commonplace as to become cliches. Let's review some of the most notable sounds in film.
The Wilhelm Scream
The Wilhelm scream is a frequently-used film and television stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the film Distant Drums. The effect gained new popularity after it was used in Star Wars and many other blockbuster films as well as television programs and video games. The scream is often used when someone is falling to his death from great height.
Frankenstein Castle Thunder
Classic Telephone Ringing
The universal telephone ring was commonly heard in the ’70s and’80s but it still makes appearances in film and TV today. It is frequently used in movies set in those two decades such as Anchorman. The effect shot to fame when it was heard in the opening of the Rockford Files – just before the answering phone kicks in. It went on to appear in TV shows such as the Six Million Dollar Man, the Bionic Woman, Magnum PI, and films like Close Encounters, Ghostbusters, and The Sting.
The Movie Owl
Every time an owl is heard in a movie, it is the Great Horned Owl. For some reason it has become the ubiquitous “owl sound” to most movie goers. This is one of those ambient effects which very rarely occurs at the same time as an owl appears on the screen. When you hear this sound you know it is nighttime and you know that something spooky is happening or going to happen.
Hawks and Eagles
Imagine a camera panning across a landscape which finally ends in a high mountain. What sound will you hear? You will hear a hawk or a bald eagle screeching. This sound is also heard just before or just after a climactic part of an adventure movie set in the wilderness. This sound signifies the great outdoors. And everytime you hear it it is the same bird: a red tailed hawk.
Tarzan Call
The Tarzan yell is the distinctive, ululating yell of the character Tarzan, as portrayed by actor Johnny Weissmuller. The yell was a creation of the movies and the closest thing to it in the books is simply called “The victory cry of the bull ape.” The yell appears in many cartoons and other movies which use it for comic effect.
Loons
The cry of the common loon gets a lot of play in the movies. It is a sound mostly associated with wilderness—large, pristine lakes where humans rarely intrude.
Screaming Cat
Every time a vehicle crashes, trash cans fall over, something blows up, or any chaos occurs off-screen, after the sounds of breaking glass and other Stock Sound Effects, the same poor cat gets caught in the crossfire and makes that same tortured screech. Its origins are unknown.
Wolf Howl
Every time a full moon arises in a movie, we hear the lonesome call of a wolf. Film makers seem so determined to add this “spooky” sound effect that the wolf sounds even appear in many films set in locations where there are no wolves. The most popular wolf sound used by film makers is the timber wolf. Now just add some loons and a great horned owl and you don’t even need a script to set the scene.
The Howie Scream
Unlike the Wilhelm Scream, this one doesn’t have an official name though it appears to been dubbed the Howie Scream because it is the sound Howie Long makes in Broken Arrow right before he gets killed. This and the Wilhelm scream are just the two most common of about 15 regularly used stock screams, most of which have yet to be named.
