Yesterday it was the Leo strut, today it’s the BRAAM noise. All part of our mini-guide to the world of Inception. Where dreams are dreams.

BRAAM

There it is. Dramatic, yes? It’s a noise, for sure. But it’s kind of defined an entire generation. As it’s everywhere now.

There’s a variety of spelling for it. Normally you’ll see it written as:

• BRAAM.
• BRAAAM.
• BWOOOOING.
• BWAAAAAAA.
• Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

But the common spelling is “BRAAM”. So, how do you make such a fabled noise?

Yeah, so Inception was a bit of a landmark film in 2010. Not only did it mark a genuinely very good blockbuster that wasn’t dumb, it did two other things.

It made the Leo strut. And it cursed the mainstream movie scene with the Inception sound.

As it is, a type of “BRAAM!” organ noise. That almost every other marketing team decided was a brilliant idea after that.

One of the problems is studio execs and marketers latched onto the thing. And we’ve since had an endless barrage of Inception noise.

So, since 2010, we’ve had about 1,000 trailers all featuring that noise. Whilst marketers seem to think movie buffs won’t notice.

Most trailers these days will follow a standard path. Most of us know it:

• BRAAM noise.
• Fade to black.
• Reveal something dramatic.
• Fade to black.
• Insert some text such as, “Proper ZOMG!”.
• Fade to black.
• BRAAM Inception noise again.

It seems like almost every trailer has followed this structure over the last decade. Originality isn’t a strong point in Hollywood of late.

But what does the Inception noise now stand for? Well, it stands for BRAAM. You may hear similarities in a drill on a construction site.

You may well curse the day this became a cinematic trope. Or you might want to take up playing the organ.

Whatever, it’s now a part of movie history. And you’re going to have to deal with that. Dramatic development? Indeed. BRAAM!