Diegetic Sound History and Research

Research of diegetic sound carried out in AS is something that we can again use and consider in the production of our trailer.

Foley Artists


Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to film, video, and other mediums in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. Common items used for different sound effects include:



• A thin stick makes a whoosh

• An old chair makes a controllable creaking sound
• A heavy staple gun combined with other small metal sounds make good gun noises
• Gelatin and hand soap make squishing noises

• Frozen romaine lettuce makes bone or head injury noises
• A heavy phone book makes body-punching sounds

History- The Wilhelm Scream

The Wilhelm scream is a film and television sound effect first used in 1951 in Distant Drums. The sound effect was taken on set in one take and is a high pitched man screaming. It became very popular in the industry (its use often becoming an inside joke) after it was used in Star Wars and many other films, shows and video games. The scream is often used when someone is shot, falls from a great height, or in general dramatic death scenes.

The sound is named after Private Wilhelm, a character in The Charge at Feather River, a 1953 western in which the character is shot with an arrow. This was believed to be the third movie to use the sound effect.

The Wilhelm scream began to become popular when Benjamin Burtt Jr. found the original recording (which was labelled as "Man being eaten by alligator") and put it into a scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Following on from this, Burtt began using the effect in other films he worked on; including projects with George Lucas or Steven Spielberg. Other sound designers and executives in the industry picked up on the effect, and used the scream in more productions creating an ongoing tradition in the film industry.

Our Production:

As our piece is an urban drama, it will involve a lot of action scenes that will feature in the trailer. The previous video shows the creation of diegetic sound effects an action scene involving a fight. This is useful to us as it is something we hope to include in our trailer. As opposed to the more subtle and eerie noises we used in AS media, we will need to experiment with more noises of punching and running etc.