Questions tagged [sound-effects]
Sound effects (or audio effects) are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films.
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Origin of the whistling sound when things fall
When objects fall in cartoons they often make a whistling sound. It seems to have spread to video games and even some live action movies.
What is the origin of this sound? Things don't generally ...
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When was the first occurrence of the bleeping sound when letters appear on the screen?
Oftentimes during TV shows, when a location or a character is introduced, there is a bleeping, digital noise each time a letter appears on the screen.
I have seen this mostly in cop chase shows when ...
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Why does the roadrunner say "beep beep"?
What is the reasoning behind having the roadrunner say "beep beep" constantly? Do real roadrunner birds make a similar sound?
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How was the rattling Kodama sound made originally?
Kodama are forest spirits depicted in the movie Princess Mononoke. Their heads act and sound somewhat like a rattle when they're rotated, as displayed in this movie clip.
I'm interested in how this ...
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Is there a female version of the Wilhelm Scream?
The Wilhelm Scream is a sound effect of a man screaming, and has been used in hundreds of movies and TV episodes. Is there a female equivalent of this sound effect? Specifically, the sound of a woman ...
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Water drop sound effect in Lost [closed]
What is the water drop-like clicking sound we hear in the camp or barracks all the time in Lost? Is there an explanation or meaning for this sound?
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Term for when the sound of a movie starts before the image [duplicate]
Is there a technical term for when the first sound of a movie is heard while the screen is still black?
A hypothetical example: we hear the sound of howling wind for a second or two before we see an ...
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Why is the HBO "stinger" sound a semitone lower in English than in German?
I have been watching a number of HBO shows (Game of Thrones, Westworld, Watchmen, and The Plot Against America) on Sky Ticket in the last few years, and I noticed something curious about the "...
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Is Archer's ringtone a real song outside the Archer universe?
In the early seasons (1-3?), Archer uses a song for his ringtone that is just awful enough to be real, but I have never heard it anywhere else. Another character has the same song as a ring tone but ...
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Is the "dolphin call" from the TV show Flipper and The Bourne Identity (2002) actually a modified kookaburra call?
A comment below Who pioneered the use of Laughing Kookaburra birds to create the impression of a jungle setting? links to a The Sound and the Foley blogpost That Jungle Sound which explores the use of ...
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Who pioneered the use of Laughing Kookaburra birds to create the impression of a jungle setting?
I was sent a link to the first video below and it immediately sent me back to my childhood watching reruns of what were already old films on Sunday afternoon television.
I'm sure I've heard this bird'...
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What is the effect used in Tron Legacy to give voices a "digital" sound?
In Tron Legacy several voices have some kind of effect applied that makes them sound "digital".
For example, the voice over at the start of this video.
It's ...
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Was Rami Malek singing or lipsyncing?
In Bohemian Rhapsody Rami Malek played Freddie Mercury from Queen. In the scenes where his character was singing, was the actor really singing with his voice, or only lipsyncing to recordings of ...
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Is the dynamic range (audio) of some movies way too high?
As the title implies, I tend to think the dynamic range of movies is too high.
I often find myself scrambling to change the volume after listening at a previously acceptable level. Why would I want ...
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Why do some movie remasters replace the original sound effects with new ones?
Why do some movie remasters (and I wonder if there are TV shows remastered this way too) replace the original sound effects with new ones?
For instance some movies edit the gun sounds in the original ...
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Has Hollywood used the same recording of cat meows and screeching in multiple movies?
I know about the repeated use of the same "Wilhelm scream" and thunder sound effects in Hollywood movies and TV shows. Viewing the recent film Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, several scenes with the ...
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Do they still use tiger roars in the 2019 "Lion King" movie?
In the original Lion King movie, the lion's roars (or at least Mufasa's) was not actually a lion's roar; it was a combination of other sounds. From the wikia:
The roar that Mufasa roars offscreen ...
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Do other-language dubs rerecord sound effects?
I was watching a Spanish version of "Circle of Life" from The Lion King (1994) and noticed that Simba's sneeze-- presumably recorded by Jonathan Taylor Thomas-- sounded the same.
When dubbing a movie ...
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How did they make these gun sound effects from the 1970's?
Gun sounds from old films often had a whining sound like an electric motor or a 500CC motorbike. What materials were used to record that sound?
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Why do old gun fight scenes sound so weird and cartoonish?
In older movies (pre-90's), many gun fight scenes have cartoon sounds. I can almost imagine the scene drawn and the words KAPOING, POW, ZOINK being shown. Here's an example from 007.
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What were the firework noises in First Man?
At the beginning of the movie First Man (2018) there was a message displayed to the audience warning about some firework noises which were an intended part of the movie and not to be alarmed. I was ...
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Why native Russian series sound dubbed even in Russian? Almost unnatural [closed]
I have been watching a few Russian series lately. In some of them, when Russian actors and actresses speak, the sound seems unnatural, almost dubbed. Or it does not blend in naturally with the ...
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What is the reason for using this sound effect for Gus Fring (season 4 episode 2)?
In "Better Call Saul", season 4, at the end of the episode 2 when Gus Fring pronounces the final sentence, his voice tone is made lower, the voice itself is made louder and some reverberations are ...
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Are there any movies with binaural recording?
Basically a binaural recording is an audio fragment that is recorded as if the device had two ears, simulating human properties. Whenever you hear a sound that is, say, coming from the left, you don't ...
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Origin of on-screen location sound in spy movies
In spy movies, there are often sequences showing an overview of the ocean or a city, with a location like "SOUTH PACIFIC SEA" being written, letter by letter (often uppercase / fixed width / green / ...
