A JOURNEY INTO SOUND: THE ORIGINS OF 25 CLASSIC SOUND EFFECTS

The simple sound of a car, heavy footsteps, the blast of a laser, explosions, the roar of a monster. Sound design is a critical piece to selling the moment of a character, a scene, and the film as a whole. What you hear in a film is usually the result of one or two people who are using ordinary items to create extraordinary sounds. Here are the origins of 25 sounds that sold the moment.

The sound of a tie-fighter is the altered sound of an elephant.

Chewie's iconic roar is a mix of bears, lions, and badgers.

The blaster sound in the STAR WARS universe is simply a hammer hitting steel cables.

The lightsaber sounds are achieved by combining a projector motor and feedback from tube televisions.

The sound of AT-ATs walking is a machinists punch press.

The speeder bikes in RETURN OF THE JEDI are jet engines mixed and manipulated in the studio.

The sounds of droids marching in the STAR WARS prequels are simply a seed spreader from a farm.

The sound of the rolling boulder in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK is a far less adventurous Honda Civic going down a gravel driveway.

The sound of E.T.’s movement was created using jelly in a wet towel, popcorn in a bag, and packed liver pushed in a flat container. Gross.

The Velociraptor hatching in JURASSIC PARK is an ice cream cone being crushed mixed with the sounds of melons being squished. Who's hungry?

The T-Rex scream is a mix of lions, tigers, alligators, elephants, whales, and koalas.

The sound of Freddy's glove in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET is a surgical blade sliding against a machete. That is fucking terrifying.

The famous sound of the doors on the Enterprise in STAR TREK is nothing more than paper sliding out of an envelope.

The sound of bullets hitting the T-1000 in TERMINATOR 2 is actually a drinking cup with weight added and dropped into yogurt.

And when the T-1000 passes through the bars in the psych ward? That's wet dog food slowly coming out of a can.

In the beginning of TERMINATOR 2, the sound of crunching skulls is the sound of pistachios being ground into a metal plate.

The sound of the Delorean doors opening in the BACK TO THE FUTURE films is the sound of a car window regulator.

The sound of Linda Blair's head spinning in THE EXORCIST is a simple leather wallet with credit cards being manipulated. Not nearly creepy enough.

The sound of the Balrog in LORD OF THE RINGS is cinderblocks being dragged over a wooden floor.

The punches in FIGHT CLUB is an appetizing mix of slabs of meat being hit with pig's feet (?) and chicken meat being beaten with a bat. I am Jack's amazement.

Godzilla's roar is a rubber glove coated in pine tar resin rubbed against the strings of a double bass.

The punches in RAGING BULL are a mix of the crew hitting slabs beef and manipulated animal and engine noises.

The sound of proton packs in GHOSTBUSTERS is a turbine engine mixed in the studio.

The death ray in the original WAR OF THE WORLDS, just like the blasters in STAR WARS, a hammer hitting steel cables.

The Predator heartbeat is a sponge soaking up water in a glass vase. Fancy.

Here endeth the lesson.

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Geoff Todd

Geoff Todd is the Editor-in-Chief of One Perfect Shot. He lives in Portland, Oregon where they eat things out of carts and ride bikes to strip clubs. He's one of those assholes that thinks cinema can change the world, and started One Perfect Shot to help prove that point. Tweets @TheGeoffTodd