I can almost 100% guarantee that at some point in your life you have heard the Wilhelm Scream (WS), whether you realize it or not. The WS is probably one of my favorite things about films and I love hearing it when I'm watching a movie. Movies such as Despicable Me, The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Monsters University, and every single Star Wars movie has featured this one sound clip. But what is it and where did it come from?
It's actually a lot older than people might realize. The scream was recorded in the year 1951 for a film called Distant Drums. In the scene where the sound is used, a man is dragged underneath a swamp by an alligator. That's it. That's the origin story for the Wilhelm Scream. So why has it become such a widely used sound effect? Well for a long time the sound actually wasn't used. until Stars Wars came around. They started using that screaming and have used in every single movie since. After Star Wars, other editors and filmmakers have started using t more as well, turning this man being bit by an alligator into a little game for movie goers. Nothing makes me more excited when watching a film than suddenly hearing that scream in the background. And trust me once you know what it sounds like you'l hear it everywhere. It's a blessing and a curse.
I'm going to leave you guys with a compilation from YouTube of Wilhelm Screams in films. Feel free to watch it and see if there are any films you have seen before! I'm also going to give you guys a link to IMDb that has a list of movies that have used the WS at some point during their story. There is probably one if not more movies on that list that you have seen.
image: http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/pictures/films/chargefeatherriver/featherriverwil.jpg
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