Time has been somewhat tight for me this week, so you're getting an abbreviated edition of the Sunday Top Ten; a quick countdown of some of my favourite movie-related sound effects.
10. Tarzan
Created by: Johnny Weissmuller, actor
First used in: Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Comments: Raw, primal, and completely distinctive. Imitators can only come off as comical by comparison.
9. Blaster
Created by: Ben Burtt, sound designer
First used in: Star Wars (1977)
Comments: Ingeniously fabricated by whacking a taught metal cable with a wrench, it plays like stoccatic punctuation on the soundtrack.
http://soundbible.com/470-Laser-Blaster.html
8. Goofy holler
Created by: Hannes Schrolle, professional yodeller
First used in: The Art of Skiing (1941)
Comments: The finest, goofiest, most hilarious of comedy screams.
7. T-Rex
Created by: Gary Rydstrom & Richard Hymns, sound designers
First used in: Jurassic Park (1993)
Comments: How many animal noises can you hear in this ferocious bellow? They used a tiger, an alligator, and a baby elephant (plus a whale's blowhole for its breath).
6. Castle thunder
Created by: C. Roy Hunter & William Hedgcock, sound recordists
First used in: Frankenstein (1931)
Comments: Though now rendered moot by cleaner sounding thunder claps, indisputably iconic in its day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Castle_thunder.ogg
5. MGM's Leo the lion
Created by: Jackie, professional lion
First used in: 1928
Comments: A company watermark with some personality, far more interesting than Warner Bros' and Universal's silent logos of the time.
4. Deep Note (THX audio logo)
Created by: James A. Moorer, doctor of computer science
First used in: THX trailer preceding Return of the Jedi (1983)
Comments: Possibly one of the coolest synthesized sounds ever made. LOVE hearing this in a surround-sound theatre!
3. Godzilla
Created by: Akira Ifukube, composer
First used in: Godzilla (1954)
Comments: Despite an oddly metallic quality, still an awesome and intimidating roar, cleverly created by a sticky glove on bass strings.
2. Lightsaber
Created by: Ben Burtt, sound designer
First used in: Star Wars (1977)
Comments: A dangerous, definitive buzz communicates both the gracefulness and lethality of the weapon.
1. Wilhelm scream
Created by: ???, actor
First used in: Distant Drums (1951)
Comments: The cult classic of sound effects, if there is such a thing, revived from its 1950s origins by Ben Burtt in the late 1970s. Listening for Wilhelm screams in action movies since then is always a fun game.
