Ben Burtt

Benjamin "Ben" Burtt, Jr. is a sound designer, film editor, director, screenwriter, and voice actor. He has worked as sound designer on various films, including the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, WALL-E, and Star Trek. He is responsible for creating many of the iconic sound effects heard in the Star Wars film franchise, including the binary speech of R2-D2, the lightsaber hum, the sound of the blaster guns, and the heavy-breathing sound of Darth Vader, which he made by breathing into a scuba regulator. Burtt has a reputation for popularizing a sound effect dubbed the "Wilhelm scream", which was taken from a character named Wilhelm in the 1953 film The Charge at Feather River.

Filmography (42 Appearances)

A Bucket of Water and a Glass Matte

LIGHT & MAGIC

Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett

Jet Jockeys in Love: The Making of CHAIN LIGHTNING ('50)

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound

The Force of Sound

I Am Your Father

And the Oscar Goes To...

EditDroid: Rise and Fall

The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Lincoln: An American Journey

Wings: Grandeur in the Sky

Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of

WALL·E's Treasures & Trinkets

Animation Sound Design: Building Worlds from the Sound Up

BURN·E

RKO Production 601: The Making of “Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World”

WALL·E

Fog City Mavericks

Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001

The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk

Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon

Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet

Within a Minute: The Making of Star Wars Episode III

Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema

George Lucas: Creating an Empire

Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy

When Star Wars Ruled the World

The Sound of 'Indiana Jones'

From Puppets to Pixels: The Making of Star Wars Episode II

Films Are Not Released, They Escape

State of the Art: The Pre-Visualization of 'Episode II'

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

R2-D2: Beneath the Dome

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Star Wars: The Magic & the Mystery

The Making of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'

From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga

Return of the Jedi

The Making of The Empire Strikes Back

SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: Music by John Williams

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