Sunday, September 9, 2007

Stock Shock: Wilhelm, I Love You

After spending time with sound sculptor to the stars PK Hooker (will I point out yet again that he is the science behind Pusy Gums Johnson? Yes, I will) during this summer's west coast tour, I found myself paying more attention to sound design, sound effects, and sound editing in films. Specifically, I couldn't help but keep in mind the care that PK and his ilk take in creating completely original sound libraries for a film. Need a car door slam? Go out and record it. Need a hyena cackling, a monkey screaming, a pencil dropping? Record them all. All original, nothing from stock sounds. And this obsession with uniqueness made me all the more interested in a phenomenon I'd heard of called The Wilhelm Scream.

If you're already familiar with what The Wilhelm Scream is, then just go straight to the compilation film below and bask in the insanity or this recycled piece of movie sound history. If you're not familiar with it (though in all probability you've heard it in one film or another), you can read the history of what has to be one of the best movie in-jokes here.

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