This Week in the Clone Wars: How to Make a Zillo Beast Scream

What do you do when you discover a gigantic creature that's nearly impossible to destroy, and capable of devastating violence? If you're the Galactic Republic, you bring the creature back to Coruscant to study. Sigh.

One of the largest creatures in the Star Wars universe, the Zillo Beast is the largest CG model yet for LucasFilm's Clone Wars team. David Acord, sound designer for The Clone Wars discusses creating the reptile's cry:

There was a lot of trial and error getting there. . . .I tried a number of animals, musical instruments, cars – but ultimately, the Zillo roar is 75% horse. Pitched down, of course, and boomed. The other 25% is varying combinations of bobcat and lion, mostly for the growls and some of the heavier bellows. The complexity of the horse whinny seemed to have the right appeal in terms of expression and otherworldliness. At times, the roar can sound terrible and menacing. Other times, you can hear the pain in his voice. The Zillo has a lot of character, and we’ve tried to match that with our sound design.

When designing a new creature . . . I may record some animal – or I might have recorded something previously. But often in the creation of the effect, the idea evolves. I might decide a ‘death scream’ needs a better shriek – and maybe a table scraping on a concrete floor will be the right sound sweetener. That’s really still the best way to get what you want – get out there and record! Sometimes what I start with ends up being something else entirely by the time I’m finished.

Acord says that the diversity of new sounds required for The Clone Wars makes his job particularly satisfying:

I get to create all the new sounds for the show . . . I was really happy with the way the spider-assassin droids turned out. Very creepy little springy servos and metallic screams. Some of my other favorites have been the Malevolence and its ion weapon, the darksaber and the commando droids. Dave Filoni has even cast me a few times in the show, too, The most fun is collaborating with some really talented people, like Dave, Matthew Wood, George Lucas and Ben Burtt – to name just a few. I am so proud of the work we do for The Clone Wars; it’s an incredibly dense and detailed show, and we manage to create a 5.1 mix for every episode, which is no easy feat!

Here's the clip:

"The Zillo Beast Strikes Back" premieres Friday, April 16, at 9pm ET/PT on the Cartoon Network.