# Why can't movies reperesnt the sound of thunder and gunshots more accurately? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916 "2003-09-21T04:22:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/21 "2003-09-22T11:40:07Z")
A few years ago, my redneck neighbor decided to celebrate New Years Eve by shooting an automatic rifle into the air. When I first heard the noise, I thought someone was knocking on my window. It wasn’t until I looked outside that I saw it was gunfire. It was not nearly as loud as I would have ecpected. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/22 "2003-09-22T12:25:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Astroboy14 \* > My father owns several handguns (I don’t know the exact number, but I’d guess 5 or 6), and I’m fairly sure that _none_ of them have ever done this! \*\* I fired a MAC-10 one time at a gun range and I was surprised by a number of things: -It did not emit a blinding mussle flash -It did not sound like thunder in my hand -I could not fire the thing for 20 minutes without reloading -It did not blow the paper target into confetti I could only assume that the weapon was defective. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/23 "2003-09-22T13:01:06Z")
When I joined the army I was surprised at how guns sounded, never having used one before. What surprised me most, actually, was the distinct metallic “ching!!” sound a rifle made when fired. It was less of a “pop” than a “Crack-chiiinnng!” You rarely see that sound simulated in film, although they did do a good job in “Saving Private Ryan” to include those little details. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/24 "2003-09-22T13:56:45Z")
I also found that when I’m making sweet love to the honies…they aren’t as loud as in the movies. I can only assume that those sounds are digitally enhanced as well ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/25 "2003-09-22T14:25:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*When I joined the army I was surprised at how guns sounded, never having used one before. What surprised me most, actually, was the distinct metallic “ching!!” sound a rifle made when fired. It was less of a “pop” than a “Crack-chiiinnng!” You rarely see that sound simulated in film, although they did do a good job in “Saving Private Ryan” to include those little details. \*\* That “ching” sound _SPR_ is unique to the M1 AFAIK and only _after_ firing the last round. The M1 “Garand” rifle uses an internal magazine loaded with an en-block clip of eight rounds of ammunition. The clip is a springy bit of sheet metal that holds the cartridges around the base. After the eighth round is fired and the case ejected the clip is then ejected from the magazine making the sound you heard. The rest of the allies and all of the axis were using bolt action rifles and full auto rifles such as Brens and BARs used box magazines so the M1 was the only rifle that went “ping.” ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/26 "2003-09-22T14:49:45Z")
Actually, the main way hollywood screws up lightning is that they always have the flash and the bang occur simultaneously. As for dramitic license, I think it’s more dramitic in reality, where the flash gets your attention, then you count off the seconds for the kaboom. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/27 "2003-09-22T15:07:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Padeye \* > That “ching” sound _SPR_ is unique to the M1 AFAIK and only _after_ firing the last round. The M1 “Garand” rifle uses an internal magazine loaded with an en-block clip of eight rounds of ammunition. The clip is a springy bit of sheet metal that holds the cartridges around the base. After the eighth round is fired and the case ejected the clip is then ejected from the magazine making the sound you heard. > \*\* Yeah I remember that from the History Channel and Saving Private Ryan. The rifles would all make that _Krack_ _Krack_ _Krack_ _Krack - Ping_ sound and then they would reload. I also remember seeing some movie a while back about an American and a Japanese sniper facing off against each other and the American used the _Ping_ sound to make the Japanese guy think he was reloading. My favorite old-time sound effects: -the richochete “whine” _BEEEOOOOOO_ _BEEEOOOOOOOO_\* -that weird high pitched machinegun sound (WTF is that supposed to sound like) -The silencer _THUMP_ _THUMP_ -All falling objects whistle ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/28 "2003-09-23T00:19:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ruby \* > \*\*I’ve always been fond of the “pah-chiiiiiing” sound of the ricochet in old westerns. Every single bullet makes that sound, no matter what the target. \*\* …and don’t forget the scene of police cars careening across the desert, tires squeeling at every turn…in the sand…:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![proudft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@proudft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/proudft)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/29 "2003-09-23T00:34:52Z")
