Funny "gifts" from the editors

[jayfrigo]

On the dub stage we used to get some funny "unadvertised specials" from the editorial crew. Some were simple, but still sometimes worth a chuckle, such as little fart sounds in the FX session as serious actors stood up from chairs. Others were more involved. There was one where it was a wide shot of a line of people walking across an open space, and one stumbled briefly, got back up, and continued in the column. The FX people added a gunshot just before he fell, and then after he got up, a line that said "Don't worry, I'll walk it off!" It had the room in stitches.

These can be dangerous. If it's a TV mix, and you miss one and it makes it to air... bad news and lost jobs. And depending on the client, they may take serious offense, so don't let them play when clients are present, unless you know they like practical jokes.

[Berolzheimer]

Wilhelm!!!!!

[Berolzheimer]

I've been known to do these things from time to time.....*ahem*. Depending of course on how receptive I think the mixers & clients will be, of course, and I do always put some kind of warning in the cue sheet so's not to put the mixers in a bad position.

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by Berolzheimer

I've been known to do these things from time to time.....*ahem*. Depending of course on how receptive I think the mixers & clients will be, of course, and I do always put some kind of warning in the cue sheet so's not to put the mixers in a bad position.

I always list the "extras" as normal sounding cues- sometimes they just make it in if the mixer isn't paying too much attention-

some of my personal favs I have gotten in to tracks-

The Alamo- We could not get a wilhelm in to save our lives- we tried and tried and tried- failing miserably- But at the final moment- we actually did get the famous Howard Dean "I have a scream" utterance in in it's place- it was truly wonderful.

Against the Ropes- What started off as a temp lame ass gag- one where we put farts on Meg Ryan (who played a saucy boxing promoter) when she gets up out of a desk chair. We were aghast that we left it in, but we got the stems back and it made it in- And it actually got carried into the final....

Fantastic Four- We got 4 wihelms in- 2 of which are literally less than 10 seconds apart- I have to give Doug Hemphill extra credit because he was quite supportive in the endeavor.

charles maynes

[georgia]

We're in the middle of mixing the Charley Murphy film right now... In one scene he twists off a bottlecap of a fruit drink. During the film he does this a number of times and always says... " Ahhh.... Refreshing!" So in this one big close up he pops the top, takes a big swig and delivers a HUGE belch delivered in reality by our studio manager... a really cute cuban girl, Jessica! It'll never make the finals but it still gets laughs everytime we roll it thru during pre mixing and editing....

cheers
geo

[dkatz42]

Originally Posted by Berolzheimer

Wilhelm!!!!!

For those of us who are culturally impaired, what's the reference?

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by dkatz42

For those of us who are culturally impaired, what's the reference?

http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm/

Steve Lee does it great justice on his site-


charles maynes

[Jazzpunk]

Originally Posted by dkatz42

For those of us who are culturally impaired, what's the reference?

http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm/

Damn, Charles beat me by 2 minutes....must get more caffeine

[georgia]

ok... anybody got a copy of the Wilhelm scream that I can get? It's *got* to go in the charley Murphy film i'm doing! I had no idea....

cheers
geo

[santacore]

I used to throw a few in each film. Usually some form of potty humor that was easy to catch. Either that or the classic bouncing knife in the tree sound if it was a teen flick. They rarely made it past the pre-mix but it was always fun. Darn I miss doing features.

[starcrash13]

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[dkatz42]

Awesome, I never knew. Now movie-watching will never be the same.

I love specialty inside jokes, kind of like Alan Smithee.

The compendium of Wilhelms is too cool...

[Haydn]

There are links to wav files of the wilhelm scream in the site that was posted above ^

[C Heat]

Obnoxious seen as a compilation

[C Heat]

This is cool http://www.cafepress.com/wilhelmscream

[Jules]

Funny..

[dogandpony]

This is great stuff, thanks for sharing, I'm going to have to sneak that into my work from time to time.

[soundboy]

Years ago, when I was recording and editing foley for MOW's, I would insert a fart or belch at the inappropriate moment. I always gave timecodes and descriptions to the mixer handling those elements. The last thing you want at a high pressure mix, thats not going well is a practical joke. The mixer could gage the room and either let it play, or not. I knew an effects editor, who had a particular motorcycle by, that he always tried to slip somewhere in the mix.

[subbasshead]

I was working on a scene in a film recently where a girl ran into a room
& slapped the sleeping guy to wake him up... i cut in some FX & a vocal
from a bruce lee movie that got more than a few laughs...

ditto for syncing up the vocal from a hip hop track to an animatronic
sheep from this film:
http://www.blacksheep-themovie.com/

i totally agree with this quote:

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities. ~Jean Houston

humour as a problem solving tool!

[mastermix]

to this thread

[seanmccoy]

Originally Posted by Haydn

There are links to wav files of the wilhelm scream in the site that was posted above ^

Funny, but my kids have said over and over that they heard this same scream in many movies including Lord of the Rings, and I dismissed it as coincidence since no self-respecting big budget picture would be pulling from a library, would they? Just saw a little news story on this and it turns out they were more on the ball than I am! So now I must put it in the new Bruce Campbell movie I'm working on. I haven't been able to find a clean copy anywhere, though. Anybody have a link?

[Berolzheimer]

Originally Posted by seanmccoy

Funny, but my kids have said over and over that they heard this same scream in many movies including Lord of the Rings, and I dismissed it as coincidence since no self-respecting big budget picture would be pulling from a library, would they? Just saw a little news story on this and it turns out they were more on the ball than I am! So now I must put it in the new Bruce Campbell movie I'm working on. I haven't been able to find a clean copy anywhere, though. Anybody have a link?

The Wilhelm Scream, Take 4

Funny, it's been getting a lot of publicity the last few days.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Berolzheimer

The Wilhelm Scream, Take 4

Funny, it's been getting a lot of publicity the last few days.

There are 6 screams in all, but #4 seems to get used the most. If you get hold of the whole 6-take "session," check out the charming (but extremely faint) bit of direction after #3.

[MT Groove]

If you can't get enough of it, check this out! :D YouTube - The Wilhelm Scream Compilation

[seanmccoy]

Thanks for the link, but the file sounds like it has been through the ringer a few times. I'm still searching for a hi-fi version, if anybody has any inside scoop. Some of the ripped files were pretty good, but of course all had music and/or other audio mixed in.

Sean

[Vandergraf]

Originally Posted by charles maynes

Sound Effects - The Wilhelm Scream

Steve Lee does it great justice on his site-


charles maynes

Thanks for that! Very interesting read.


Van

[introvert]

I think I've posted this story here somewhere before, but I snuck a Wilhelm into Tony Hawk's Project 8 (was on multiple platforms). After you unlock the theme park area, there are several functional rollercoasters. One of the "passengers screaming" variations has Wilhelm in the mix, so if you lurk around by the coaster for a while you'll probably hear him.

Haven't snuck it in anywhere else though.

And since someone brought up belching... there's a creature sound I created for a project recently that's sort of an idle, lurking around kind of sound. The creature was really ugly and disgusting. Anyway, the sound is (although processed a little) me belching into a microphone after very quickly chugging two beers. Kind of gross, but the monster was supposed to be gross, and I'm not above doing stupid human tricks to get the sound I want

[uosdwis]

Wilhelms are funny... up to a point. A couple of more appearances in high-profile releases and some more attention and it will become too famous and then it ends up distracting (a larger portion of) the audience. So instead of going "OMG that guy just fell off a cliff", they go "cool, a Wilhelm!". Though in a comedy situation, it could possibly add to the laughs...

I wonder what the next Wilhelm will be...

[Henchman]

I re-did the opening theme music to a show I was working on called "The Collector", using the loveboat theme.
The production company ended up putting it on the show's website.

http://files.thecollectortv.com/loveboat-02.mp3