Do you know why the Goon Show ended? (If you have never heard of the Goon Show, shame on you! Run, don’t walk, IMMEDIATELY to http://www.thegoonshow.net/ and feast your ears on some of the funniest, cleverest and brilliant comedy of all time, and where the beginnings of the likes of Monty Python, The Goodies and much of today’s GOOD comedy (mostly UK based) started).
To answer the question though, allegedly, one of the Goons trio and major writer, Spike Milligan, wanted a specific sound effect, that of a sock full of cold custard hitting a brick wall. And when the BBC Effects Library couldn’t help, he flew into a rage and said, “that’s it”.
(If you have never heard the Goon Show, this might sound ridiculous, but after hearing a couple of episodes, you’ll agree it makes perfect sense).
The other Goons by the way were Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe. There were also occasional guest appearances by Valentine Dyall and Michael Bentine.
Which leads me neatly into special effects. Many budding film makers – and not so budding – rely on digital effects these days for everything from shotgun blasts to cars revving. But why not make your own? These will then be unique, not “canned” and it can be a lot of fun. And it’s not hard.
Here are some to start you off.
| Sound of punching someone | Hit a piece of steak with a closed fist |
| Sounds of a laser gun fight (many people) | A slinky in conjunction scratching a fluffy over a mic |
| Sloshing through mud | Tee Shirt in a bucket of water pushed up and down |
| Dragon’s wings | An umbrella being open and shut |
| Cracking knuckles | Breaking celery |
| Walking on crunchy snow | Cornflour on a tray pushed down wearing rubber gloves |
| Ice cracking (glacier breaking) | Breaking a pine cone |
| Horses hooves on cobble stones | Coconut halves banged together (of course!) |
… and based on this list for starters, I am sure you can some up with lots of your own, or at least research some.
And don’t forget you can download my latest 10 minute podcast by clicking here.
