discussion Wilhelm scream and other well-used effects

[RedOwl]

Are there any effects (sound effects, visual effects, etc.) that are used in games and movies that can change the tone of a scene entirely?

For me, the Wilhelm scream can turn any dramatic moment into a comedic one. I can't help but chuckle when I hear it. It goes back to when I was a kid and the old black and white movies were still on TV every weekend. I remember it mostly from the Tarzan movies. Somebody would meet a gruesome end and there was the Wilhelm scream. As a kid it was serious. Now it's hilariously overused.

 

[ErzuzB]

Yeah, some of those stock effects can disturb a scene in a bad way.
If you want a serious scene, never use those overused stock sounds. Sadly many sound designers use it as an "Easter Egg".

I don't know their actuall names, but there are also that typical door squeak, the classic glass shatter and the famous loon cry, which is used because of its melancholy tinge, but the bird only really found in Canada and some other places in the north.

 

[User_109438]

There was a background sound from Scooby -Doo a that was used in creepy scenes that many people wouldn't recognize. It was the sound of Crows, I mean hundreds of thousands. When you have that many all at once, the cacophony creates a whole new eerie sound.