Good sound design is invaluable in selling an idea. It's timeless, memorable, and above all transparent.

Spent a great deal of time this holiday watching the Stars Wars movies (all 6) with the kids and it got me thinking about how good the sound design is in those movies They really are the White Album of sound design.

Here's a top ten list of the best sounds from Star Wars (compiled by some one with an opinion!) from the King of Sound Design Ben Burtt:



The amazing thing is the simplicity of some of the sources. The Tie fighters are pitched down elephant calls, blasters are contact mics on cables on the a bridge:

We climbed to the top of a hill where there was a small radio tower in the hopes that the wind would make some interesting sounds in the tower or the support cables.  I picked up a rock and banged on the cable just for fun and Ben said,  "That sounds like the imaginary laser gun ought to sound!" 

SO he recorded the sounds there and later in California he looked around for other towers and finally found one that he especially liked in the Mohave desert in California. There was a broken brace hanging on the cable that added a special quality to the sound and that was the one he used in combination with some other sounds to create the sound of the laser gun

All of these sounds are forever linked with a particular image and added more to the success of the Star Wars franchise, then any other single element.

Ben Burtt has moved on from LucasFilm to Pixar and did the work on the lastest Pixar masterpiece Walle. Look for the DVD extras that give a glimpse into the creation of the voices. Good stuff!