Wilhelm Scream

Tati: Well hello there! Before starting our post, I would like to share with all of you why Mel is going to hell. And also point that I will meet her there for some other good reasons.

Mel: I will be serving cocktails at 6. Please remember to bring extra cherries and olives.

Mel’s co-worker: would you care to explain this egg laying next to my feet?
Mel: what?
Mel’s co-worker: chocolate egg laying next to my feet Hannah Montana egg...
Mel: did you lay it?
Mel’s Co-worker: I know it was you stop laughing! You have glass walls...
Mel: I am laughing now hahaha because you told me to stop. Not to mention Tati is making me laugh :P
Mel’s Co-worker: anyway brace for it! I will find something to get back at you!
Mel: Surprise butt sex is not appropriate in the work place.
Mel’s Co-worker: I shall have my revenge *shakes fist in anger*



Mel: I am innocent until proven guilty and apparently according to my co-worker even if proven innocent I'm STILL guilty because it is impossible for me not to have been involved. I wonder how he liked the OTHER egg that I left on his chair...

Tati: Ahhh the joys of the work place environment!

(Yes I’ve edited it a “little” but I didn’t touch the text, I mean just the order of it, but it looks a lot better this way)

Mel: Actually you didn’t edit it much-just took out the long accusatory logic of whether it was me or not, and did I mention that this HM egg comes with a microphone inside that plays one of her songs?

Tati: And how would you know that? OH!

Mel: I think I need one for myself just so I can ...better not divulge all my plans here. My co-worker reads this. Then again I’m already going to hell – just think how much fun it would be to have Instant Miley Ray Cyrus - on second thought that physically hurts to watch.

Tati: I like this girl. She seems legit. Her friend looks retarded though. Her dad aged well (that's all I'm saying)

ANYWAY. So you guys like our lists right? TOO BAD! Today we will educate you instead. SIT DOWN!

Today’s lesson: Wilhelm scream



Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuu

The Wilhelm scream is a result of pure laziness + the funniest scream ever produced by a human being. So, basically what happened was: In 1951, somebody recorded this funny scream to be used at a movie called “Distant Drums”. The scene, mind you, was a guy being eaten by an Alligator!



Mel: What I want to know is what the guy who recorded it was thinking when he did it. I mean what was the scene? I know...he sat through the Dragon Ball movie like I did and this was the scream he made as his brains melted out. That movie was so bad my forehead still hurts from face palming so much.

Tati: Well what I know is that nobody knows for sure who is the guy who recorded it, because at the time, they had a bunch of people coming in to record sound effects for movies.

According to some documents, the most likely to have recorded the Wilhelm Scream is this guy here. And I think he was thinking about his own music when he screamed, because it sounds worst than Dragon Ball the movie (BTW how the hell did this movie go to the theaters instead of straight to DVD?)



Ok, on with our lesson: Then, some lazy ass from Warner Bros. found it on their archives and used it at another movie from 1953, called “Charge at Feather River”. After that, obviously, Warner Bros. wanted to use the scream, which was named after the character at “Charge at Feather River” and became the Wilhelm scream.

Mel: Charge at Feather River? Well learn something new every day – there actually IS a Feather River. Dun Dun Duuuuuuun

YAY!

Tati: In the meantime, somewhere in Jamesville, NY, young Ben Burtt, a sound effects enthusiast, noticed that the scream was popping up everywhere in a bunch of movies. So what to do in this situation? Well he and his friends made a movie called "The Scarlet Blade" in 1974 and guess what? YES they used the Wilhelm scream!

Mel:

Tati: I would like to spend some time on Mr. Burtt. I was ready to hate him (just because), but then I learned that he was an uncredited sound designer at “Death Race 2000” one of my favourite movies. This movie is so great I am willing to waste your time talking about it before I continue with the amazing Wilhelm scream story.

Mel: Death Race 2000 is such a bad movie it is frigging fantastic – Watch out for the Crepe Suzettes!

Tati: Please take a look at how awesome this movie is (NOTHING BAD ABOUT IT MEL):



OH GOD! Did you see that? Now look closer, look who’s in it!



Mel: The one the only...

Tati: YESSSS my beloved Cobra! That was his first movie EVAH! (No it wasn’t it was actually his 8th).

So the movie basically is a bunch of funny cars (and people) racing across the Unites States in the year 2000. The winner will be the one who kills more people on its way to the arrival! If you ask me, that’s the perfect movie!

You know what really sucks? The remake they did! I didn’t even care to watch. But look at the summary of this piece of crap: “In 2012, amid economic chaos and high unemployment, Americans by the millions watch criminals with life sentences race armored cars on Terminal Island.”

Fuck you Hollywood! Fuck you and your fake “They-can-only-kill-each-other-if-they-were-already-set-to-die” attitude!

Mel: If it’s on TV I’ll watch it – but I have a feeling it will be a horrible horrible movie versus a good horrible like the original. There’s a fine but distinct line.

If you liked the movie you will probably like the game: Upshift Strike Racer, where players use machine guns & mines in order to take each other out while racing. Pity the controls are so bad.




Tati: Look who’s Machine Gun Joe:

What a fucking JOKE!

Ok, let’s get back to the story:

Mel: I think you need an Emergency Yodel

Tati: OH MY GOD Mel! Stop it! Are you high on sound effects? Damn woman!

SO, Ben Burtt was invited to be the sound designer on Star Wars in 1977. Guess what he did? Yep! Not only the first (fourth?) Star Wars movie had the Wilhelm scream in it; ALL Star Wars movies have it! You know what other movies have the Wilhelm scream? ALL Indiana Jones!!!! He put it in EVERY SINGLE movie he ever did (Kinda).

He is doing Star Trek guys! I’ll bet all of you will be waiting for the “Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuu” in the movie!

Mel: you can confess Mr. Burtt, Chewbacca is just a variation of this isn’t he?



Tati: R2D2 scream is another variation candidate



Another fun fact about the Wilhelm scream is that the sound designers try to blur the scream into the movies. At the “Masters Of Horrors” movie called “Homecoming” by Joe Dante, the zombies die screaming the Wilhelm way. He also used it on some of his other movies. Another famous one is "Poltergeist". The Wilhelm Scream appears when Carol Anne is watching a movie and a guy in the movie screams. It’s everywhere!!!!

You can also find the Wilhelm scream in TV shows. X-Files used it ALOT, Family Guy, thousands of cartoons, animations, you name it!

Here are two cool compilations I found on You Tube:





Mel: This reminds me of the Amen Break Drum Loop:



Tati: which was going to be a WHOLE different post in the future. Thank you Mel!

There are a lot of other movies that also used the Wilhelm scream. It became some sort of in joke for the sound designers. They use it everywhere and sometimes they also use variations of it. The funny thing is I read somewhere that Ben Burtt got all pissed off after people found out about the Wilhelm scream. Like the lame kid who says “I used to like that band when they were underground”. Grow up man!

Mel: It’s because when it went mainstream everyone was doing it and therefore no longer cool. But I agree:



It’s pointless to resist!

Tati:

SSSSSSSSSSsssssssss

Talking about bands, there is a band called A Wilhelm Scream. They are funny and make me smile, but it’s not the type of music I love the most. It is better than Star Wars though!



Mel: I don’t understand the jumping. Are they practicing for skipping rope contests?

Tati: it’s the same as headbanging for the metal dudes

More of them here.

For the ones who want to see a list of movies with the Wilhelm scream here you have a very good list: CLICK HERE silly!

I will call you later, I’m just going to take a nap...

Mel:



oh nevermind...pass me my pillow I plan to have screaming dreams.

Tati: