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In American radio, film, television, and video games, walla is a sound effect imitating the murmur of a crowd in the background. [1] A group of actors brought together in the post-production stage of film production to create this murmur is known as a walla group. According to one story, walla received its name during the early days of radio, when it was discovered that having several people repeat the sound walla in the background was sufficient to mimic the indistinct chatter of a crowd. Nowadays, walla actors make use of real words and conversations, often improvised, tailored to the languages, speech patterns, and accents that might be expected of the crowd to be mimicked.
Rhubarb is used instead in the UK where actors say "rhubarb, rhubarb", gur-gur ("гур-гур") in Russia, and gaya (がや) in Japan, perhaps in part reflecting the varying textures of crowd noise in the different countries. Other phrases are "peas and carrots", "watermelon cantaloupe" and "natter natter" (to which the response is "grommish grommish"). [2]
Walla is sometimes turned into an in-joke. On the UK absurdist comedy radio series The Goon Show , Spike Milligan would distinctly mutter "rhubarb, rhubarb" during crowd scenes. Spinning off from this recurring joke, the British comedian Eric Sykes (a collaborator and friend of the Goons) wrote, directed and starred in the 1969 film Rhubarb , in which all of the actors' dialogue consists of the word "rhubarb" repeated over and over. This gives the finished movie the general feeling of a silent film because it has no coherent dialogue, but with the crucial difference that the "rhubarb" dialogue still conveys the characters' emotions and moods.
Similarly, the TV show South Park often parodies walla by having angry mobs mutter "rabble rabble rabble", and in season 9, episode 8 ("Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow"), congressmen can be clearly heard saying "peas and carrots", in sync with each other. In an episode of Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law , a distraught courtroom audience distinctly and repeatedly shouts "rutabaga", a reference to the use of the term "rhubarb". In the Steve Martin film The Man With Two Brains , the audience at a scientific presentation is quite clearly heard to be saying "murmur, murmur" after Martin's character invites them to "murmur all you want". French and Saunders often make use of the phrase clearly and distinctly during sketches that feature film shoot extras. In the film Blazing Saddles , Mel Brooks's character urges attendees at a meeting to "harrumph", to the point of singling out a man who did not say it.
While it is generally expensive for the film makers to put distinct words in a specific background performer's mouth (as this would turn "extras" into actors during the sound mix, meaning they must be paid more), this problem can be avoided by recording gibberish that syncs with the on-screen mouth movements ("lip flap") of a specific background performer. It is thereby possible to make it sound as though an extra is saying something, when in fact they are not delivering any actual dialogue. This gibberish is known as "Snazzum", referring to the way in which the cartoon character Yosemite Sam would swear when angry ("Yassin Sassin Snazzum Frazzum!"). [3]
In Kung Pow! Enter the Fist a group of children in the background are heard exclaiming "Children! We're children" repeatedly.
In season 5, episode 3 ("Let's Stay Together") of 30 Rock , Rob Reiner, playing himself fictionally as a Member of Congress, loudly and clearly repeats the phrase, "Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Peas and Carrots..." in a scene when a group of congressmen and women are muttering indistinct chatter. A similar reference is made by Jack Donaghy's assistant, Jonathan, in Season 4, Episode 14 ("Future Husband").
In season 2, episode 3 ("Potato") of Blackadder , Captain Redbeard Rum (played by Tom Baker) can be heard saying "rhubarb, rhubarb!" in a scene involving four of the characters talking over each other.
In season 5, episode 20 ("Leo Unwrapped") of Will & Grace , characters Karen Walker and Jack McFarland clearly say "hubub hubub" and "peas and carrots" in a joke reference.
In the Anthony Newley–Leslie Bricusse 1961 musical Stop the World – I Want to Get Off , the main character, Littlechap, is campaigning for elected office as a member of the Opportunist Party and makes speeches, all of which start with "Mumbo Jumbo". The initial lyrics, which are constantly revised, start with: "Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb / Tickety bubarb yak yak yak / Mumbo jum red white and bluebarb / Poor Brittania's on her back."
Voice-over is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative accompanies the pictured or on-site presentation of events. The voice-over is read from a script and may be spoken by someone who appears elsewhere in the production or by a specialist voice actor. Synchronous dialogue, where the voice-over is narrating the action that is taking place at the same time, remains the most common technique in voice-overs. Asynchronous, however, is also used in cinema. It is usually prerecorded and placed over the top of a film or video and commonly used in documentaries or news reports to explain information.
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film, video, or television presentation; or the physical area of a film that contains the synchronised recorded sound.
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again was a BBC radio comedy programme that was developed from the 1964 Cambridge University Footlights revue, Cambridge Circus., as a scripted sketch show. It had a devoted youth following, with the live tapings enjoying very lively audiences, particularly when familiar themes and characters were repeated; a tradition that continued into the spinoff show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
The Star Wars space opera universe, created by George Lucas, features some dialogue spoken in fictional languages. The lingua franca of the franchise is known in-universe as Galactic Basic, which refers to the language of the film or work itself, be it English or a language that the work was dubbed or translated into.
Duck Amuck is an American animated surreal comedy short film directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on January 17, 1953, as part of the Merrie Melodies series, and stars Daffy Duck.
A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo, is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly either appearances in a work in which they hold some special significance or renowned people making uncredited appearances. Short appearances by celebrities, film directors, politicians, athletes or musicians are common. A crew member of the movie or show playing a minor role can be referred to as a cameo role as well, such as director Alfred Hitchcock who made frequent cameo appearances in his films.
The Swedish Chef is a Muppet character from the sketch comedy television series The Muppet Show, known for his eccentric culinary skills and communicating in mock Swedish gibberish. He was originally performed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz simultaneously, with Henson performing the head and voice and Oz performing the character with real hands. The Swedish Chef is currently performed by Bill Barretta. He is best known for his ridiculous cooking methods and the phrase "Bork, bork, bork!".
The dialogue editor is a type of sound editor who assembles, synchronizes, and edits all the dialogue in a film or television production. Usually, they will use the production tracks: the sound that was recorded on the set. If any of the production tracks are unusable they can be replaced by either alternate production tracks recorded on set or by ADR, automated dialogue replacement, which is recorded after the shoot with the actors watching their performances in a sound studio and rerecording the lines. Large productions may have an ADR editor working under the dialogue editor, but the positions are often combined. The ADR editor or dialogue editor also work with the walla group in films which they are required, providing the background chatter noise in scenes with large crowds, such as parties or restaurants.
Benjamin Burtt Jr. is an American sound designer, film director, film editor, screenwriter, and voice actor. As a sound designer, his credits include the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), WALL-E (2008), and Star Trek (2009).
Homicide was a landmark Australian television police procedural drama series broadcast on the Seven Network and produced by Crawford Productions. It was the television successor to Crawfords' radio series D24. The "Consummate Homicide cast" includes the four characters that are the best known: Det. Snr. Sgt. David "Mac" MacKay, Det. Sgt. Peter Barnes, Inspector Colin Fox and Sen. Det. Jim Patterson.
The Plank is a 1967 British slapstick comedy film directed and written by Eric Sykes, and starring Sykes, Tommy Cooper and Jimmy Edwards, and featuring many of the top British comedians and comic actors of the time. It was produced by Jon Penington for Associated London Films.
This article contains a list of cinematic techniques that are divided into categories and briefly described.
Rhubarb is a 1969 British short film written and directed by Eric Sykes, starring Sykes, Harry Secombe and Jimmy Edwards. The dialogue consists entirely of repetitions of the word "rhubarb", all the characters' last names are "Rhubarb", the vehicle number plates are "RHU BAR B", and a baby "speaks" by holding a sign with the word "rhubarb" written on it. Sykes remade the film in 1980 as Rhubarb, Rhubarb for Thames Television.
Jeffrey Dexter Boomhauer III, most commonly referred to by his surname Boomhauer, is a character in the Fox animated series King of the Hill, voiced by series creator Mike Judge, known for his fast-paced and nearly-incomprehensible speech.
A part-talkie is a sound film that includes at least some "talking sequences" or sections with audible dialogue. The remainder of the film is provided with a synchronized musical score with sound effects. These films more often than not contain a main theme song that is played during key scenes in the film and is often sung offscreen on the musical soundtrack. During the portion without audible dialogue, speaking parts are presented as intertitles—printed text briefly filling the screen—and the soundtrack is used only to supply musical accompaniment and sound effects.
Alexander Waverly is a fictional character from the 1960s television show The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,its spin-off series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. and the 2015 film version.
"The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge" is the third episode of the second series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It was written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, and directed by Dan Zeff. It first aired on 9 April 2015 on BBC Two. The story follows a 17th-century witch trial. Elizabeth Gadge, played by Ruth Sheen, stands accused of witchcraft by inhabitants of the village of Little Happens, including characters played by Sinead Matthews, Jim Howick, Paul Kaye and Trevor Cooper. The magistrate Sir Andrew Pike, played by David Warner, has summoned the famed witch-finders Mr Warren and Mr Clarke, played by Shearsmith and Pemberton, to try Elizabeth, but is more concerned with bringing visitors to the village than finding the truth.
"Carrot and Stick" is the second episode of the sixth season of Better Call Saul, the spin-off television series of Breaking Bad. Vince Gilligan directed the episode written by Thomas Schnauz and Ariel Levine. The episode aired back-to-back with "Wine and Roses" on April 18, 2022, on AMC and AMC+. In several countries outside the United States and Canada, the episode premiered on Netflix the following day.
Thus the implied swearing from the podcast, including the wonderful examples from Yosemete Sam: yassin sassin snazzum frazzum. Perhaps at this level, where the phonological evolution from "fucking son-of-a-bitch" to "yassin sassin snazzum frazzum" is hard to trace, the writer gets close to conveying an internal emotion using sounds that have no linguistic meaning.