Sound Effects

Sound effects were originally added to productions by creating the sounds needed in real-time for each production. Various sound making devices and props (i.e. coconuts shells for horse hooves, sheet of metal for thunder) were used in place of the real sounds. With the advent of radio and specifically radio dramas, the role of sound effects increased in importance. Film went from silent to "talkies" and sound effects also became a large part of this new medium.

Audio recording technology continued to evolve, making recording and playing back sound easier and more accessible. As this happened the more commonly used sound effects, as well as harder to replicate ones, were prerecorded, so they would be easily available when needed. This also allowed the same sound effect to be used multiple times.

Both producer’s and listener’s sensibilities also began evolving with technology and the need for more realistic sound effects or using the "real" sound increased, so the need for these prerecorded sound effects become even more essential.

As the quality of audio recording and playback increased with time so did access to a wider variety of highly specific "real" sounds that enhanced the quality of productions. For example, rather than a replicated gunshot a producer might select a real gunshot from a certain type of gun, shot under very specific conditions. This increased access to "real" sound effects recordings became increasingly important to producers.

These collections of prerecorded of sound effects, both "real" and sound designed, began to be referred to as stock sound effects and were organized into "sound effect libraries". Stock sound effects became widely used and valuable assets of sound design artists and production companies. Some stock sound effects have been reused so many times that they have become easily recognizable and some even clichés, such as the scream of a Red-tailed Hawk, castle thunder, or the Wilhelm and Howie screams

This is a short clip of a guy making the noises needed for the film e.g drinks being poured, the girl and guy walking, voices and glass smashing.

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This video will show you how they used objects and just everyday stuff and made the sounds of things like a light saber and droids for the film star wars.