Monday, January 11, 2016

The Secret Silent Film Society of Sync

UPDATE: Vimeo has terminated my account w/ them, despite the fact that the work that I'm doing is for research purposes and completely non profit. I have begun re posting my videos on Google Plus:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/115495700853566521196/posts I will be embedding these videos as I am able; boy, they sure don't make it easy to reveal one's discoveries in this area to the public. Also many videos I have put together and uploaded are available for free download via this dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2c36k0p7awdpjy1/AADcpUCGW2J6b3i_S5E6mbWua?dl=0

 Many of the following film and music syncs can be found on my (now non existent) Vimeo Channel but it feels appropriate to give some basic instructions for how one can go about aligning these gems for one's self, being that the interactive nature of this work is, in my opinion, a key component in relating to the artists and their mediums. Though there are a number of other examples of this phenomenon occurring that I have stumbled upon I am only including here what I have come to consider the absolute 'cream of the crop' as it were. Many of the start times were apparent from the get-go, yet a number of them were not by any means and thus required extensive back-tracking to narrow down and pin point their exact location, so please apply them to the best of your ability. It should be noted that an i tunes, or some similar playlist works best as there should be no extra lag time between tracks, especially when an album needs to repeat. After being shown Dark Side of the Rainbow and Pink Floyd's Echoes with Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite (2001: A space Odyssey) some 15 years ago it felt apparent to me that this is an area worth delving into deeper, and so the following are my own 'AH HA, eureka!' personal findings. It is my hope that those who explore this terrain may get an idea of what it is that has been continually fascinating me about these particular nodes in the great tapestry that is sync. With that being said, lets get down to Brass Tax...


Summer of 42 & Atom Heart Mother. Start album 35 seconds in; this is right when this image (seen below) fades completely in after the title 'Summer of 42' drops out, let album repeat (when ever repeating these albums it is important to make sure there is no delay, for this reason a 'playlist' often works best).






 Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Land Before Time: 
Start album at the moment 'Universal Pictures' fades out, repeat album. 


Pink Floyd's A Saucer Full of Secrets and The Dark Crystal: 
Start album the moment 'Universal Pictures' fades out, repeat.



Pink Floyd's Animals and Charlotte's Web: Start album the moment 'Paramount Pictures' fades out, repeat.




Pink Floyd's The Final Cut followed by The Wall and Star Wars A New Hope: Start The Final Cut right after the Title Star Wars completely recedes and disappears. Follow this w/ The Wall.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/24jb2cvskrie07s/star%20wars%20final%20cut.m4v?dl=0




Pink Floyd's The Division Bell and Children of a Lesser God:



Pink Floyd's album More w/ the film More. Start album after the right first song on the film, when the car door closes and the man says "goodbye."




Ex_Machina, Under The Skin and Leonard Cohen's New Skin For The Old Ceremony. Align the 2 films so they have the exact same time code; easy way to do this is pick a number, like 7 for example, and pause one of them on this number, then start the other from the beginning and on the 7th second push play so the are in sync. A few minutes into Ex_Machina a man gets his eye scanned; right after his eye gets scanned begin New Sin For the Old Ceremony and let the album loop. If you do this in this way you will see that both films end at the exact same second.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vl4uho0j8wylyrb/Ex%20Machina%20Under%20the%20Skin%20and%20Leonard%20Cohen%20New%20Skin%20For%20the%20Old%20Ceremony%20.mp4?dl=0

 
 Schindler's List and Leonard Cohen's The Future; start album the moment the Sabbath candle burns all the way out and let the album loop.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bogzyjxpsoph57p/Schindler%27s%20List%20The%20Future.mp4?dl=0



007 The Spy Who Loved Me and Styx The Grand Illusion; start album right after Bond shoots the audience while in the 'snipers eye' right when the blood pours down. Interestingly, both the album and the film were released on 7-7-77. 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t3hdm73gwubpzbj/007%20Jaws%20and%20Styx7-7-1977.mp4?dl=0



