More Bond Film Syncs to the song "Someone To Watch Over Me"

I'd thought I'd tackle some of the Roger Moore films having provided "Someone To Watch Over Me" syncs to the Connery films, Dr. No, Goldfinger and Thunderball.

Here are two syncs to the film, Live and Let Die and one to the film, The Spy Who Loved Me. While The Spy Who Love Me sync features a key the Live and Let Die don't but both syncs feature Bond's tricked out Rolex watch, thus 'watching' over things.

Enjoy!

Live And Let Die





The Spy Who Loved Me

Dr. No - Deliberate Continuity Errors - Miss Taro's Bungalow

One area of filmmaking that hasn't gotten its proper share of attention is the deliberate continuity error. Some directors love to fool their audience by putting these things in. Current filmmakers do this as well, but with DVDs, it becomes a lot harder to get away with things without getting caught. Naturally, it was somewhat a different mindset years ago when films were generally seen only in theatres and without the benefit of rewind or slow motion.

One extended scene that has a lot of deliberate goofs is when Bond visits Miss Taro's bungalow in the film Dr. No.

Admittedly, it's not always easy to decide what is deliberate versus just a mistake (goof). The best way I know how to spot them is when the director tips his hand. One of these techniques that give the director's intent away is what I like to refer as the three step mambo.

The first step is to establish something. Here we have Bond with short socks and the ashtray hidden behind the lamp.


The second step is to hide what was established either by blocking it from the audience's view or moving away to another shot so the audience forgets things.


The third step is to give us the first shot with things changed. Here, two of the bigger changes are the ashtray is now visible (before it was hidden by the lamp). And Bond is now wearing long socks.


I put together an audio commentary of the bungalow scenes as well as video/slideshow hybrid that show off some of these continuity errors.

http://www.omnisio.com/filmsyncs/dr-no-deliberate-continuity-errors



A list of the continuity errors that occur to me, follows:

1. A vent in the left side of the front door is open
2. Vents on right side of door (from the outside) are closed
3. Shadow on back window blind is now present
4. Bird Cage in angled position from before
5. Lampshade by Miss Taro’s bed is now huge
6. Fan shadow on back wall toward moves to cast shadow over the bedroom door
7. Fan shadow on bedroom door moves to cast shadow over table
8. Bottom picture tucked in vanity mirror appears more slanted than when first scene but this is not certain
9. Bright, pink light shine on framed pictures as Miss Taro comes over to the bed with Bond on the phone
10. Miss Taro agrees that her street address is 2171 Magenta Drive when before she had said it was 2391
11. The large slant in the lampshades by the bed has been lost
12. Sound of Bond descending the steps has him taking six steps where there were eight before
13. Pot on second step is now smaller and now on top step
14. Frond Door Vent is now closed
15. Turntable is now on the bar
16. Interior shot of moonlight in the bedroom has shadow that wasn’t present as Bond walks into the room
17. Ashtray that was on the table next to the bed is now by the table near the door
18. Bond’s tie is missing as he puts the silencer on his gun
19. The gun is a FN Browning with the scripted FN visible on the gun in a close-up, when the gun is suppose to be a Walther PPK
20. Bond’s watch had not been very visible (under his sleeve cuff) now is much more visible
21. Shadow of fan over Bond’s solitaire game with the fan moving much slower than prior shots
22. Golden rings on porcelain base of lamp point in a different direction than at first. The position of this lamp changes so often, I’m not going to mention the other changes
23. As Professor Dent opens the door, the strap on Miss Taro’s purse now leans forward into the room
24. The hammer of Dent’s gun stays in the cocked position as shots are fired. I think this was done with a special prop. Notice that the hammer doesn’t appear to be centered on the gun, more a bit behind it. This way the gun fires normally and the prop is just a tacked add-on allowing for a bit of silliness.
25. There is already a hole in the pillow before Dent fires his first shot
26. The shadow of the light next to the bed has shifted and no longer captures the shape of the light
27. The light changes making it brighter in the room so Professor Dent’s bright shadow is not longer seen through the door
28. The position of the box on the coffee table changes
29. The stack of cards that were in Bond’s hand have now moved closer to the edge of the table
30. The chain by the (closed deck) has now shifted position and the clothing hung over its back have shifted too
31. The bedspread is much more clumped on the floor
32. The table lamp by Bond is not tilted the same way
33. The fan is now going faster again and casting a different shadow
34. With the lights now on, the fan shadow stays present but in the cut to Bond’s face, the shadow is now missing
35. The light switch cord moves a bit on the chair arm
36. Red tassel (or the like) is on or in the mirror when it wasn’t present before or will again
37. In a reverse shot, the light switch cord which was on one side of the table is now over two edges
38. Professor Dent’s tie gets much neater than it was before
39. The ashtray that was hiding behind the lamp is now in sight
40. Bond is now sporting longer socks
41. Professor Dent’s left hand is further back on the table
42. The red women’s shoe behind Professor Dent have shifted position
43. Professor Dent’s right hand is now clenched
44. Professor Dent’s right hand is now open
45. Professor Dent’s left hand moves back to the edge of the table as he tries to move the bedspread with his foot
46. Ashtray is now between cord of light switch
47. The cord is just near ashtray
48. Bond now has long socks on
49. Gun is now further away from Dent than it was a minute ago
50. Ashtray now moves to the very corner of the table as Dent tries to kill Bond but hasn’t any bullets left
51. Bond gun changes from dark metal to brighter steel as he shoots Dent and then back to a darker metal
52. Silk belt on bench behind Dent changes positions slightly as Dent falls to the ground
53. Clothing is visible in the open drawer of the desk when it wasn’t visible in other shots
54. Cigarette magically gets into the ashtray as Bond takes the silencer off his gun

Videos are Currently Not Working - Sorry for the Inconvienience!

Bond, Back in Action - Film Montage to the song, "I'm Your Man"

Strictly for fun and a change of pace, a video montage of the song "I'm Your Man" by Michael Buble to scenes from the Bond films. Although, having said that, it is interesting how many new ideas come to mind by during these sort of things. Enjoy!

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Those interested in finding their own film syncs should be aware that syncing to The Beatles album Help! is one of the most widely used albums. Interestingly, it is often used for action films which seems (at first blush) a rather odd choice as it has so many love/relationship songs on the album. Filmmakers compensate by making broad use of "Ticket To Ride" and "Help" and then to cast a rather blind eye to gender issues. So, the song "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" could be used tongue in cheek for a lost enemy, lost gem, lost dog, etc. etc.

Another thing to forget about is that one song follows another. Filmmakers don't give a darn about the order of things on an album, they care about using music to inspire them. Period.

I've done a sync of four songs to a segment of the film including:

"Ticket to Ride"
"You've Got To Hide Your Love Away"
"Help!"
"I Need You"

Those interested could easily continue the sync to the end of the film if they pay attention to the scenes and little care about needing to repeat songs (hint, hint).

Bridges (with Gaps) Over Troubled Water

Recently I posted a sync showing that the film, The Bridge on the River Kwai inspired the Paul Simon song, "Bridge Over Troubled Waters."

Link: http://filmsyncs.blogspot.com/2008/05/bridge-over-troubled-waters-to-bridge.html

I also posted a sync to the Bond film, Casino Royale references the song.

Building on that, I want to show a pattern of use of the song in the Bond films for the Roger Moore films.

The film, Live and Let Die uses water effectively but with a twist, where instead of there being a gap over land (a la The Bridge on the River Kwai) there is a gap over water. This land span is what Bond skims his boat over (twice) during the scene.




In the film, The Man With The Golden Gun, the theme of using Sheriff Pepper in a "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" sync is repeated with an exciting jump over a broken bridge. The Asian location and broken bridge paying homage to The Bridge on the River Kwai.

The sync works so that the lyrics:

See how they shine

Works to the bright shine coming off of Bond's car as he spins it around.


The question should be: couldn't that just be the natural sun light hitting the car during a complicated stunt? Sure, but filmmakers are very careful about lighting and camera angles - they're pros not likely to make amateurish goofs except when they deliberately want those things to occur. Nor are they stupid enough to get a light man and his large spotlight in the reflection of the car unless they want to do it.






In A View To A Kill, a drawbridge becomes the gap over the river with Bond (in a fire truck) spanning the gap. The song is also used during the climatic scene on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. This sync is a tougher one to get because the filmmakers are syncing the music to the film multiple times. Thus for example, the scene with the fire truck ladder knocking the top off of a pickup truck explosing a couple this works for the lyrics:


When you're down and out, when you're on the street

as well as the double entendre of:

Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down

and the scene with Bond (on the ladder) knocking the hats off of two bald guys works with:

I'll take your part

as well as the two gay guys (we are talking about San Francisco here) to:

When you're down and out When you're on the street
as well as possibly:

Sail on Silver Girl, Sail on by Your time has come to shine

Bond fans, notice also the deliberate continuity error of the American made car switching from a left-wheel model during the street scene and a right-wheel car in close-up.


This was done by mirroring the image.



