When I listen to certain albums, I tend to wonder what I would like to watch when I listen to them. I’ve been doing this since renting movies was a thing. One of the most popular sync-ups you may have already tried has been referred to as “The Dark Side of Oz” or “The Dark Side of The Wizard of Oz” or “The Dark Side of The Rainbow”.
Some think Pink Floyd may have purposefully re-scored the film The Wizard of Oz with their album, The Dark Side of The Moon.
Home made movie – Dark Side Of The Rainbow
I believe there are desired rhythms by which we tell a story and the time-related aspects of storytelling happen to be a specific duration and frequency. This is likely based on how long the storyteller can develop and sustain suspense before they have to deliver resolutions and begin new chapters.
Likewise, in songwriting and record production, some albums are designed to be listened to from beginning to end, rather than the songs or chapters being separate or singled out. This type of album has been referred to as Rock-Opera or Album-Rock. Just as language has rhythm and a beat, stories can be broken down into beats and certain themes can have similar beats, climaxes and resolutions.
This fluid synchronization of music and film might also support the idea that art is constructed and assembled with the attention span of the audience it is designed to entertain or captivate. Film and music both share the time or rhythm based medium and both can share similar thematic narratives.
At first you may notice pacing and musical cues matching up with the film, but if you listen closely, the best sync-up rewards can be the lyrics of the music forshadowing things in the storyline of the film. One of the ways this might be working so well is the way our brains try to make sense of
Below are a few of the latest that I’ve tried. I have included some special instruction for the first one. Generally, to try these out, you will most likely need to find the films and movies on separate devices and attempt to sync them up. You can bring up the sound of the films at any point, if you really want to hear the dialog, but for what we are doing here, the best way to experience these combinations is to crank up the musical piece and reduce the volume of the film to zero.
Top Gun (1986) (google play)
Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I-IV (208) (amazon.com)
This sync seems to work best if you have the movie ready to go from the Paramount logo and start playing the film at the beginning of Track 2 of Ghosts.
If you have any questions about how I figured any of these out you can email me directly at argonpath@gmail.com
The Matrix (1999) (google play)
Play this movie with zero volume.
Queen: The News of The World (1977) (2017 remaster)
Start this music at the very beginning of the green Warner Bros shimmering buildings and logo.
The Endless Summer (1966) (google play)
Led Zeplin: IV (1971) (amazon.com)
Easy Rider (1969) (google play)
The Beatles: Love (2006) (amazon.com)
Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) (google play)
Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother (1970) (amazon.com)
A Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) (google play)
Pink Floyd: The Wall (1979) (amazon.com)
Alice In Wonderland (2010) (google play)
Queen: A Night At The Opera (1975) (amazon.com)
La Planete Souvage (1973) (google play)
This film is sometimes available on youtube, but they might have commercial breaks that will mess up the sync.
MAL: mal (2012) (bandcamp.com)
Make sure you start the MAL album with “The Stand” right at the beginning of the movie production credits (right where it begins when you hit “Play” or “Watch”.
Amélie (2001) (amazon.com)
Mean Dream (2014) (bandcamp.com)
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen (1989) (amazon.com)
bokonon: Prism Cinema (2016) (bandcamp.com)