Ben Burtt Whos Who

Ben Burtt can be argued to be one of the most popular sound designers
working today. Most famous for his work on Star Wars, creating the sound
effect for the lightsabers and the voice for Chewbacca, as well as WALL-E
and E.T. Despite not being a household name, his work within the film
industry has drastically affected the way films immerse the audience. His
love of sound starting from a young age, with his interest coming from
watching films and listening to see how the audio matched or worked within
the films, extending to the point that he even made his own soundtrack in a
student film he made.
Figure 1, Ben Burtt, (2019)

His method of curating sound comes in part from his interest

in sound, collecting and editing various noises to suit the device or the person,
such as for the Chewbacca, Burtt used various animal noises and compiled a
library big enough to disguise the individual sounds and make it more believable,
while a more famous sound like the lightsaber was a combination of a projector
and a static from a tv, recorded using a microphone, he made it more realistic by
moving the microphone forwards and backwards from the sound during fight
scenes so the lightsaber felt more realistic during the film. The range of sounds
from Star Wars helped make it more believable, with Burtt looking in other
directions for sound, not being predictable that allowed the object to own the
sound Burtt gives it, thinking logically about the area, object and size while also
not being predictable, such as the sound for the TIE Fighters was an edited
Figure 2, Nintendo: An
elephant noise that was loud enough to fit the size and area the TIE Fighter was
Exclusive Star Wars Game
in while also being so divided from the actual object that it did feel connected to Coming To Wii and Ds, (2008)
its own world.
Other films such as E.T and Indiana Jones used a similar method, with the famous voice of E.T
was taken from a chain smoker called Pat Welsh, who’s croaky, raspy voice Burtt found perfect to
suit the friendly alien. Indiana Jones on the other hand used a lot of noises from the object itself,
so Jones’ whip was a recorded whip noise, but done in different environments to not make it
seem repetitive and un-realistic, so even using the objects that suited the noise, Burtt still insisted
on creating the noises himself then using a library, as he could see if it suited the scene or if the
objects sound needed to be edited to suit the environment or the tone.
The infamous boulder scene’s audio rumbling sound was originally going
to be the sound of a rolling boulder, but Burtt didn’t think it sounded quite
right, it wasn’t until he was driving back without the engine on that he
found the sound he was looking for, as the sped sup sound of the car
rolling down provided the perfect sound for the boulder. So a lot of Burtt’s
discoveries, such as the humming for the lightsabers and the rolling
boulder he found by mistake.
Figure 3, Disney Pushes 'Indiana Jones 5' a

For WALL-E, an animated film unlike the live action he had done
Year to 2021, Dates 'Maleficent 2,' 'Jungle
Cruise, (2018) before, Burtt had to consider the voice for the two robots, as well as
the wasteland world and the ship the humans lived on, which lead him
to have around 2600 sounds for the film, the biggest sound file he had
constructed in comparison to Star Wars’ around 1,000 sounds and Indiana Jones’ between
700-800, mainly because of its animated style, Burtt had to construct
everything himself, as the sounds wouldn’t be captured in the shoot, like
Star Wars and Indiana Jones had. The voice for WALL-E was inspired from
the films opening song, “Put on your Sunday clothes” by Jerry Herman, it
up beat tone setting an innocent and sweet tone for the film and WALL-E
the robot, that Burtt then used to construct the voice, looking at a more
musical voice for the expressive elements and motor sounds to make
WALL-E mechanical, which combined to make him realistic and also show
his personality.
Figure 4, Now is the time to revisit Wall-E,

perhaps the finest environmental film of
the past decade, (2017)
Illustrative Bibliography
Figure 1, Ben Burtt, (2019), [Online Image], URL: https://

www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Ben-Burtt/, (Accessed: 11/01/19)
Figure 2, Nintendo: An Exclusive Star Wars Game Coming To Wii and Ds, (2008),
[Online Image], URL: https://mynintendonews.com/2008/06/19/nintendo-an-
exclusive-star-wars-game-coming-to-wii-and-ds/, (Accessed: 11/01/19)
Figure 3, Disney Pushes 'Indiana Jones 5' a Year to 2021, Dates 'Maleficent 2,'
'Jungle Cruise, (2018), [Online Image], URL: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/
heat-vision/indiana-jones-5-release-date-pushed-again-2021-1125975,
(Accessed: 11/01/19)
Figure 4, Now is the time to revisit Wall-E, perhaps the finest environmental film of
the past decade, (2017), [Online Image], URL: https://www.vox.com/culture/
2017/6/3/15728220/wall-e-pixar-environmentalist-movie-of-week-paris-accord,
(Accessed: 11/01/19)

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Ben Burtt Whos Who

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Ben Burtt can be argued to be one of the most popular sound designers

Figure 1, Ben Burtt, (2019)

His method of curating sound comes in part from his interest

Figure 3, Disney Pushes 'Indiana Jones 5' a

Figure 4, Now is the time to revisit Wall-E,

Figure 1, Ben Burtt, (2019), [Online Image], URL: https://

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