Why is the wilhelm scream so prevalent?

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Why do so many movies and shows use it? I feel like every time I hear it, I’m just taken out of the show I’m watching.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdbYsoEasio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdbYsoEasio)

In: Other

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s a bit of an in-joke with tv/movie sound designers. They try to include in their work because they find it funny, and probably to see if anyone at the studio notices and makes them take it out.

Anonymous 0 Comments

For the same reason any in-joke gets popular: because people who are in on it are amused to recognize it, and it gives them a rush if others don’t recognize it. Now that the joke is out, its uses tend to be a bit more subtle so that the only people who will get it are the people paying fairly close attention to sound effects.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Same reason people used to Rickroll each other.
It’s a meme among film makers, and they think it’s funny.
It’s an example of a meme in the modern sense that predates the internet.