I know there are a lot of fans of the film, The Matrix. For many people it was one of the first DVDs they probably owned if not the very first. So, I thought I would post a couple syncs to show you some of the music that inspired the action you see on the screen. For the Pink Floyd fan of the album, The Wall, it also gives them a start to the creation of a full film sync to the music. It won't be easy though. One tip, forget about the order of songs on the album and just pay attention to the lyrics.
One touch I like is the dull white tile of the bathroom wall, certainly a clue inspired by the album cover of The Wall.
With the Frank Sinatra sync, the question might be why would the Wachowski brothers be doing syncing old time music to their film?
My response is that music is music. Heck, next year The Wall will be 30 years old, older than most of the people reading this post. Sure each generation has a special place in their heart for music listened to as they grew up, but it's how the song connects with you that matters ... not its age. Another factor is to pay homage to the filmmakers that came before them, but that's a subject for another day.
A few things to share about a film sync (underscore):
1. Alfred Hitchcock, before he shoots a film has worked out what music underscore(s) he will be using and to what specific action on the screen. That doesn't mean that he won't change things or improvise ... it means there is a plan. Thus, the music is part and parcel with the development of the shooting script and music is a key element and inspiration for each film scene.
2. A music underscore is NOT just there to help create the film, it is part of the art form. The music syncs (i.e. matches) the specific actions on the screen as a final product of the film. Certainly, anyone that has studied Hitchcock films notice the duality (for lack of a better word) of his films. That extends to the film's music with an official score and an underscore.
3. Hitchcock loves to use the same music over and over within a film and from film to film as he sees fit much like thematic elements are repeated in a film. For example, in Vertigo, how many times does Hitch put Scottie at close approximation to Madeleine with her seemingly unaware of his presence?
4. Hitch may use many different songs within a specific scene. Artists look for and are interested in many different ideas and points of inspiration. Rarely is inspiration singled-tracked.
5. Hitch doesn't just use music he likes. He uses music he likes AND that were themselves created to film. Thus he pays homage to these artists. It is also a bit of a snowball effect. A film inspires a song. That song inspires another film. That film inspires another song ... etc. etc. That doesn't mean that he might not sync his films to classical music or opera as well, just that there is a HUGE pattern of syncing his films to music inspired by movies.
But, talk is cheap so let's go through a full example.
Hitchcock used the song "Till There Was You" in his film Vertigo. I'm using the Original Broadway Cast Album version from the musical The Music Man for all but one sync. This doesn't mean that that version necessarily was used by the filmmakers but helps to show common elements and patterns. Key sync points are Scottie oblivious to what's around him as he follows Madeleine around San Francisco. Note the yellow roses in the cemetery even when it is only the non-vocal (instrumental portion) where they would be singing "And there were wonderful roses, they tell me" if there were vocals.
So, other than the music working fairly well, how does this become more than a coincidence? Well, other filmmakers use the same music to sync to their films WHILE doing an hommage to Vertigo. One of those films is Perfume: Portrait of a Murderer. In it, we have the rather obvious reference to the yellow roses in the cemetery along with a gravestone with a Spanish woman's name on it. The other major connection is the protagonist and the stunningly beautiful woman being so close to each other by the gravestone, with the woman seemingly being unaware of his presence a la Madeleine in Vertigo.
So, if that's the case, what film inspired Meredith Willson when he was writing "Till There Was You?"
There may have been other films, but one of them was Hitchcock's Rear Window.
Not much is needed other than to watch the video. I particularly like how the lyrics:
There were birds in the sky But I never saw them winging
has birds NOT 'winging' but just sitting on the roof of Miss Torso's apartment as most red-blooded males concentrate on her considerable talents. Note: Meredith Willson sampled multiple scenes in Rear Window, taking advantage of the red roses around the courtyard.
So, what's to help prove that Meredith Willson wrote this song to Rear Window beyond a decent sync? Well, other filmmakers reference the song sync and Rear Window in their films. An example is Stanley Kubrick's film: Lolita.
Kubrick has Lolita (when we first meet her) wearing a two-piece suit sunning herself in the back yard of her house. Naturally, the two piece outfit references Miss Torso, the sunbathing referencing the woman sunbathing on the roof in Rear Window and the loud radio the bit of business of the loud radio that bothers the composer as he works on his song. Note how Charlotte Haze mentions her prize winning yellow roses, a reference to Vertigo, with Humbert only having eyes for Lolita.
