The Secret Life of Screams

I love these little snippets of film lore that leak into the general consciousness. I love the way they can be hidden for years right in front of our eyes, or in this case our ears.

Meet The Wilhelm Scream. Actually, you've most definitely met it before, many a time.

Observe:



The Wilhelm Scream was created in 1951 for the film Distant Drums to overdub a man being eaten by a crocodile. It was stored away in the sound library and consequently used often enough and conspicuously enough to be noticed by a sound artist who then went to town, using it in countless classic film that he was working on. As is the way with these things it took on a life of its own and has now been used as an in-joke by everyone from Joe Dante to Tarantino.

Hollywood Lost and Found has a more comprehensive history, which echoed to me through panopticist and Boing Boing.

Now go forth and listen out.