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im sure you all know what im talking about when i mention the star wars scream , in epI it was when one of amidaalas men got shot in the hangar , epIV it was when the stormtrooper fell of the ledge into the chasm , epVI when a henchman fall off jabbas skiff into the sarlaac , but as for ep's II & V i cant seem to remember it at all , i love the scream and it always gives me a laugh when i hear it in other movies , indiana jones for example , and it was also in kill bill volume 1 (most unexpected) was the scream in eps II & V ?does anyone know the origins of the scream ? was epIV the first time we all heard it or was it "borrowed" from another movie ? i have always been curious can anyone help me out ??

the origins are kept under tight security by the Big Burtt himself.
I believe EpIV was not the first one, that he took it from an older movie but I do not recollect where I heard it.

oh and the name for the scream is "Wilhelm Scream" ... makes me think Burtt had some non-PG-13 moments when he mixed that one

It was origionally from a Cowboy movie called 'Shane' i believe

Lol that scream, I hear that all the time.

I heard it first when the Stromtrooper gets shot by Leia in the Death Star chasm scene in A New Hope.

Everytime I hear it, I think of Stormtroopers.

Maybe the whole "Stormtrooper cloning" thing is much bigger than we originally thought?

shit, that scream has been in so many movies i am quite sick of it.
its become a campy joke. i mean, its in ALOT of movies.

It does kinda shatter the realism when you hear THAT scream for the umpteenth time in yet another movie.

I'm sure I hear that damn thing in a 1/3 of all action movies - which are usually all the "big" ones.

The first known use of the Wilhelm scream was in "Distant Drums" (1951). It has reportedly been used in over 70 movies since then.

Look up wilhelm-scream in the IMDb "Keywords" search section for 56 examples. Some of them may surprise you!

i totally agree with you PVS i piss myself laughing evertime i hear it in a new movie , my mates and i all just look at each other and say "star wars scream" , i got a bit of a surprise when i heard it in kill bill tho i must say

It's not the only over-used sound effect either. I often hear the same "children laughing" sound in various movies. It can be heard in Episode 1 in the scene where Anakin is working on his podracer and his friends show up; the exact same laugh is heard again when they leave. I also recall hearing it in "Gladiator", when Maximus is dreaming of his home and the POV is zooming across the field from above.

Another common sound is a female scream used in "Wag the Dog". It's funny because in that movie, it's shown as a sound effect inserted into a phony video clip. I've heard it dozens of times since then.

Finally, there's the "crowd gasping" sound effect. I've heard this one in nearly every lamebrained-comedy trailer for the past five years, not to mention the movies themselves (when I'm forced to see them). It usually comes on the heels of the "comedian" delivering some unorthodox catch phrase or stunt in front of a bunch of people.

There's also a scream that a monster makes that i've heard a billion times.

You forgot the canned "horror thunder crash" which doesn't sound realistic at all.

continued:

"Tears of the Sun" (2003) Two Wilhelms can be heard in the film when rebel soldiers are blown up in separate scenes.

"A Man Apart" (2003) In a raid by DEA and Mexican drug agents on a Tijuana nightclub full of drunken cartel honchos and gunmen, a Wilhelm is heard when one of the agents is hit by gunfire.

"Texas:_The Big Picture" (IMAX, 2003)

"Dell Computers - PC Dreams" TV Commercial (May 2003) One of the Dell Interns is repeatedly dropped through a trap door in a dream about how Dell computers are tested.

"The Animatrix: Matriculated" (2003)

"Once Upon A Time In Mexico" (2003)

"Under the Tuscan Sun" (2003)
After moving into her villa, Frances experiences a terrible thunderstorm. Listen very carefully when her washing machine is struck by lightening...

"The Legend of Suriyothai" (2003) A soldier is pulled down from the battlements during an assault on a fortress.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003)

"Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (2003)

"Looney Tunes: Back in Action" (2003)

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003)

"Win A Date With Tad Hamilton!" (2004)

"Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" (2004)

"Hellboy" (2004)

"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" (2004)

"Paparazzi" (2004)

"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (2004)

"Taxi" (2004)

"I Am David" (2004)

"Team America: World Police" (2004)

"C.S.I. - N.Y." Episode #105, "Grand Master" (TV, Original Air Date: 27 October 2004) At the beginning of Act 2, the scream is heard during a flashback of a man stabbed in the neck.

"Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" (2005)

http://www.nerf-herders-anonymous.net/WilhelmScream.html

Heres a web site for it. that sound always give me a laugh

There's also another scream used in movies that sounds like a long "yeeeeearrrrrrrrrgh!".

You always hear it when someone is shown falling a LONG distance to their death.

I have also noticed the children laughing sound in loads of movies. That one makes me cringe. Sounds so fake. I heard it Episode 1 and reminded me of Sesame street, stupid dubbing.

There's also the Godzilla roar, I've heard that used in loads of monster movies. I seem to remember the Green Rangers Dragonzord doing the same noise too.

Another over-used sound effect is one of a baby crying. It's very distinct and it's used about 9 times out of ten a baby is shown in a movie/TV show - mainly because babies cannot cry on cue and/or maybe their scream is too high a pitch for the mics to pick up convincingly.

I personally would like to know if Wilhelm gets a royalty check for this.

He's dead, Jim.

And if he were alive....
...

...

no.

His voice was put in a public sound library.

And Wilhelm wasn't even a person. That was the name og the character who first used the scream.

thanks for that PVS

Thought of a few more "audio cliches":

the "werewolf howl".....Owooooo...ow-ow-owoooooo (fades)--heard in every scary and schlock movie/cartoon for decades, usually when the hero approaches the spooky mansion during a full moon.

the "grunting thud"--heard countless times in the series "Kung Fu". Every time Kane threw a guy to the ground, you'd hear that thud. I've also heard it in several movies/TV shows of that era, but none that I can remember off the top of my head.

Another male yell---it's hard to describe...it's not the "yeeeeearghhh" mentioned earlier, but it's probably just as common. If you ever get the chance to watch the show "Strangers with Candy" on DVD, check out the opening sequence when they are looking at an educational film. Just before the opening credits, they show three guys plunging into a swimming pool, and that scream is heard.

The lightning/thunder crash (mentioned by tpaquin)--usually accompanied by the wolf howl, the same exact thunderclap was heard simultaneously with the lightning bolt (which meant that lightning must be really, really close by).

I would go into gunshot audio cliches, but there are two many to mention. Suffice it to say that, if you watch cop shows in the 70s and 80s, you heard them often enough to recognize them.

there are 2 or 3, i think 2, wilhelm screams. they are also in the lord of the rings movies. it is used as a tribute to their creator and to all of the other movies they've been in.

i heard the wilhem in team america when i saw it yesterday , nearly p***ed myself