Here's one version:

My Name's Spielberg, Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg has commented on how much an impression the Bond films had on him as a filmmaker. When presenting Sean Connery with the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award he said:

“well rare is the moment when to honor an actor who has captured lightning in a bottle. And rare is the moment when that actor creates a character for me, for you and for millions of people around the world. People who do not speak the same language but they share this character, one that inhabits our most impossible dreams and influences what we’d like to wear (Turnbull & Asser with Rolex watch) what we’d like to drink (martinis, shaken not stirred) and what we’d like to drive (Aston Martin DB-5). His very name is an example of this, his name is Bond, James Bond.”

It turns out that the Bond film music helped inspired one of the the most memorable scenes in movie history, the opening scene in Spielberg's film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. So here are the main themes to Goldfinger and Thunderball, back-to-back, separated by only a few seconds within the film, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Bridge Over Troubled Water to The Bridge on the River Kwai

Admittedly it helps to know some films to be able to figure out sources of inspiration for musicians. But, beyond that, sometimes the music composer makes it pretty easy for anyone to figure these sources out, once they become aware that this is going on (naturally).

A case in point is the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Bridge over Troubled Waters." Not only is the song title a huge clue but with key lyrics like:

Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

it suggests the question, exactly what is this bridge over troubled waters and what is being laid down?

The source of inspiration I'm referring to is the film, The Bridge On The River Kwai, with a collapsing Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) laying down over the dynamite plunger causing it to explode with the second laying down being the bridge over troubled water being the ... um ... bridge over troubled waters - with the train falling into the water.

Another nice touch is the sign Colonel Nicholson so proudly erected to the unnamed "This Bridge"
floating by in the water after the bridge's collapse to the lyrics:

Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind

Bridge Over Troubled Water to Casino Royale

In Casino Royale, didn't it seem odd that the water is still churning heavily minutes after the Venetian house sank?

The reason is to play a part in the filmmaker's art. That of incorporating a secret underscore to the film. Part of that score is to the Paul Simon song, "Bridge Over Troubled Waters."

one interesting set of lyrics:

When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all

Has Bond nailing an operative named Gettler (seemingly a doppelgänger of Le Chiffre) through the left eye with a nail gun. This is the same eye that Le Chiffre sheds tears of blood as seen earlier in the film with Bond taking a verbal shot at Le Chiffre saying that he won't consider himself in trouble until he starts "weeping blood."

Help Big Boy Get His Feet Back On The Ground Sync

Certainly, any Bond fan recognizes that the Austin Powers films is a parody based heavily on the James Bond films. However, there are more references to the Bond films than many a Bond fan may realize.

Some things in the first film, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery are quite easily identified as based on the film, You Only Live Twice. They include Dr. Evil's appearance based on the Donald Pleasence version of Blofeld. That and his white Persian cat, Dr. Evil's version named Mr. Bigglesworth.

Other things may only occur to the Bond fan if he/she has seen the film recently. For example, Austin Power's extremely hairy chest is based (in parody) on the story element of Tiger Tanaka commenting on Japanese men having beautiful bare skin compared to Connery's hairy chest.
An of a smaller detail is the positioning of an (as of yet) unseen Blofeld, where his cat is shown before he is.

YOLT:


Austin Powers:

Or women driving sporty convertibles with small video monitors that show you the face of the person you're talking to.

There are other secrets for the Bond fan to figure out and discover, involving the hidden soundtrack for You Only Live Twice (and other Bond films). In another entry in this blog I show how the Bond filmmakers did a full film sync to the album Help! This is reference by the Austin Powers film.

For example, to the song "Ticket To Ride", we have Bond escaping danger by getting into Aki's white convertible and Austin Powers escaping women by jumping into Mrs. Kensington's Jaguar convertible.

Some things weren't apparent to me on first viewing. For example, we get a look at a sign for the London Underground) to the lyrics "I do appreciate you being round".

And while I caught the reference to the same "I do appreciate you being round" to round also being Austin Powers sticking out his backside, I missed the arrow on the woman's shirt, helping to point out the clue.

We also have Austin Powers running from a group of women, that references The Beatles's films Help! and A Hard Day's Night while also commenting on Aki running away from James Bond in "You Only Live Twice" to the same song. The Underground also references Tiger Tanaka's private underground railroad as well as his assumption that M (in London) may have the same setup.

To the song "Help, some little touches are:

My independence seems to vanish in the haze

To the vapor passing over Dr. Evil as he is locked away in a freeze chamber.

Help me get my feet upon the ground

To Big Boy's big feet in liftoff

Or a more subtle reference of Austin Powers climbing the stairs (thus feet off the ground) plus having the leg of a woman in a airborne swing in the shot.


Here is the video to the two songs:

Help! Album to You Only Live Twice - Highlights

The filmmakers of the movie, You Only Live Twice decided to do a full film sync to The Beatles' album Help!

