These 7 Sound Effect Film "Hacks" Will Seriously Change The Way You Watch Movies

Nothing is out of the question when inventing sounds for the silver screen.

Did you know a lot of sounds in our favorite movies and TV shows are created in post-production (the editing process) and aren’t what we believe them to be?

Disney / Via tenor.com

It’s quite fascinating to learn that random objects are used to create different sound effects. Things that are lying around, like plastic cups and house keys. There’s no limit to a sound designer’s imagination when it comes to creating a believable audio.

NBC / Via giphy.com

The soundtrack can make or break the movie, so here’s seven inventive sounds in particular that didn’t disappoint:

1. Plastic cups scraping together — the Black Riders from TLOTR

New Line Cinema

Do you remember the terrifying Black Riders from The Lord of the Rings and how when they open their mouths a very unsettling screech comes out? Well, it’s plastic cups scraping together. That’s all, folks.

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2. Digitized raindrops — the code from The Matrix

Warner Bros.

The sound for the Matrix code is digitized raindrops against window panes to create the sound of the letters as they rotate and fall.

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3. Paper being pulled from an envelope and sliding a squeaky sneaker — sliding starship doors from the OG Star Trek movies

CBS

In most of the original Star Trek movies, the doors in the starship slide with a unique sound. You won’t be able to un-hear it once you know what it is. Ready? It’s a paper getting pulled from an envelope and then a squeaky shoe across the floor.

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4. Combo of whales, lions, alligators, elephants, and koala sounds — the dinosaur noises from Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park

We don’t actually know how dinosaurs sound like, so our point of reference could be the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. Their noises are a combo of whales, lions, alligators, elephants, and koala. The sound designer even added in some noises from his own pet Jack Russel.

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5. Eerie music — all space scenes from Gravity

Warner Bros.

The soundtrack for Gravity is special, because there’s no sounds in space, so during all the collisions you can hear music instead. I didn’t realize it fully until watching it for the second time.

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6. Moving microphones around — the lightsabers in Star Wars

Disney/Lucasfilm

In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the creators wanted to create more sounds where the lightsabers are audibly heard being waved around, whipped through the air, and whacked by other lightsabers. They wanted a Doppler effect, which they found when they waved a microphone through the air.

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7. And plucked fishing line — Spider-Man's web shooters from Spider-Man (2002)

Sony Pictures

The iconic sound of Peter Parker's webs shooting in and out, wrapping around his surroundings were created by Stephen Flick, and he mixed nearly 40 sounds together. This mix being plucked fishing line, magnetic film being cinched on a spindle, shaving cream being spurt out, and compressed air being released.

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Did any of those sounds surprise you? Let me know in the comments below!