It's always nice when a director does a sync that references another film while doing a sync to the same song. In the film Stargate, the director Roland Emmerich references the Pink Floyd sync to 'stargate' in the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Key references (besides the high speed travel itself) are the explosion of tiny stars hommage to 2001 but to the same set of lyrics.
2001:
Stargate:
Emmerich also references Pink Floyd's sync to Snow White with the Stargate's round portal with reflective 'waters.'
There are many things going on including a syncs to the Meddle album. Here is a sync to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" It was easy to find. It's been years since I saw the film Stargate but the lyrics:
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky
I knew had a darn good chance of syncing to the bad guy's eyes going black before being nuked.
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.
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.
Or even better, try it for yourself.
Monday, April 21, 2008
This post comes out of a discussion with fellow syncers over at The Synchronicity Arkive. Link: http://www.synchronicityarkive.com/forum
Some folks seem to hold the classic sync of Pink Floyd's song Echoes to 2001: A Space Odyssey as the Gold Standard of all deliberate syncs.
The main reason for this is that the sync starts with the words "Jupiter and Beyond The Infinite" and the sync runs to the end of the film i.e. to the beginning of the credits; thus, the timing of the sync i.e. one white lettered intertitle to the next white titles (end titles) gives this additional credibility.
According to some syncers, the sync should be set up so that the words "Jupiter and Beyond The Infinite" appear just as the third 'ping' is heard at the beginning of the song. The idea being that it works best that way and the third ping works much like the third MGM lion's roar at the start of DSotM to the beginning of The Wizard of Oz ... a way of getting the sync right. This, of course, messes with the theory above as it no longer goes from title to title but there you have it.
I commented on the forum that the sync was a fine one. Certainly the music has a nice 'spacey' quality to it and the first group of lyrics works well with the action on screen. Certainly:
And something stirs and something tries And starts to climb towards the light
Works really well with the bright lights appearing as Dave starts his voyage past the walls of light.
However, I mentioned that the last two sets of lyrics didn't work well at all. Such as:
Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes Inviting and inciting me to rise And through the window in the wall Comes streaming in on sunlight wings
Doesn't work at all with Older Dave walking back to his dinner and sitting down.
Well I got at least a few posts coming back saying that it did work well and I got the sense that some felt that I was chipping away at the Great Pyramid.
Can't help that. I think it's more important to get syncers thinking outside their comfort level.
With that in mind, I thought I would offer up another deliberate Echoes sync. The point is not to minimize the classic Echoes sync but to expand on it.
Naturally, the lyrics fit well with the action on screen, but the link to the title: Echoes is there too.
First with Snow White singing:
Make a wish into to well, that's all you have to do And if you hear it echoing, your wish will soon come true
With that her words echo back from within the wishing well.
Another series of echoes comes with the seven dwarfs singing in the mine, listening to their echo coming back from within the mine.
Emmerich also references Pink Floyd's sync to Snow White with the Stargate's round portal with reflective 'waters.'
