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Attack of the Hollywood Clichés!
Wilhelm scream
For the band, see A Wilhelm Scream. For the song by James Blake, see The Wilhelm Scream.
Illustration of Wilhelm scream by WikiWorld
Audio sample of the Wilhelm Scream
The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect that has been used in a number of films and TV series, beginning in 1951 with the film Distant Drums. The scream is usually used when someone is shot, falls from a great height, or is thrown from an explosion. The sound 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 is the third film to use the effect. The scream is believed to be voiced by actor Sheb Wooley.
Used By:
The voice of the scream, Sheb Wooley
The scream can be heard in the 1954 George Cukor film A Star Is Born, in a scene in a studio projection room.[3] Until the mid-1970s, the sound effect was used regularly, but only in Warner Bros. productions. These include: Them! (1954), Land of the Pharaohs (1955), The Sea Chase (1955), Sergeant Rutledge(1960), PT 109 (1963), and The Green Berets (1968).[3] The Wilhelm scream became iconic in popular culture when 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][7] Burtt named the scream after Pvt. Wilhelm, 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 decade he incorporated it into other films that he worked on,[3] such as Willow (1988). Other Burtt projects including several George Lucas or Steven Spielberg films. Notably, the rest of the Star Warsfilms,[1] as well as the Indiana Jones movies included the effect.[5][1][b] Filmmaker Jon Favreau resurrected the scream for episode 1 of The Book of Boba Fett, which is a spin-off of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian.
Other sound designers have picked up and used the sound effect. Inclusion of the sound in films became a tradition among a certain community of sound designers.[10] Sound designer Gary Rydstrom included the effect in his 2006 directorial debut, the Pixar short film, Lifted.[1][11] The sound effect is heard in: Reservoir Dogs (1992),[3] Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003),[3] Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and Transformers.[1] The effect has appeared in several animated Disney and Pixar films, such as The Incredibles, Toy Story,[1] and Cars franchises, and A Goofy Movie (1995).[1] Weddington Productions—that employs such sound directors as Mark Mangini, David Whittaker, Steve Lee and George Simpson—and is owned by Burtt’s friend and colleague, Richard Anderson, have used the effect in productions of Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Fifth Element (1997), The Majestic (2001), Just Visiting (2001), A Man Apart (2003), and Tears of the Sun (2003). Director Joe Dante, beginning with his first major film, Hollywood Boulevard (1976), included it in his later films: Explorers (1985), Gremlins 2 (1990), The Second Civil War (1997), Matinee (1993), and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003).[3]
The Wilhelm scream has made its way into television series, such as Maverick,[3] Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic,[original research?] Lizzie McGuire, The Fairly OddParents, The Simpsons, The X-Files,[3] Angel,[3] Futurama, Invader Zim, The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, The Powerpuff Girls, Star Trek: Enterprise, The Venture Bros., Family Guy,[3] Monster High, Stand Up and Away with Brian Regan, and every episode in the first season of Killer Karaoke.
Video games have made use of the scream, as it is heard in video games such as Red Dead Redemption (during gunfights),[12] The First Templar, Rayman Origins, Riders Republic, Grand Theft Auto V, The Witcher 3, Midnight Club, Mechwarrior 3 (during the intro cinematic), Star Wars Battlefront II.[10]
