How's It Sounding?

Have you ever been sitting around doing nothing and a tune pops in your head, but you for the life of you, you cannot figure out where it’s from?  When you do, you are instantly relieved.  The same happens to us die-hard audio guys with sound effects. 

There is so much media for people to be exposed to: radio, TV, movies, video games, and the like.  There is so much audio!  With budgets being a big factor for audio in this media, sound libraries get reused over and over again.  After all, who would notice?  Take the Wilhelm Scream for example.  This can be heard in countless movies, and it is now considered audio humor.  It’s reuse is an inside, acceptable joke. 

Sometimes, a little bit more listening is required.  Let’s take Beneath The Planet of the Apes that came out in 1970 for example, the sequel to the box-office hit The Planet of the Apes.  Remember the scene with those wacked telepathic humans that worshiped the dooms day bomb?  When Brent first meets the ones in charge, he walks through some impressive sliding doors.  When I got older and watched the movie again, when those doors slid open, I instantly blurted out “Army Men!”  In 2001, the now defunct 3DO Company released another green and tan plastic army men game called “Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes 2” for the Play Station 2.   In the training level, there are multiple sliding doors, and they make the same sound when closing as the opening doors in Planet of the Apes.