Question: What is exactly this "Wilhelm scream"?
rabid anarchist
3rd Jan 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: A series of short painful screams performed by an actor were recorded for the film "Distant Drums." 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. 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. Since then it has grown to be something of an "in-joke" in Hollywood among sound designers, who like to see how many films they can fit it into. A list of "Wilhelms" and where they appear can be found at http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm.html.
rabid anarchist