This is topic Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of the Moon in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 11-04-2001, 11:34 PM:
This past Saturday night at midnite we ran Wizard of Oz with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It was promoed for a week by a radio station in conjuction with EMI's 20th anniversary re-release of the music. We sold out all 1392 seats and turned away between 500 & 600. If you haven't seen these two together, do it. Music synchs nearly perfectly with the film. It certainly is not for the cinema purists but it IS a crowd pleaser. There is much on the net about this. Might be what your late night crowd is looking for.
Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 11-04-2001, 11:40 PM:
Only problem is the film is longer than the album, and it is debateable that the repeat of the album synchs at all...I too will be doing 'Dark Side of the Wizard' in conjunction with a radio promo sometime between now and Christmas...
-Aaron
Posted by Bob Healey (Member # 1003) on 11-05-2001, 12:35 AM:
Any extra hoops you have to jump through to do this besides booking the film?
Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 11-05-2001, 02:54 AM:
Not really.
All you have to do is plug a cd player into your non-sync system and have have the music start at just the right time.
I have also has success running DARK SIDE with ET, ECHOES (from meddle) with the JUPITER AND BEYOND THE INFINITE from 2001, and SMASHING PUMKINS SIAMESE DREAM and the first disk of MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS with FANTASIA.
I also once did WISH YOU WERE HERE with AKIRA, but the last time i tried, I couldnt get it to work right.
Instructions gor most of these are available at
http://home.xnet.com/~arkiver/synch/synch.shtml The website hasnt been updated in a few years, probably because the founder got tired of it, but the message board isstill active.
The problem I had with the message board was the people were trying too hard to synch movies and music together and have come up with insane instructions for matching them up.
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 11-05-2001, 07:05 AM:
Start the CD on the third roar of the MGM lion. 
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 11-05-2001, 07:38 AM:
Help me here, we do or do not hear any of the film's dialogue?
Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 11-05-2001, 09:25 AM:
This is a really cool experiment. I did this experiment on September 8, 1996, when I had 4 friends over who suggested it. At that time, there weren't many people who knew about it like now. Several months after we did that, I read a big article in the paper about the strange coincidences. I wonder how far back this "Dark Side of the Moon and Wizard of Oz" thing goes. I'd never heard of it before September 8, 1996, and I had some pretty strange friends. It was fun to be doing something so strange that was so entertaining.
------------------
Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 11-05-2001, 09:27 AM:
No, since most people have seen/heard the Wizard of Oz so often, usually the film's dialogue is not needed.There was an interview about 6 years ago with Allan Parsons, the producer of Dark Side of the Moon. While he was pleased people had found a new way to enjoy DSOTM, the album was not made intentionally to sync with Wizard of Oz.
Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 11-05-2001, 11:47 PM:
We used 2 identical portable cd players, one with anti skip not activated and the other with it activated as a back=up to use in case the first machine died. Started at the end of Leo's 3rd roar, they stayed in synch all the way thru. The repeats worked perfectly. I don't know if the time cd players take to start a repeat is standard, but we have 3 different players and the repeat time is too close on all to tell any difference. Only thing you might need to do is get public performance clearance for the music, we had it because EMI was a co-promoter of the show. We inputed the track thru an auxilliary input on one of the optical pre=amps so it would go thru the processor, whatever it did sounded great.
Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 11-07-2001, 01:29 PM:
I think the 8-track tape version would work better for this.
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 11-07-2001, 02:22 PM:
Jesse: You been sucking on gin and juice?
Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 11-12-2001, 05:29 PM:
'album was not made intentionally to sync with Wizard of Oz'Bull hocky. You're never gonna convince me it wasn't intentional. Too many exact matches. Pink Floyd knew what they were doing, and just kept a secret really well.
On the topic of the movie's sound, you want this off for sure. The whole point is how the lyrics match up what's going on in the movie.
My question is how you can legally sell tickets to this show, unless the record label gets some of the money or something. As far as I understood, you can't charge people to listen to somebody else's music without their permission, and I don't think MGM and the record label have an agreement on this. Anyone?
------------------
"Asleep at the switch? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!" - Homer Simpson
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 11-12-2001, 06:40 PM:
'album was not made intentionally to sync with Wizard of Oz'Bull hocky.
Ha-ha! But that's what he said. He was interviewed on a New York City radio station WNEW which played rock at the time (but is all-talk now.) I guess it could be true.. remember the 'millon monkeys at a millon typewriters' thing!
Question: How would you keep the two in sync? Nothing really runs in sync unless they are "locked" together somehow.
Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 11-12-2001, 10:00 PM:
>>How would you keep the two in sync? Nothing really runs in sync unless they are "locked" together somehow.<<Very true.. I always wondered how this has managed to supposedly work so well given that not every VCR, turntable, tape deck or in this case projector motor runs at exactly the same speed every time. DVD video and the CD are about the only things close to a constant.
-Aaron
Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 11-12-2001, 11:59 PM:
I dont think that the difference in speed is great enough to make a difference.
Ive tried a few of these on different equipment with the same results each time.
But i havent tried "synching" them in a while, since ive had them on tape for a few years.
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-13-2001, 08:02 AM:
A VCR should come very close to maintaining perfect sync, as should a DVD player and CD player. A regular cassette recorder will have a problem, although crystal sync recorders (Nagra, etc.) do exist and should be able to properly resolve a tape recorded with a sync or timecode track. Some turntables are crystal-controlled to run at exactly 33 1/3 or 45 RPM and should also do fine.Actually, of all of the devices that have been mentioned here, I'd be more concerned about the film projector not keeping sync than about the VCR, CD player, etc.
Posted by Tao Yue (Member # 836) on 11-13-2001, 08:58 PM:
Of course, with the 1998 DTS-timecoded prints of Wizard, projector synchronization becomes simple. Would still have to get copyright clearance, though.------------------
Tao Yue
MIT '04: Course VI-2, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Projectionist, MIT Lecture Series Committee
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-14-2001, 12:15 AM:
I just don't see how these repertory prints can maintain sync after the first reel. I mean we all know how many MORONS chop off frame after frame when they are building/breaking down prints. Also, on changeover theaters there will typically be several frames lost in the switch from reel to reel. (Except of course for Steve. 
)Also, what happens if the guy starting the cd player is a second too late? Many cd players will not allow a quick "skip" forward.
(Disclaimer: I've never seen this combination of "The Dark Side of the Wiz", but have been told that the sync is amazingly perfect with a brand new print and no frames missing.
Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 11-14-2001, 09:51 AM:
Last year, Turner Classic Movies showed WIZARD OF OZ with the Pink Floyd track on the SAP channel. I recorded it but never watched it. I wouldn't think you would have to worry much about having super-precise sync as you wouldn't have to worry about lip movements.
Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 11-14-2001, 11:11 PM:
Synch doesn't need to be dead on, this ain't lip synch, it's just music moving approximatly with the picture & scene changes, though it was uncanny at the first repeat to see all 4 characters look up on the second heartbeat. An imbecile can press 2 pause release buttons at the same time to start 2 cd players. Using 2 players, if the first gets off too much due to film splicing etc. the second machine be cued to the film using headphones and the crossfader moved to take out the first machine and the second in with no interruption and nearly no noticable change, we tried it before the show be sure it would work well.