Why do movies/tv use the same canned sound effects (think Wilhem scream) when they can just record the sound on set or even use a different sound effect?

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Is there a reason that you hear the same sound effects recycled in so many movies? There must be hundreds of “crowd screaming” sound effects but they always use that same one. Is that sound effect just that good?

In: Culture

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

i know a little bit about this. movies do hire [foley artists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foley_(filmmaking)) to record original sound effects for their films, but simply using stock sound effects is a lot cheaper and a lot faster. it’s usually a combination of both. if you need the sound of a police siren or a dog barking, you are going to just use something from the library rather than record something new and original.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The Wilhelm scream is a running gag in show business. I find it distracting. Not about money saving.

But skimping on sound effects is a good way to save money. Most people can’t tell the difference.

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s often cheaper to just reuse a sound effect than make a new one. Couple that with sound artists are people too, they’ll go with what they know and like out of that studio library. And they know they can use that skund effect reliably where a new one might not sound just right.