Fight Club
Director David Fincher wasn’t about to let bad sound effects get in the way of the greatness that is his 1999 film ‘Fight Club.’ The cheesy sounding punch noises that people were so used to hearing in kung-fu flicks just weren’t going to cut it. So, he improvised. Ren Kylce, a sound designer for the film, got to work on finding new ways to get that real ‘punch’ sound without actually punching people. He ended up using pigs feet to hit larger pieces of meat. Also, just to spice things up, he cracked walnuts inside of chicken carcases with a baseball bat. That is what you’re hearing when you hear punches land in ‘Fight Club.’
X-Men
Craig Berkey and Stephen Flick are responsible for that noise you hear in 2000’s ‘X-Men’ when Wolverine’s claws seep out of his fists. In order to achieve something that sounded more realistic and not so ‘comical,’ they knew that they needed to experiment. A lot of work went into engineering the perfect sound, such as understanding how long the claws were and what speed they are exiting the flesh. To achieve said perfect sound, they combined the noise of a sword being drawn from its sheath, cracking nuts, and some chicken carcases being slowly ripped apart.
Transformers
The little pest of a robot, known as ‘Frenzy’ in 2007’s transformers was voiced by Reno Wilson. However, it needed a little bit extra in the sound department. So, sound designers threw in the sound of some metal wind-up clocks and the subtle sound of a baby cougar growling.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
David Farmer was given some heavy duty responsibility when he was put in charge of the sounds in 2001’s first installment of the LOTR trilogy. He had a hard time with the orcs of Moria in particular. Because they didn’t speak all that much, he had a harder time finding the perfect noise for them to make. When visiting the Marine Mammal Center in California, he found the perfect animal for them: Baby elephant seals.
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
David Farmer had another big challenge when it came to finding the perfect noises for the Uruk-hai. They were bigger, more intimidating, and came in larger numbers. So, in order to find the perfect noise, David combined the noises of sea lions, tigers, and lions. In order to add a little big of a creepier vibe to the noises, human vocals were used as well.
Tarzan
In 1939’s ‘Tarzan,’ Johnny Weissmuller hits us with the now-iconic ‘Tarzan yell.’ Though he claims to have made the noise completely on his own, producers MGM say otherwise. According to them, the yell was accompanied by a combination of a hyena yell, the high C of a soprano, a violin pluck, and the ‘bleat’ of a camel.
Jurassic Park
For sound technicians to achieve the famously fearsome sound of the T-Rex in 1993’s ‘Jurassic Park,’ they combined the noises of a baby elephant, alligator gurgles, and a tiger growl. Grunt noises came courtesy of koalas of all animals, and that heavy breathing noise came from the blowhole of a whale. Also, you know that scene where Donald Gennaro is eaten while sitting on the john? That sound of him being chomped on comes courtesy of a horse eating corn on the cob.
Star Wars
The odd yodel/groan noise that the beloved ‘Chewbacca’ makes in ‘Star Wars’ is said to be the vocals of a 4-month-old bear. There are rumours, however, that the noise also involves a badger, a sea lion, a seal, and a walrus.
Star Wars
For the intimidating noise of a TIE Fighter, Ben Burtt used a combination of World War II Ju 87 (Stuka) dive-bombers and slowed-down elephant noises.
