History of a Famous Star Wars Scream

An anonymous reader writes "There is a very famous scream in Star Wars (Episode IV) that occurs when one of the stormtroopers falls into the Death Star chasm. No doubt all geeks are familiar with this scream, but may not know that it has been used in dozens of other movies and even has a name - "The Wilhelm". There is a fascinating interview (transcript and audio) from NPRs "On The Media" that discusses the now cult-like following and history of this scream."

huh?

[oiarbovnb (728906)]

I don't completely get it... So a sound file was used again and again...isn't this common place?

Come on, this is pretty cool!!!

[Andorion (526481)]

How many sound effects have names and followings? =)

How about the sound at the end of Doom II, when the spawn-cubes shoot out??

~Berj

Re:Come on, this is pretty cool!!!

[fo0bar (261207)]

How about the sound at the end of Doom II, when the spawn-cubes shoot out??

THANK YOU. I thought I was the only one who noticed that this sound effect has been used in every car commercial for the last 8 years or so.

Now it's entirely possible that the Doom guys ripped it off from somebody else, but I still call it "the Doom II sound".

Re:Come on, this is pretty cool!!!

[Patik (584959)]

How about the sound at the end of Doom II, when the spawn-cubes shoot out??

Hey, how about a spoiler warning next time?!

Re:huh?

[andyrut (300890)]

I don't completely get it... So a sound file was used again and again...isn't this common place?

Yes, but can you name another one-second sound clip that's used in nearly a hundred movies and TV shows?

What's interesting is that despite the popularity and cult following of the clip, the origins of it are unclear. They have an original recording of the Wilhelm, but the actor who actually made the clip remains a mystery. He should have set up some kind of royalty agreement, he'd be cashing in on it now. :)

Re:huh?

[PCM2 (4486)]

I don't completely get it... So a sound file was used again and again...isn't this common place?

Sure, but it is kinda fun when you start to recognize these things. You'll hear more of them if you like to watch B-movies. When people say that, most folks think "movies from the 1950s-60s, but the fun thing is that you'll still hear the same sound effects in some brand-new, edited-on-Final-Cut, direct-to-video release that came out this year.

My personal favorite is the BBC audio "spooky werewolf" sound effect. You still hear it all over the place. It starts with the sound of a wolf (or old junkyard dog?) howling, then immediately follows that up with a cat giving two aggravated-sounding meows. The actual sound effect (you can get it on old BBC sound effects records; your library may have some) repeats this sound about 3-4 times, and it's always the same: Wolf howl, cat. Wolf howl, cat. It cracks me up when modern movies actually let the tape loop run through more than one sequence, cuz it's one of the goofiest things I've heard.

That's the sound of their server dying

[Gwala (309968)]

That's the sound of their server dying. Linking audio from slashdot? What were they thinking...

Re:That's the sound of their server dying

[pizzaman100 (588500)]

Here's another link [echostation.com] (about 2/3 down page) to the scream, at least until it dies as well. :)

Very famous indeed.

[kjba (679108)]

In the Netherlands, the Wilhelm is actually even the national hymne.

Nope (but close)

[DreamerFi (78710)]

Sheesh, no dutch moderators today, looks like. The National Athem is called "Wilhelmus".

Other Famous Screams:

[_KiTA_ (241027)]

The SCO scream:

"What the fuck are they smoking?!"

The Goatse.cx scream:

"Aaah! What the hell?!! My ass hurts just LOOKING at that!"

The Windows BSOD scream:

"Ah well, time for a cigarette."

Re:Other Famous Screams:

[by Anonymous Coward]

The Windows BSOD scream:

"Ah well, time for a cigarette."

Is that because MS fucked you again?

And to think

[by Anonymous Coward]

They had to use a fake scream for a guy falling in a chasm? What's next, fake applause during a sitcom?

Re:And to think

[Lurker McLurker (730170)]

They would have got a far more convincing scream if they had actually thrown an actor down a chasm, but you can't do that these days. Maybe that's why they used an old scream, it comes from the days when you were allowed to harm people in the pursuit of art.

two words:

[Tumbleweed (3706)]

"Method Actor"

False

[dr_dank (472072)]

There is a very famous scream in Star Wars (Episode IV) that occurs when one of the stormtroopers falls into the Death Star chasm.

No way, I heard that scream coming from the audience during Episode I.

Can anyopne confirm these?

[brejc8 (223089)]

The first one I am nearly sure about is the swordfighting sound from civilization is the same as the black night scene from monty python and the holy grail.
I keep hearing the same whoosh sound that is in Doom when you use the rocket launcher in movies and on TV. Is it a standard sound that people keep reusing or do they just sound simmilar.

Re:Can anyopne confirm these?

[FatalTourist (633757)]

There are many standard sound effects libraries (Warner Bros [gefen.com], Lucas Film [soundeffects.com], etc.) that TV/game studios purchase for use, so don't be surprised if you keep hearing the same sounds.

I heard a camel in some Jackie Chan movie make the same sound that a Doom grunt makes. It freaked me out man.

That sound IS a camel!