On an episode of The Wire near the end of its most recent season, one of the characters fired a pistol indoors and it had the more realistic “Pop” noise – and at the time, I thought to myself, “Neat, they used a more realistic pistol noise.” Oddly, the next week, when they showed the scene again during the “previously on the Wire” section before the show, the effect had been redubbed with the more familar “Boom” noise. Very strange… ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/30 "2003-09-23T05:12:47Z")
Muzzle noise tends to vary a great deal with position. I’ve stood about ten feet to one side of my buddy’s pistol and it’s noisy. If I stand the same distance behind him the noise drops by an order of magnitude. I remember being up north of town on opening day for elk and hearing some shots that sounded like pops, and others that sounded like rifles, with same sound intensity for both. My guess is that the timbre of the sound varies wildly with orientation. That being said, it might be that we notice the bad sound editing and forget the good stuff. There are plenty of movies that have the distinctive chatter of small caliber automatic fire. Maybe we remember the bad dubbing with a _crack_ for a shotgun blast. Also movies are funny. And not just the comedies. 😉 The sound editors are trying to get an average sound of the action for what are tremendously varying camera positions. It’s easy to cut between different cameras on continuous action and have no one in the audience blink, but the sound track needs to have some continuity to keep from jarring the audience’s attention. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/31 "2003-09-23T08:26:33Z")
You can’t make gunfire sound as loud as it does in real life, and with the volume reduced it’s a pretty unimpressive sound, so they beef it up. I read an article about when they recorded sounds for Doom. They started out wanting to use actual weapon sounds, but they were unimpressive. They ended up using the sound of a shotgun being fired as the sound effect for the pistol, and that of a cannon being fired as the sound for the shotgun. ---
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/32 "2003-09-23T15:08:31Z")
It’s kind of funny. A lot of Hollywood-isms bug me, but the sound of gun fire isn’t one of them. It’s more something that is a treat when it’s done well. The sounds are great in Saving Private Ryan. You can tell who is firing by the sounds. One of the first times I remember being impressed with something like that was in Under Seige they included the sounds of the shell casings hitting the metal decking. As others have said, the sound of gun fire changes dramatically depending on position and the weapon fired. I can fire a .22 pistol or rifle all day with no problems. It makes the cute little cracks that you talk about. However, my ears will ring for the rest of day from firing my .243 (deer rifle) one time. I always use hearing protection when I target shoot this rifle. My 9mm pistol wasn’t too bad firing it out in the open. However, one time I made the mistake of leaning across the tail gate of a truck to steady myself to shoot at a target. I thought I had blown my ear drum out! It really depends on the gun and your positioning. I guess I wonder what you use for the basis of what gun fire should sound like? If you are comparing a Hollywood movie to Cops, then yes, the movie gun fire is going to sound like cannons compared to Cops. It should. From the few times I’ve seen Cops, it seems like most of the sound during the action is from camera mounted mics. It’s going to have a small sound. Don’t blame Hollywood for trying to make a movie sound better. Remember, larger caliber gun fire is loud enough to damage your hearing. It should sound loud. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916/33 "2003-09-23T17:47:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > \*\*My favorite old-time sound effects: > > -the richochete “whine” _BEEEOOOOOO_ _BEEEOOOOOOOO_\*\*\* There are very exagerrated sounds but ricochets **do** sound like that, it’s not a completely made up sound effect. The humming tone is from the bullet tumbling in the air. It’s best to avoid ricochets in the first place but they’re not uncommon in action shooting. Steel targets are arranged so the bullet will nearly destroy itself on the target, using all its k.e. to splatter perpendicular to its path. Sometimes becuase of a worn out and cratered target or one that was placed at a wrong angle a bullet will ricochet. I rarely hear the sound when I’m shooting but it’s very distinct when I’m in an adjacent bay and a bullet passes overhead. (FWIW the bays are surrounded with high dirt berms specifically so stray bullets will not be a danger.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-movies-reperesnt-the-sound-of-thunder-and-gunshots-more-accurately/202916.md?page=1)