This one requires a little back story: the film The Visitor came out in the U.S. the day and year this fire happened at the MGM Grand Hotel in what was Paradise, Nevada, now Las Vegas. Interestingly, the Co writer and Director of the film took the name Michael Paradise specifically for the film. This was the second biggest Hotel fire at the time in U.S. history. The biggest however was in Atlanta, Georgia. This Hotel in Atlanta can be viewed in one of the opening shots of the film. Shortly after this the band Abba (Hebrew for Father) released The Visitors, which can be seen to go in sync perfectly w/ said film. Album starts at the 42 second mark



   

V.A.S.T. Visual Audio Sensory Theater debut self titled album and Disney's Fantasia. Only works with the final release of Fantasia on V.H.S. from the 90's but is well worth the trouble. Start album immediately after the last words of the conductors introduction, album repeats exactly 7 seconds prior to the eclipse, the moment is all too obvious as the 'camera' zooms in on a dino skull and freezes, you will see what I mean. The 2nd half is unbelievable.  


V.A.S.T. Visual Audio Sensory Theater's album NUDE and David Lynch's DUNE, use the album Turquoise and Crimson, which an extension of NUDE. Start album on the producer's name (Dino De Laurentiis) right after the dedication to his son who died in a plane accident. Let album repeat.

      


Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory and Marilyn Manson's Portrait of an American Family; start album right after the title Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory disappears, let the album loop.  
  

Marilyn Manson's Holywood and The Holy Mountain: Start Album the moment Alejandro Jodorowsky's name drops from the screen at the end of the beginning credits, repeat album.



The Doors Strange Days and Jodorowsky's Santa Sangre (The Director's Cut); start album 9 seconds in, right as the title 'Claudio Argenta Presenta' appears. This should mean that the title Santa Sangre pops up the moment Strange Days 'kicks in.' Let album repeat.
https://plus.google.com/115495700853566521196/posts/DH2oP1XGSTp





Marilyn Manson's Mechanical Animals and Valley of the Dolls; start album 1 second after the title Valley of the Dolls comes in, make sure the 15th hidden track is included at the end, let album repeat.




Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar and Jesus Christ Superstar: Start album the moment the door to the bus opens in the first few minutes of the film. Repeat.



We Need to Talk About Kevin and Marilyn Manson's Born Villain; start album the moment the screen turns white and the beginning as a 'gong' of sorts is sounded, let the album loop.   



the 1926 German Version of Faust with Marilyn Manson's The Pale Emperor. Start album immediately after the '3 horsemen' disappear at the beginning, let the album loop
   


Lady Gaga's The Fame and Party Monster: Start album right when the camera 'settles' at the very beginning, repeat.




Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster and Giorgio Moroder's version of Metropolis: Start album right after the title Metropolis cuts out, repeat. The sync doesn't really get rolling till the story of Babel begins (but once it does it Really does), so if you prefer to skip ahead start So Happy I Could Die at exactly 28:56 on the DVD so that the 1st lyric 'I love that lavender blond' starts at the moment the screen changes to a glowing gold right after Maria says "Today I will tell you the legend of Babel." Allow album to repeat; once again, an i tunes playlist works best being that there is absolutely no delay when the album starts over.


Lady Gaga's Born This Way and Marie Antoinette: Start album the moment Versailles appears, let the album repeat.




Lady Gaga's Artpop and the 1995 version of Venus in Furs, flawless sync. Album begins literally one second after title credits drop out and 'Venus' is seen lying on the bed.

  
Rosemary's Baby, 2001:A Space Odyssey, The White Album and The Manson Family Sings: Start 2001: A Space Odyssey, begin the fade in of Rosemary's Baby (after Paramount intro) on the fade in of The Dawn of Man in 2001 after the Thus Spake Zarathustra planetary alignment. Begin The Beatles White album right after the line "and artistic thrills too" after the "commercials, that's where the money is" comment. Set up a playlist so The Manson Family Sings begins immediately following the White Album. If these steps are followed accurately all will end at the same time, it's incredible.   https://www.dropbox.com/s/l99yhpm002ad3l2/2001ASO%20Rosemary%27s%20Baby%20White%20Album%20Family%20Jams.mp4?dl=0    





The Haunting of Julia (Julia was John Lennon's mother's name) AKA Full Circle w/ John Lennon and Yoko Ono's albums: Double Fantasy, Milk and Honey, followed by the Instant Karma EP. Start album right when Mia Farrow's name drops out.