It may be hard to imagine at first as it would seem an odd pairing of a lot of love/relationship songs to a James Bond film. However, the filmmakers make strong use of the two most action related songs "Help!" and "Ticket To Ride" and use non-traditional women to go with some other songs. This includes the female flying gadget named Little Nelly and Blofeld's cat. For example, the filmmakers sync "Another Girl" for Bond's introduction to Little Nelly and "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" to Blofeld's losing his white (and disappearing) Persian cat. It also doesn't hurt that Bond has scenes with several women including:

Miss Moneypenny
Aki
Helga (bad girl)
Kissy
Ling (Chinese girl in Hong Kong)
Japanese Masseuse

Naturally, the song "Help!" with the lyrics "help me get my feet back on the ground" works well with everything from space walks to ninjas repelling into Blofeld's volcano lair. "Ticket To Ride" working well for scenes with Aki's white convertible as well as rockets into space and Blofeld's monorail cars (looking a bit like a Disneyland ride).

With 46 separate song syncs, the film syncer needs to realize that the odds of getting all of those syncs correct as the filmmakers intended is unlikely. Sometimes equally good ideas exist in multiple songs. Further, with songs of approximately the same length, different songs could be used without affecting the rather obvious syncs around them. For example, the songs:

"Another Girl"
"I've Just Seen A Face"
"Yesterday"

All clock in at 2 minutes, seven seconds.

With that said, there are some common themes that are present in Help! album syncs that certainly help the syncer find his/her way. Over time, that will be made more clear.

Below are the video highlights from the full album sync. If there is interest in the full film sync, I'll consider posting it.

Blinded By The Light to Goldfinger

Someone brought up the question about whether songs just occur to me and that made me think of a one-off sync that was nothing more than that.

I was simply watching Goldfinger with the scene where Bond is blinded by the light made me think of ... you guessed it. However, while the "blinded by the light" lyrics work great with the bright lights of the scene this is a tough sync to appreciated as Springsteen obviously has other sources that influenced the lyrics as well as there are so many lyrics (some a bit hard to understand).

Key lyrics

And now young Scott with a slingshot finally found a tender spot and throws his lover in the sand

The young Scot being Sean Connery with Tilly Masterson struck to the ground by Oddjob's metal-rimmed bowler.

Yeah he was blinded by the light Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night

At gunpoint, Bond gets back into his Aston Martin, the runner in the night was Jill Masterson running for the woods before being struck down. The light is the headlights pointed toward the audience.


And go-cart Mozart was checkin' out the weather chart to see if it was safe to go outside
Safe to go outside is ironic, as Bond looks down toward his ejector button. The weather chart perhaps a reference to the round green screen tracker that is one of the key gadgets in the Aston Martin.

And little Early-Pearly came in by her curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride

A whirly birdy is more like it as Bond ejects his unwanted passenger out of the top of the car (thus needing a ride).

Yes and Scotland Yard was trying hard, they sent a dude with a calling card, he said, do what you like, but don't do it here

Another Scot reference with Bond having to change direction as the old lady guard effectively uses a machine gun on him.

He was just blinded by the light Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night

The deuce is Bond's two seater Aston Martin, a nighttime car chase afoot with a light blinding Bond as he holds his hand up in front of his face

Blinded by the light

Blinded again, Bond shields his eyes with his hand ultimately crashing.


Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the sun

The sun is the distinctively yellow headlight of a chase car. The headlight coming into a close-up.




Video of the sync:

Someone To Watch Over Me to You Only Live Twice

Continuing with another sync of "Someone To Watch Over Me" to a Bond film we have it syncing to the title credits in the film, You Only Live Twice.

Perhaps most importantly, it shows the coordination that occurs between the Title Credit designer (Maurice Binder) and the other filmmakers (director Lewis Gilbert and editor Peter Hunt etc.) as the sync starts before the title credits and ends after the credits are over.

A nice touch by the filmmakers is that Frank Sinatra version of the song "Someone To Watch Over Me" is the secret underscore to his daughter's title song.

Another fun element is that Binder has a simple door key as part of a woman's jewelry as we hear the words "he carries the key." The key is directly above the woman's right eye. It isn't obvious as he has another piece of metal dangling down by it, but he does give the audience a clue when the camera goes in for a close-up (or at least 'closer up).


To the words "someone to watch over me" has:

A cop looking over Bond's corpse checking his eyes to see whether he's dead
A woman spying on the audience
A woman turning her head to look at the audience
A woman (in silhouette) looking down, thus (presumably) looking over someone

A man looking through binoculars at Bond's funeral as the camera pans in to Bond's obituary

The video: