to record lines of dialogue for miscellaneous roles in the movie. Wooley was one of a few actors assembled for the recording of additional "pick-up" vocal elements for the film. Dotson confirmed Wooley's scream had been in many Westerns, adding that he "always used to joke about how he was so great about screaming and dying in films."[2][9]
Uses
[edit]Since the late 20th century, the Wilhelm scream had been used in numerous films. The National Science and Media Museum says the yelp has been featured in more than 400 films.[15]
See also
[edit]Explanatory notes
[edit]- ^ The fourth and sixth screams recorded in the session were used earlier in the film, reportedly when several Native Americans are shot during a raid on a U.S. Army fort.
- ^ It was announced in February 2018 that the Star Wars franchise would no longer use the Wilhelm scream, with The Force Awakens (2015) being the last film in the series to use it.[10][11]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Lee, James (September 25, 2007). "Cue the Scream: Meet Hollywood's Go-To Shriek". Wired. Vol. 15, no. 10. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ a b c Malvern, Jack (May 21, 2005). "Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggghhh!! (Paywalled)". The Times. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Lee, Steve (May 17, 2005). Burtt, Ben; Anderson, Richard; Mitchell, Rick; Rydstrom, Gary; Schulkey, Curt; Boyes, Chris; Whittaker, David; Stone, David; Kovats, Phil; Fein, David; Linke, Chris; Malvern, Jack; Dotson-Wooley, Linda (eds.). "The Wilhelm Scream". Hollywood Lost and Found. Archived from the original on December 17, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ a b "Times article in which Sheb Wooley's widow states her belief that her husband was the man behind the scream". Archived from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
- ^ a b An iconic Hollywood sound effect called the Wilhelm scream was uncovered in an archive. CBS News. June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
- ^ Valjak, Domagoj (April 23, 2018). "The origin of the Wilhelm scream, the most famous sound effect in the history of cinema". The Vintage News. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
- ^ "Facts about "The Wild Bunch" (p3) : Classic Movie Hub (CMH)". Classic Movie Hub - CMH. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
- ^ Rinzler, J. W. (2010). The Sounds of Star Wars. San Francisco: Simon & Schuster. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-8118-7546-2. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Does That Scream Sound Familiar?". ABC News. October 14, 2007. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ Kurp, Josh (February 21, 2018). "A 'Star Wars' Tradition Dating Back To The Original Movie Has Been Retired". Uproxx. Archived from the original on August 24, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
- ^ Dillon, Ananda (February 21, 2018). "Star Wars Has Abandoned the Iconic Wilhelm Scream". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
- ^ "Wilhelm". On the Media (Podcast). WNYC Studios. December 30, 2005. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Smith, Craig (March 10, 2023). "Preserving the Sunset Editorial Sound Effects Library from the USC Archive". Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
- ^ Scott, Jason (May 20, 2023). "CRASH! BARK! BOOM! The USC Sound Effects Library". Internet Archive. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023.
- ^ Dudley, Joshua (June 22, 2023). "The Wilhelm Scream: The History of Film's Most Popular Sound Effect". Backstage.
External links
[edit]- Wilhelm Scream Sample (1951) from The Community Audio collection at the Internet Archive
- Most Popular "Wilhelm Scream" Titles at IMDb.com
- Wilhelm Scream remastered files (free to use)
- Wilhelm Scream Compilation on YouTube.com; 14:06
- Female Wilhelm Scream on YouTube; 0:04
- CBS This Morning: An iconic Hollywood sound effect called the Wilhelm scream was uncovered in an archive June 25, 2023