Wilhelm scream
The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect first recorded in 1951 for the movie Distant Drums. It has been featured in over 400 movies and TV series since. Alongside a certain recording of the cry of the red-tailed hawk, the "Universal Telephone Ring" and "Castle Thunder," it is probably the most well-known cinematic sound cliché. It is believed to have been provided by actor/singer Sheb Wooley. The scream was recorded in six takes, with Distant Drums using the fifth take for the scene for which it was recorded, in which a soldier is devoured by an alligator while his platoon crosses a river.
The Wilhelm's revival came from Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt, who tracked down the original recording (which he found as a studio reel labeled "Man being eaten by alligator"). He named it after Wilhelm, a minor character who emitted the scream in the 1953 movie The Charge at Feather River. Its use in Star Wars was the beginning of something of an in-joke amongst some sound designers of the film industry, especially at Skywalker Sound. Star Wars media most commonly uses either Take 4, which has become known among enthusiasts as the "classic" Wilhelm scream, or Take 3, though Take 1 has sometimes been used as well.
In his endnotes for The Essential Guide to Warfare, Jason Fry hinted that the Wilhelm scream was uttered in the holodrama The Charge at Feather Nebula.[1]
On February 22, 2018, sound editor Matthew Wood revealed that Lucasfilm has decided to not use the Wilhelm scream anymore following the release of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and instead replace it with a new stock sound effect.[2]
Appearances
Films
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (Naboo soldier shot in the Theed Hangar, Take 3; another Naboo soldier 14 seconds later, Take 4)
- Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones (Naboo guard falling from the ramp of the exploding J-type diplomatic barge on Coruscant, Take 3)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (At Christophsis, a clone trooper who hit a battle droid too hard with his hand, before he was hit by the droid, Take 4 slowed down; Later, at the monastery on Teth, after having recovered Rotta, a clone trooper is hit when an AT-TE cockpit explodes from the just-arrived Separatist Droid Army's fire, Take 4)
- Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (knocked-back clone trooper on the Guarlara during the broadside battle with the Invisible Hand, Take 4)
- Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (stormtrooper shot by Luke Skywalker prior to the chasm swing aboard the Death Star, Takes 3 and 4 in quick succession) (this was the scream's debut in the Star Wars franchise)
- Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (Rebel soldier as a turret is destroyed by an All Terrain Armored Transport, Take 1; when Chewbacca throws a stormtrooper down right before Han Solo is put into carbonite, Takes 1 and 4)
- Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (Weequay falling into the sarlacc pit, Take 4; another skiff guard falls into the sarlacc one minute later, Take 4; Colonel Dyer knocked off a catwalk by Han Solo in the Endor shield bunker [Ben Burtt portrayed the character and mimicked the Wilhelm scream himself]; stormtrooper lifted by crowds on Coruscant, Take 4)
- Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens (First Order stormtrooper hit by an explosion aboard the Finalizer, as Finn and Poe Dameron attempt to escape in a TIE fighter, Take 4)
TV series
- Star Wars: Clone Wars
- Chapter 4 (Durge shoots a trooper sniping at him, Take 3)
- Chapter 12 (a clone trooper being blown away by a seismic tank, Take 4)
- Chapter 17 (a trooper gets thrown around by an invisible force, smashing his head on a tree limb, Take 3)
- Chapter 24 (General Grievous shoves a trooper through a window, Take 3; clone troopers falling off a building after being attacked by IG-100 MagnaGuards, Take 4)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- "The Zillo Beast" (Hawkeye is hit by the Zillo Beast's foot, Take 4)
- "Death Trap" (a couple of clone troopers are sent flying into space after the air vent opens, Takes 1 and 4)
- "Monster" (in the ambient noise during Savage Opress' transformation, Take 4)
- "Citadel Rescue" (during the space battle, a clone trooper aboard an exploding Republic vessel, Take 4)
- "The Unknown" (A 501st Legion Clone trooper with a shield was shot, Take 1)
- "Dangerous Debt" (a Pyke guard thrown by an explosion)
- "Old Friends Not Forgotten" (One of a Mandalorian super Commandos Soldier beaten by Ahsoka Tano, Take 3; later, Bo-Katan Kryze sends one of a Mandalorian super Commandos soldier flying with his broken jetpack, Take 1)
- "The Phantom Apprentice" (One of a Mandalorian super Commandos gets shot by a Clone Trooper, Take 4)
- Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion (a stormtrooper hit by Ezra Bridger's energy slingshot, Take 4)
- Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett
- "Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land" (Night Wind assassin being flipped by Fennec Shand onto an energy shield, Ben Burtt imitation)
- "Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor" (Pyke being thrown backwards by the rancor, Take 4)
Other media
- The Star Wars Holiday Special (stormtrooper, when thrown off the balcony of Chewbacca's home by Han Solo, Take 4)
- SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back (when the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms eats a police officer, Take 4)
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire video game (when an enemy stormtrooper is shot off a ledge)
- Star Wars: Republic Commando (when one of the clone troopers is shot by super battle droids)
- Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (some enemies when killed)
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (stormtrooper shot by Luke Skywalker, seen in a trailer)
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (one stormtrooper pushed off of an Imperial dropship transport)
- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith video game (twice during Battle of Utapau: one of the clone troopers is killed by a blaster; another battle droid is shocked)
- Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (A scout trooper falls off the speeder bike after getting hit by a tree)
- Star Wars Battlefront (some jumptroopers when killed)
- Star Wars Battlefront II (some enemies when killed)
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (A stormtrooper is shot)
Non-canon media
- LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (when Obi-Wan or Anakin dies during the Battle Over Coruscant level)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (same as the original LEGO Star Wars game: when Obi-Wan or Anakin dies during the Battle Over Coruscant level)
- LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (in the Clone Pooper Trailer, while the clone trooper was firing two pistols)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out (Two TIE fighter pilots fall in space after their starfighters got destroyed.)
- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales: Crisis on Coruscant (during the Separatist meeting on Geonosis, when Ki-Adi-Mundi attacks Nute Gunray with the Force)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures: Race on Tatooine (at the beginning of the episode when Dengar steals the cloud car on Bespin)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens (AT-ST driver dropped out of the walker by Han Solo on Endor; a stormtrooper knocked down by X-wings on Takodana; FN-2199 when Han Solo shot him using Chewbacca's bowcaster)
- LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars
- "The Good Stuff!" (After Roger sends his luggage carrier driving away, although he didn't need it, before it crashed, Take 4)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (??)
Non-Star Wars media
- Ralph Breaks the Internet (Vanellope Von Schweetz sends away a stormtrooper in a buggy that transports to Buzztube when she presses her pop-up ad against him.)
See also
Notes and references
- ↑
Jason Fry's Dorkery — EG to Warfare: Endnotes Pt. 7 on Tumblr (backup link)
- ↑ Ling, Thomas: A long-running Star Wars tradition has been put to rest (2018-02-22). RadioTimes published by RadioTimes (archived from the original on June 2, 2018)