For this song, I used The Beatles cover version. What I'm stating is that they were 'in the know' about what Kubrick was up to. It wasn't by some random chance that they used that song, The Beatles wrote other (original) music to the film, Lolita. What songs? Did I mention that I'm writing a book? Another small clue comes from Kubrick who has Charlotte Haze give out her phone number as 1776. Note how, Humbert (James Mason) separates the number into two accentuating the '76' portion. The 76, a small clue to 76 Trombones, the big number in the musical, The Music Man.
Another film that references the song and Rear Window is Roger Vadim's film, ... and God Created Woman. In it, Vadim has Brigitte Bardot sunbathing in the nude with red flowers around with much older men interested in her, one of them being a guy watching her through (you guessed it) the rear window while confined to his wheelchair a la Rear Window. For the part:
There were birds in the sky But I never saw them winging
I soften the music and boasted the sound effects so you can hear the really heavy bird chirping. Overall, this sync isn't that good but hopefully helps to show intent.
So, if you're open to the idea that artists (both filmmakers and musicians) share and are cognizant of what each is up to ... you're well on the way to finding syncs of your own!
The book I'm writing will document that The Beatles wrote a lot of their music to sync to film scenes. At first, that's a hard concept to grasp. The natural question would be, why would they? The natural answer is that, if you were writing lyrics would you find it helpful to work with visuals or not work with visuals? There is a lot more to it than that but hopefully that's a point to start from.
Another key point to realize is that artists rarely use just one film scene as inspiration. Often it's several scenes within the same film as well as scenes in other films. Artists are magnets for ideas, obtaining them wherever they can. The beauty of films is there are repetitive ideas or themes that help them work on their songs.
When showing someone a sync, I'll get the response, 'some things work really well and some things were a complete miss. ' Often the reason is that the artists might have gotten inspiration for the beginning from one film and a different film for the ending.
To help illustrate that point, let's look at the song, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. The first video shows a composite scene of three separate scenes in the film, Mary Poppins to the song. I've also included two of the three full syncs as well.
The song starts with the lyrics:
Picture yourself in a boat on a river, With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Is inspired by Bert's (Dick Van Dyke) chalk drawings in the park. Just moments before the start of the sync we see his drawing 'Punting On The Thames.'
At the start of the sync to help with the visuals in his drawing, Bert pretends to be in a boat, using his chalk stick to move his boat through the water. Thus 'picture yourself' works for Bert's pictures as well as their 'Jolly Holiday' within the chalk drawing of a English countryside.
I noticed a post at the MI6 (the Bond fan forum). It was suggesting as a rumor that the singer Shannon Eileen was going to be singing the new Bond song.
Now, leaving that aside, I went to Shannon's myspace presence:
The song "Ride (The Wave)" was playing. Immediately I smiled, the lyrics involving the Bond film, Casino Royale (2006). Shannon writes on her site about being inspired by 60's Spy Films so there may be other spy film connections, certainly her album cover is also Bond and 60's spy films inspired. In so doing, she joins a LONG list of musicians that have been inspired by spy films and Bond films in particular.
View of her album cover:
I don't think the Bond producers have ever picked an artist that wasn't well known to sing the Bond Title song, but I will state that writing/performing music to (or for) the Bond films is a commonality shared by many of the artists that have sung the title. So, it's a good way to go. More about this at some point. I think I know a film scene that influenced Shannon's title track "Trigger Finger" but I'll leave that for someone else to explore.
I'd thought I would reach out to the many fans of the James Bond films (which includes me as well) and explain a bit about the Hidden Underscores of the Bond films.
All the Bond films were created to music. By created I mean that before one meter of film is shot there is a shooting script that has been inspired by music. Moreover, the scenes are created so that this secret music syncs (i.e. matches) the action in the film.
That's easier said than proved, so I thought that I would show three scenes in three different films that all sync to the same music. One very popular song to sync to (not just by the director of Bond films but films in general) is the Gershwin song, "Someone To Watch Over Me." Below are three syncs to the Frank Sinatra version of the song. This does not mean that that was the specific version that the filmmakers used but it does help to show common themes, common patterns and matches to the exact same timing. The three films presented are three of the Connery films: Dr. No, Goldfinger and Thunderball. All three films have the commonality of a bit of business around a hotel and a key (a car rental key, maid's pass key and Bond's room key, respectively).
