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The Rise and Fall of the 'Wilhelm Scream'
- omnibrain 12y agoI don't care much for the Wilhelm Scream. It's a joke of the sound engineers and I grant them their fun. A lot more annoying is this ubiquitous "Blarrrrrrrrgh"-Sound. And of course that every trailer uses music from Two Steps From Hell.
- nsxwolf 12y agoYeah, I think I know what you mean by the "blarrrrgh"... A long, unnatural scream used when someone is falling off a building or cliff, or maybe on fire.
- codingdave 12y agoI don't consider myself to be a film buff, but this is probably the 4th time I've read an article on this scream, so I think it is becoming part of pop culture, more than an inside joke. That being the case, the decline is probably appropriate.
- allending 12y agoIt's also used in many games, including Warcraft. http://www.giantbomb.com/wilhelm-scream/3015-56/games/ http://www.giantbomb.com/wilhelm-scream/3015-56/games/
- nsxwolf 12y agoSuch a distracting sound effect for me. Pulls me right out of the movie and ruins the immersion every time I hear it. I wish they would stop with this "inside joke" that everyone knows about. Certainly I am not the only one annoyed by this sound. There's a couple others that grate on me too, but I don't know their names. There's this other crazy sounding scream, a really long extended one. Then there's this "crowd gasping" sound effect I've heard all my life (you can hear it in the airport scene in Unbreakable for example). Then there is this particular cooing, laughing baby sound effect that drives me nuts. Whoever that baby was it must be in it's 60s by now.
- wmil 12y agoI've never actually noticed the Whilhelm Scream during a movie. I know it's common but it just doesn't register while I'm watching. However there's one sound effect that always stands out. The cube fire sound from the Doom 2 final boss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el72n7U4Pos&t=101 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el72n7U4Pos&t=101 Has anyone else noticed it? Is it a stock effect? I know I've heard it in a few movies and TV shows.
- frikk 12y agoI've never heard the cube fire sound, but I hope to now that you've mentioned it! There's another scream sound that is similar to the wilhelm scream, but not quite it, that I hear a lot. The other one if the tesla coil from red alert. Holy crap I hear that one all the time. Kind of, but not quite, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOpBPXLsNrs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOpBPXLsNrs
- wmil 12y agoI actually found one from memory and verified it on netflix: X-Files Season 05 Episode 11 - Kill Switch (14:20) (when the laser blows up the shipping container) I'm pretty sure they also used it in "The Phantom (1996 film)" when a rocket launcher blows up a building.
- rabbyte 12y agoI don't consider myself a film buff so maybe that's why it doesn't bother me but I love finding the Wilhelm scream. I hope it never goes away.
- rabbyte 12y agoI don't consider myself a film buff so maybe that's why it doesn't bother me but I love finding the Wilhelm scream. I hope it never goes away.