Little known sci-fi facts: The famous Wilhelm Scream article: blastr/2010/09/little_known_sci_fi_facts.php Youve heard it time and time again in movies, TV shows, even video games: a throaty, histrionic wail that usually goes with someone falling from a great height or getting blown up. Its known as the Wilhelm Scream—and its all Star Wars fault. The scream itself was first recorded in 1951—by singer and actor Sheb Wooley —for a film called Distant Drums, in which a soldier is bitten by an alligator. Twenty-some-odd years later, sound designer Ben Burtt found the recording (in a can marked man eaten by alligator) and was so taken with it that he mixed it into a scene in Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope. Burtt would then proceed to incorporate the Scream—named after a character that uttered it in 1953s The Charge at Feather River, Private Wilhelm—in most every film he worked on for George Lucas or Steven Spielberg, including all the Indiana Jones flicks. It became a thing in the sound designer community, and the Scream became ubiquitous, appearing in countless movies over the past 20 years or so. Heres just a taste of its omnipresence. Most recently, the Wilhelm Scream made itself heard in the Halo: Reach video game, in the beginning of the Tip of the Spear level. Itll rear its frightened little head again sometime soon. And when you hear it, raise a glass. After all, Wilhelm died for your pleasure, hundreds and hundreds of times. Wilhelm Scream Compilation link: https://youtube/watch?v=4YDpuA90KEY
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 23:20:12 +0000