Movie questions - on screen text noise for military stuff

[McNutt]

In many movies set during the past 30 (40?) years, anytime there is a scene involving the government or the military and text is shown such as:

CIA Headquarters
Langley, VA

The letters one at a time as though someone is typing it with some accompanying electronic noise. What in the hell is that noise supposed to be and when exactly did this trend start?

[LawBeefaroni]

X-files? Did they have the noise?

[LawBeefaroni]

X-files? Did they have the noise?

Get the papers, get the papers.

[Jaymann]

It's the sound of one hand typing.

[Anonymous Bosch]

In many movies set during the past 30 (40?) years, anytime there is a scene involving the government or the military and text is shown such as:

CIA Headquarters
Langley, VA

The letters one at a time as though someone is typing it with some accompanying electronic noise. What in the hell is that noise supposed to be and when exactly did this trend start?

Action Movies Love That Typing Sound, But Where Does It Come From?

CORNISH: So we mentioned a couple films there, going back. When did you first notice the sound, and why did you feel compelled to follow it to the source?

WICKMAN: Yeah, I first noticed it while watching "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" last year, and the reason it really jumped out at me is it was one of those shots where it just wasn't necessary. You know, they showed a shot of London, and you could see Big Ben right there and Westminster. And then they kind of slowly zoomed in on a British flag, and right then it came up, you know, saying, London, comma, England. And it just really made me think about it. And I'd been hearing it all my life, but for the first time, I just thought, you know, what is that noise?

CORNISH: So where did your investigation lead you?

WICKMAN: Yeah, I went back to some of the movies that you played in the intro here and was trying to figure out where the earliest example of it was. And eventually, I just ended up calling up a bunch of the, you know, sound designers for these movies, and they all pointed me back towards "The Hunt For Red October."

CORNISH: "The Hunt For Red October," a classic, but also involves submarines, right (laughter)...

WICKMAN: Yeah.

CORNISH: ...Where these sounds might make sense?

WICKMAN: Right. So it turned out that the U.S. Navy actually took them into submarines for that movie, and they heard a bunch of noises inside of the submarine.

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO TELETYPE SOUND)

CORNISH: So what is that sound?

WICKMAN: So the sound you just played is a radio teletype noise, which has been used for all sorts of things. It's - as the name implies - just a way to send information across large distances, and I believe that that is one of the inspirations for this noise...

(SOUNDBITE OF BEEPING)

WICKMAN: ...Though, as it's used today, it doesn't really refer directly to anything in real life.

[McNutt]

Thank you!

I definitely associate it with any Tom Clancy movie, but it seems to be so common now that I didn't know if that was the source. That would actually be a good joke for a Zucker type movie.

<teletype noise>
325 AD
Rome

[dbt1949]

When I was in the army we used teletype all the time. I didn't think it would still be around today.

[Kasey Chang]

It's just foley, as people expect some sort of noise when something happens on screen.

[Isgrimnur]