Sharon Tate's film debut: Eye of the Devil played w/ Abbey Road. Start album right when Sharon Tate's name appears.






Here is a synck alignment I started in 1999 that I just got smoothed out: Start NIN The Downward Spiral right After Billy Zane/ 'Cal' slaps Rose/Kate Winslet; starting time is @1:43:46 on my copy of the film.









Serge Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life with Charlotte Gainsbourg's album 5:55. Start album right after young Serge stops playing the piano after the opening credits sequence.
  

Charlotte Gainsbourg's IRM and Lars Von Trier's Antichrist=perfect sync. Start album right when Defoe shows up after the faucet is turned at the beginning. Be sure to use the 'Protestant version' of the film and include Looking Glass Blues as the 14th (final) track (included in the digital version of the album). Let IRM repeat, it gets tremendously better as it goes along. In Joy!


Melancholia and The Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: (little tricky) Start album 24 seconds in, loop so the first song (the title song) plays again at the end. In the first few minutes of the film, when Justine is seen with her arms outspread surrounded by moths, Tonight Tonight should begin 1 second after she appears.






Hole's album Live Through This and the 1976 version of Carrie; begin album right when the film begins after 'united artists' fades out; let album repeat






Motown's 1st feature film The Wiz & Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; start album right as the film fades in after intro, let album repeat.





The Wicker Man & The Doors Albums back to back: Morrison Hotel, Waiting for the Sun (followed by the song Waiting for the Sun which interestingly was not on the album) followed by the song The End:




Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome w/ the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band played 3 times exchanging out 1 of 3 songs each time, all 3 happen to be the same length so the film ends at the same moment of the album in each version.



A Clockwork Orange with Supertramp's Crime of the Century and Breakfast in America. Album's begin when Ode to Joy comes into play, a little complicated, but as it stands it is available so you can viddy for yourself.




Here's one for the more ambitious ones: cue up the original E.T. to the point where the earth drops out in the Universal intro and start it just after the MGM lion fades out on Poltergeist. Start the Mogwai album Mr. Beast just after this on the 12th second of Poltergeist. If timing is correct the first piano 'chime' of Auto Rock should begin just as Tobe Hooper's name pops up in Poltergeist. Have Gremlins cued up to the initial fade in after the WB intro of Gremlins, and start it just after the canary is found dead and the scene switches to the football game which is replaced by Mr. Rogers Neighborhood in Poltergeist. Mr. Beast should transition just at this point as you allow Gremlins to fade in. Make sure Mr. Beast is set up to loop. Now sit back and in-joy the ride. On an aside, I use 3 different versions of VLC and set up the screens like a triangle. Hope someone takes this on, it is well worth it, believe me... Here is a video of E.T. transposed over Poltergeist w/ 50/50 transparency w/ said album followed by Mogwai's The Hawk is Howling and finishing w/ their song: 'Stanley Kubrick'.



Prometheus and Tool's 10,000 Days; start the album the second Ridley Scott's name disappears in beginning credits and loop the album while uniting Wings for Mary part one and two with the last track the 2nd time through and place the final track from Lateralis, Faaip De Oaid after the 2nd playing of Lipan Conjuring. If you do this correctly the album and the film will end at the exact same moment.



The Grey and Alien overlapped w/ Tool's album Lateralus. It should be noted that Tony Scott, the Executive Producer of the Grey committed suicide upon the films release. I had not known of this until after I put these together. While watching the Grey it is good to be aware that the book from which it was derived was titled Ghost Walker.



Poltergeist 11 overlayed w/ itself w/ an 11 second gap played w/ Tool's album Anima. Album starts at the 46th second and 2nd micro second of the initial film. Hope you followed that: 





Pink Floyd's Embryo followed by Meddle W/ Lucifer Rising & the final sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite