Posted in Marriage
I'm going to clue you in on a bit of movie trivia. The challenge of any sound designer in the movie-making industry is to use realistic sound effects to heighten the experience of the movie goers. Sometimes that challenge is not enough, however.
For most, you would have to be made aware of what it is, but you've heard a Wilhelm Scream before. It is the "aigh!" scream usually made by someone in a movie who is falling or being dispatched in a particularly painful way. Around for more than half a century of moviemaking, it is a cheesy effect originally made to sound like a man being eaten by alligators. Ben Burtt, a sound designer, apparently found it and started a little competition. Who could get away with the most natural use of this sound effect? How often could they put it in without being obvious?
It might surprise you, but according to one site, it's been in 115 movies and several movies use it twice or even three times. Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and, believe it or not, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King all have it somewhere between the opening title and the credits. It is hidden well sometimes, but if you know about it, you'll catch it every time.
Men like Burtt are creative and imaginative, but also characteristically men. They take something benign and make it a competition. Where one could merely applaud the sneaky use and go on about one's business, men have a tendency to try to out-do each other. It is a natural part of the way God made men. Competition on even the most trivial things can motivate us. That is why games have such enormous interest to guys. Competition is vital to men even when it's over a plastic trophy or a tally of who is better at his job. God wired us this way...and I wonder if he was laughing to himself when he did it.
