SFX Secrets: The Wilhelm Scream

The Wilhelm Scream: We guarantee you’ve heard it before, and believe us, after this video you’ll be hearing it in your dreams. This iconic sound effect has been around since the golden age of Hollywood, but it didn’t become a filmmaking inside joke until it was surreptitiously inserted by sound designer Ben Burtt into a little movie called Star Wars—ever heard of it? Since then, the Wilhelm Scream has popped up in hundreds of movies, including every single Star Wars movie since A New Hope…with the exception of The Last Jedi. It’s just one more way that the movie broke from convention.

Want more SFX Secrets? Check out our recent videos on the dolly zoom and how different types of film affect what you see on screen. And if you, like us, feel the need to celebrate all things Star Wars, watch our May the Fourth Be With You videos on The Sounds of Star Wars and Rogue One as Space Opera.

[unfa]

This video is surprisingly underviewed.

[Pyro-Moloch]

omg I've been hearing this scream all my life, and finally I get an explanation

[dontpanic]

The Wilhelm Scream to me is an inside joke from filmmakers gone way off the rails. Using it in anything now is like an instant fourth wall break. It's like the film itself saying: "YOU'RE WATCHING A MOVIE RIGHT NOW", loudly and obnoxiously right in your face. It literally can't be used with subtlety, most people can spot it from five miles away. Seems appropriate that it will die within the next few years.

[hey-zel]

I'm gonna start hearing it in my dreams again

[DCMarvelMultiverse]

Minty had a video on his channel about this but for some reasob is not up anymore.

[regib]

There’s a horror story that tells a different twisted truth about it.. pretty creepy!

[KibblezanBitz]

The Distant Drums scream and the scream popularized by Ben Burtt have subtle differences as well. It is worth mentioning that Wooley recorded multiple takes of the scream.

[mavtot]

Great video. What's the background music?

[risyamustario]

Wilhelm scream SFX in miraculous series with adagio dazzle dressed as metal bikini.

[TuringsAI]

The Wilhelm Scream always takes out of the movie instantly...
People have to stop using it. It was funny for a while, but it isn't funny anymore.
They jumped the shark by overusing it in my opinion...

[directorkaranshetty]

Is this a joke? A parody video?! It sounds a little unreal.

[christopherrichards]

Hate this pathetic “in joke” it’s just crap, should be banned.