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What is a layback sound mixer?
Inspired by this question:
Fun Friday: What even is a layback sound mixer anyway?
"Layback Sound Mixer" appears in movie credits. What does that job entail? Clearly, it involves mixing layback sound,...
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In Darkest Hour, what was the sound each time the date changed?
In Darkest Hour, several times the date appears onscreen as a graphic, and it switches from one date to another. The change is accompanied by the sound of an egg timer's "ping", and then a heavy ...
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What actually happens when a telephone rings in a movie or TV show?
In a movie or TV show, when a telephone rings is the sound coming from
The actual telephone in the studio/location?
A person from the crew creating a ringing sound?
Post-production?
For example, I ...
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Dustin's Grrrr - Fake or real?
Dustin in Stranger Things performs a "grrrr" at multiple occasions.
The sound is weirdly pleasing. I dont think anyone else could produce the same sound. One could ...
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What sounds from the Star Wars franchise feature the "Robin Hood Arrow"?
Sound designer Ben Burtt has worked on 7 Star Wars films as a sound designer. He claims that his favorite sound is from the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood.
My favorite sound is the "...
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Was the famous “Wilhelm Scream” used in “The Last Jedi?”
Did the famous Wilhelm Scream, used in all the previous Star Wars films, appear in The Last Jedi?
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North America version of BBC Radiophonic Workshop (RE: Sound FX)
I'm re-watching The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits and have heard several different sound FX and sound samples that I know were used in other shows like Star Trek (TOS).
Does anyone know if there ...
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Why does Nolan fill his recent hits with permanent noise/music?
I just watched Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk (2017) on the big screen, and all I could focus on during the projection was Nolan's permanent use of noise/music that tries to manipulate emotions to the ...
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How is the "skid to a stop" cartoon stock sound effect done?
You know the one I'm talking about. A cartoon character is running, and then suddenly they have to stop, so they dig their heels in, lean back, and skid to a stop, accompanied by a rapid-fire series ...
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Where did Gilligan's Island get the sound for the Mars probe in S02E04?
While watching Gilligan's Island 2x04 "Smile, You're on Mars Camera", I was amused to note that the probe makes the same sound as Spock's scanner/viewer on the Enterprise bridge does in Star Trek (TOS)...
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What movie does the dramatic sound effect come from?
Where does this sound effect (3 notes) come from?
It's used for dramatic effect, so I'm assuming an old and famous drama movie?
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What is the difference between Sound Mixing and Sound Editing?
I would like to understand what the difference is between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. Could someone explain?
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Did the Red Dwarf Season 3 intro steal the crash sound from Empire Strikes back where Luke lands on Degobah?
I was watching the honest Trailers review of Empire Strikes Back, and I heard the crash sound for Luke on Degobah. It made me think of something.
Here is Luke's crash on Degobah.
Here is the intro ...
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Do sound effects, specially in horror movies, use emotion initiating frequencies?
The background score of horror movies, tends to use digital sound effects these days, rather than original sound from instruments like a cello, drum or keyboards.
Emotions
Music impacts the part of ...
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Judge Doom and the Wicked Witch of the West sound the same when they melt
At the end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the villain Judge Doom gets to take his own medicine: he gets doused with the toon-destroying Dip that he'd produced for use on Toontown.
The sound effect of ...
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How do actors create the same emotion during sound dubbing sessions?
When you record your voice in the studio to sync it with the video, how do you make sure to create the same emotion that you had while shooting?
Somehow dubbing seems like a very cut-off process ...
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Name for this common stock scream? (not the Wilhelm scream)
NO NO NOOOO AAaAaAaAAAAARGH
I first came across this scream when I viewed Timesplitters 2 (when players get set on fire), and while it's nowhere near as popular as the tediously overused Wilhelm ...
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What was used to create the hyperspace jump sounds in the original Star Wars trilogy?
In A New Hope and the other original trilogy movies, the Millennium Falcon would make a couple sounds as it jumped to light speed. First there was a kind of charging effect sound as the stars begin ...
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What is the cultural significance of the "kaiju screech"?
Last night I watched The Mighty Peking Man for the first (and probably last) time. It's a 1977 Cantonese King Kong ripoff, made purely "to capitalize on the craze surrounding the 1976 remake of King ...
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Which sounds are genuine in BBC's Planet Earth?
The BBC nature documentary Planet Earth has a mixture of genuinely recorded nature sounds and artificial sound effects. I have found articles in the press which confirm this.
So is there any way to ...
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Adult talking in Peanuts
I have always wondered: why do adults in Peanuts not really talk?
Why do they only make that wah wah wah noise? (By the way, what was it? That sounds like a trombone or a trumpet with a mute.)
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Why are sound effects done so different from reality?
While filming captures both the audio and video of an actor's performance, producers will often dub over sound effects for the interaction between the actors and objects. The horse walking down a road ...
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How are the sound effects of the Shaw brothers martial art movies produced?
Beforehand I admit I like those old martial art movies from the Shaw Brothers. Recently looking "Five Element Ninjas" after a long time I noticed that the sound effects are very distinct from the now ...
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Why do movies think the speed of sound is as fast as the speed of light?
In action movies where things blow up or heroes are shot by snipers from a long distance, or where fireworks are shown, the sound and the flash of the thing making the sound usually occur ...
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Why do punches sound like a "slap" in older movies?
Almost all of the of the older movies (from 25-40 years ago) that feature fighting scenes seem to have a very common depiction of a punch that sounds like a slap. I could never understand why did they ...
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