The Wilhelm Scream – movies will never be the same!

Alec Couras has written a really useful post ’80+ videos for Tech. and Media Literacy’.  And it is really useful so you MUST follow the link. He has pulled together an amazing array of links to videos and has catergorised them just to make the list even more useful. Alec makes mention of a plan to transfer the list to a wiki  – a very good idea, but I’d understand if it doesn’t happen; he seems a very busy man. Perhaps it could become a collaborative effort as all wikis should be! 

The Wilhelm Scream is one of the videos I’ve stumbled upon thanks to this list. I love it; can’t wait to see another George Lucas film to lie in wait for the scream’s appearance. I’m going to upload it to our Yr 9 Ning because I’m pretty sure my students are going to get a kick out of it too. It ‘s something that I think is bound to promote some fun, connective conversation.

It reminds me of the way Stephen Spielberg used the same sound effect in his first movie Duel and his mega hit Jaws. The dying moments of both films see the end of the beasts terrorising man, a semi trailer in one instance and a white pointer shark in the other. I can’t find a video on YouTube that captures both moments for a side by side comparison, but the video below captures the final scene from Duel with the music from the final scene from Jaws.

Thankfully, Wikipedia can verify that I’m not making this up;

The dinosaur roar sound effect that is heard as the truck goes over the cliff is also heard in Jaws, also directed by Steven Spielberg, as the shark’s carcass sinks into the ocean. Spielberg has said that this is because he feels there is a “kinship” between Duel and Jaws, as they are both “about these leviathans targeting everyman.” He has also said that inserting the sound effect into Jaws was “my way of thanking Duel for giving me a career.”^[1]

Don’t feel sorry for me knowing seemingly unimportant information like this. I’m a hit at trivia nights, truly I am.