Goldfinger
Although I may not be the man some girls think of as handsomeTo her heart I'll carry the key
Without even looking at the hotel maid, Bond grabs her pass key and pulls her and the key over to open Goldfinger's suite
Won't you tell her please to put on some speedFollow my lead, oh how I needSomeone to watch over me
Bond watches over Jill Masterson as Masterson watches over Goldfinger's competitor's cards
Won't you tell her please to put on some speedFollow my lead, oh how I needSomeone to watch over me
Bond looks through the binoculars at Goldfinger as he is also 'over' Jill Masterson
Dr. No
There's a somebody I'm longing to seeI hope that she turns out to beSomeone to watch over me
Professor Dent walks to the table where the tarantula waits in its cage. A beautiful element of the scene is the unseen Dr. No with the omnipresent voice looks over Professor Dent as Dent looks over the spider. Also note the ceiling with the criss-crossed material and the chair, both giving the impression that it is not just the spider who is in a cage.
Although I may not be the man some girls think of as handsomeTo her heart I'll carry the key
The hotel clerk hands Bond the key to the car he's renting and then watches him as he walks away.
Won't you tell her please to put on some speedFollow my lead, oh how I needSomeone to watch over me
Won't you tell her please to put on some speedFollow my lead, oh how I needSomeone to watch over me
The camera slowly panning to the bed matches the slow movement of the tarantula moving up Bond's body, Bond watching its progress.
Thunderball
I'm a little lamb who's lost in a woodI know I could always be goodTo one who'll watch over me
Domino puts her fluffy white (lamb-like) wrap over her shoulder. Bond is shown watching Domino exit with Felix Leiter watching in back of Bond.
Although I may not be the man some girls think of as handsomeTo her heart I'll carry the key
Bond picks up the room key at the front desk, the hotel clerk watching Bond as he walks away (climbing the stairs)
Won't you tell her please to put on some speedFollow my lead, oh how I needSomeone to watch over me
As the tape recorder (hidden in a book) plays the audio of someone entering Bond's hotel room and walking across the floor, the camera slowly pans over the carpet showing the path of the intruder.
Of note, this scene is NOT as originally planned making for the continuity error of Bond having lunch with Domino in swimwear, then going to the casino in a tux, then to showing Bond returning to the hotel in the same swimwear. I don't know when they made this sequence change decision or why but the originally approach (poolside, return to room, meet Leiter, etc. etc.) still shows intent for the sync.
Two possible moments to sync were:
Bond looking over his shoulder at one of Largo's thugs watching Domino (poolside).
Domino mentioning to Bond how sharp his eyes are, having noticed that her ankle bracelet reads Domino.
Below, please find the video containing the three syncs.
Often musicians will sync multiple times to a film or find inspiration in different films. This is part of the reason that some syncs don't resonate with a viewer. The viewer is expecting that one sync to be the be all and end all while the artists may just be picking ideas up over multiple syncs.
Another Echoes sync to 2001 comes much earlier in the film with the monolith appearing before the apes. Key lyrics include:
And do I take you by the hand and lead you through the land And help me understand the best I can
The apes touch the monolith with their hands. Some have theorized that the monolith is not just a beacon sending back information but works as a boaster shot of intelligence, making those that are fortunate to come in contact with the monolith smarter.
And no one tries and no one flies around the sun
The camera pans up to show the sun directly over the monolith.
And through the window in the wall Comes streaming in on sunlight wings A million bright ambassadors of morning
Dr. Floyd calls home, the earth bright and beautiful out of the window next to him.
And no one sings me lullabies And no one makes me close my eyes
Nothing much but one wonders how often the young daughter is on her own, with her father traveling and her mother out, left with a housesitter.
So I throw the windows wide And call to you across the skies
The call from across the sky is Dr. Floyd using the video phone to call home. This syncs to a shot of the phone charge with the old styled logo of Bell Telephone.
Continuing on with the Echoes theme, let's go back to 2001: A Space Odyssey and show a different sync to Echoes, one that fits well with the last two sets of Lyrics.
Highlights of the second set of lyrics include:
And no one tries and no one flies around the sun
Syncs to a bright light followed immediately by a yellow eye as if reflecting sunlight or looking into the sun.
This then shifts to a shot of a huge cluster of stars.
Highlights of the third set includes:
Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes Inviting and inciting me to rise
Oldest Dave tries to rise up in the bed his outstretched hand and finger trying to reach the monolith in front of him.
And through the window in the wall Comes streaming in on sunlight wings
The wall is the monolith. And the camera does appear to enter the monolith, is it used for travel too?
A million bright ambassadors of morning
The Star Child appears in a brightly lit sphere
And no one sings me lullabies And no one makes me close my eyes
Refers to the Star Child. Note that we never see the Child blink his eyes, the lyrics commenting on that oddity.
So I throw the windows wide And call to you across the skies
We (the camera) enters the monolith and emerge above the earth.