[lysium (644252)]

The Doom grunt sound is actually a recorded camel grunt. So yes, it is the same sound, but it actually belongs to the camel more than the game. Another common sound are the Imp sound effects, which are originally from a tiger.

=========

True, sort of

[DreamerFi (78710)]

If you listen to some of the Peter Jackson interviews on sound effects in TTT, he mentions that people have to to expect that sound (and indeed mentions Monty Python as well) so they more or less have to put it in or people thing it will sound fake...

If you dont have speakers, here is a transcript:

[Shut the fuck up! (572058)]

Stormtrooper #9: aaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Wilhalm Skrim

[Allen Varney (449382)]

Last year when I was writing dialogue for the Star Wars Galaxies online roleplaying game, I named one character "Wilhalm Skrim" in honest tribute to this scream.

Re:Wilhalm Skrim

[by Anonymous Coward]

You are a sad, sad man. Fortunately, you'll fit right in here.

Re: the scream

[bogie (31020)]

I dunno that scream doesn't sound too familiar to me, maybe I need to watch Stars Wars again? What I've always been amazed by is how many movies/commercials have used sounds from the game DOOM. I've heard its rocket and dying imp sounds in tons of things.

like stock art.. sounds abound...

[joeldg (518249)]

it is just like stock art, this is a "stock sound' that can be used...

Why is this news again?

HeLa

[frankmu (68782)]

it's like the HeLa cell of the movie industry

The Worst Scream Associated With Star Wars

[by Anonymous Coward]

Was Luke's scream that was added to the Empire Strikes Back Special Edition, when he falls down the shaft on Bespin after fighting Vader and losing his arm. First of all, it sounds nothing like Luke. Second of all, it changed the entire meaning of the scene where the scream meant Luke's fall was accidental rather than intentional. A guess Lucas never heard of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Re:The Worst Scream Associated With Star Wars

[mraymer (516227)]

To make matters worse, the novels say Luke was using the Force to slow his fall, which would require a great deal of concentration. It's hard to concentrate when you're screaming like a bitch.

not so special

[potpie (706881)]

This isn't so very special. There are many screams and other sounds that get reused. Lots of action movies use the same screams you can hear in the N64 game "Goldeneye." There is a creaky door sound that I've heard used in video games ("Riven" is the one I remember best), TV shows, movies, and even commercials.

From the list:

[KillerHamster (645942)]

"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.

There's a joke waiting to be told, I just can't think of it.

Single? Your options are endless

[PCM2 (4486)]

Let's start with analyzing the sound effects in Star Wars...

Re:Single? Your options are endless

[pavon (30274)]

What's really sad is that this recorded scream is more famous and popular than any of us will ever be. I mean it's bad enough for to be overshadowed by idiot politicians and cardboard actors, but by a scream? That has to be some kind of all-time low :)

What about another famous scream...

[Sinter (650182)]

When I read the title of this article, only one scream came to mind, and I'm sure many of you will remember it. I have heard it used in many places, but the two most notable are these video games:

Dark Forces: Whenever you knock a Storm Trooper off a ledge to his death.

Starcraft: Whenever you select the Academy structure.

This is true for more than just this scream

[quantax (12175)]

I remember hearing this scream in RotK somewhere, during one of the battle sequences involving Minas Tirith. However, the 'stealing' of sounds (that scream sound isnt stealing) is more common than people suspect. Though i can only think of 1 movie off hand that did so (Leprakaun 4: in space, haha), MANY scifi movies have ripped sound effects from video games, most notably Doom2, specifically door effects. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard a Doom II door opening sound used in TV or a movie. However, its more than just Doom II; I've heard video game gun shots, explosions, and so on; never do these recieve any credit. I can only imagine the amount of trouble some of these movies or shows would get into if they were discovered to be using non-royalty-free/non-folly sounds.

On a side note, I've been to sound studios before where they do mixing for movies and tv, and these guys often have huuuuuuuuge sound archives, both folly and royalty-free, and very often if you are working on a project for someone and they hand you a CD filled with audio effects made for their show/movie, you copy that effects cd for yourself for later use. So if you look out and have good audio memory, you can hear every once in a while a sound thats been used in other shows/movies. This is doubly true for TV where the schedules are tighter as well as money.

Re:This is true for more than just this scream

[reality-bytes (119275)]

Was just thinking that its equally likely that the door effect from Doom came from elsewhere. In fact the more I think about it, the more I believe I may have heard it before-hand.

Just can't place it.

Heard it TWICE

[bravehamster (44836)]

I heard this exact scream TWICE during Return of the King. Within 2 minutes of each other no less. Once from an Orc and once from a human during the main battle sequence. Kinda jarred me for a second. Only heard it once from the Two Towers.

List of Movies That Contain "The Wilhelm"

[bief (532369)]

Here is a website [hollywoodl...dfound.net] that tries to list all of "The Wilhelm" occurrences in films.

They claim "A series of short painful screams performed by an actor were recorded in 1951 for the Warner Brother's film "Distant Drums." They were used for a scene where a man is bitten and dragged underwater by an alligator. The recording was archived into the studio's sound effects library -- and it was used in many of their films since.

"Star Wars" Sound Designer Ben Burtt tracked down the scream recording - which he named "Wilhelm" after a character who let out the same scream in the film "Charge at Feather River." Ben has adopted the scream as sort of a personal sound signature, and has included it in many of the films he has worked on. He and a small circle of sound effects people, including myself and Richard Anderson, continue the crusade to keep Wilhelm alive. The Wilhelm Scream continues to be heard in new films every year."

ObSimpsons

[jpetts (208163)]

Homer: How'd you get to be so good?
June: Oh, just experience I suppose. I started out as Roadrunner. [as Roadrunner] Meep!
Homer: You mean "meep-meep"?
June: No, they only paid me to say it once, then they doubled it up on the soundtrack. [to herself] Cheap bastards.
-- "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show"

Would it have been this guy?

[Jerk City Troll (661616)]

This story [yahoo.com] from Yahoo! News reports:

Man Chops Off Testicle in Dispute with Wife

NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenyan man chopped off one of his testicles in a row with his wife and then walked naked to a police station to report the incident, police said on Monday.

Police rushed 26-year-old Stephen Ongala to hospital after he stumbled into their police station in the border town of Busia in western Kenya on Friday bleeding heavily.

"He said he did it because he had had a disagreement with his wife," said deputy police chief Shadrack Maithya. "If we get evidence that he tried to take his life, then we may charge him because it is a criminal offence."

That'd make me scream like that.

I saw a great video compilation of the Wilhelm...

[tinrobot (314936)]

I was at a Christmas party for a sound studio here in LA, and they had a 20-30 minute video filled with clips of people using that screeam.

It was hilarious and strange - everything from gladiators to aliens, and they were all screaming exactly the same. I really commend the guy who did the research to put it all together.

Dang, I wish I had a copy of that tape.

Re:I saw a great video compilation of the Wilhelm.

[by Anonymous Coward]

http://download.theforce.net/video/wilhelm_48mb.mo v

I hate it.

[Snodgrass (446409)]

Personally, find it annoying to hear it so much. I watch the Lord of the Rings and think of all the hard work that was put into it, and then I hear the same canned scream that was in virtually all of the Star Wars movies (and a bijillion others). It just makes me think "cheap". Using the same old sound as everyone else. I don't care if it's paying "homage" to some mythical voice actor or not, it simply reminds the audience that your movie isn't that different from all of the others after all.

Another glaring example of this is the police dispatcher sound played when you click on a police station in Sim City. Seriously, you hear that everywhere. Worst example: X2 - when the police show up to the kid's house. Listen...it's there.

Sorry about the rant...for some reason that Wilhelm scream just really gets my goat.

If u want to hear WILHELM in Star Wars IV, V, VI

[danidude (672839)]

Here they are A New Hope: 88m39s of film The Empire Strikes Back: 28m12s and 94m57s The Return of The Jedi: 33m00s

Re:'geeks' ???

[ericspinder (146776)]

1. Yes, it does look like a slow "geek" news day, most people are on holiday vacation, so no new products, reviews or SCO press releases for us to comment on.
2. No, not every "nerd" is a "Star Wars" geek.

I have heard of the "Wilhelm" before, but it was still interesting seeing the complete story (and the complete-?- list, well almost, it is still unknown who the voice talent was, but I think it adds to the mystery.

Re:Goofy

[eln (21727)]

The Goofy scream would have made the first Star Wars movies infinitely more hilarious, and may have even made the prequels bearable. Maybe.

Re:Screams

[superfast-scooter (693095)]

why? cos shes prolly never seen a skinny naked guy with +4 bifocal horn-rimmed glasses? :P

Re:the origin

[BMonger (68213)]

Or actually as per the article...

"Star Wars" Sound Designer Ben Burtt tracked down the scream recording - which he named "Wilhelm" after a character who let out the same scream in the film "Charge at Feather River."

The real origin

[mykepredko (40154)]

I always thought it was a reference to Wilhem Podunk, the aspiring 1940s star of the never released MGM epic "The Romans". Playing Julius Caesar, Podunk was expected to perform on his horse along two thousand extras, each one holding a pike aimed at the Hun army in front of them. The scene required Caesar to command his men to prepare for an attack, turn left and then charge toward the enemy.

Podunk reportedly strode down the line of pikers majestically, presented his lines heroically and, unfortunately, turned right before spurring his horse on.

The clip of the resulting scream is all that remains of "The Romans", even the recording of Louis B. Mayer's shout, "Your Other Left!", has been lost; leaving a sad legacy for a man that could have been a bigger star than Cooper, if only he had a better sense of direction.

myke (last day of work for 2003)

Re:It's in The Two Towers, too

[Abcd1234 (188840)]

You're telling me that one scream from one Elf in a 3 hour movie during a protracted battle scene "detracts from the movie"? Can we say "overly critical"?

Re:people keep mentioning doom..

[BiggerBoat (690886)]

Most of those sounds are in Sound Ideas' "The General" 6000 series, copyright 1992.