spintheblackestcircles.org

So, tonight, as a way to pass the time while I couldn't sleep, I set out to find a workable syncing of The Hook and Pull Gang and TCM.

Now, I have no frame of reference here, as I didn't catch any of the live performances/screenings. And I didn't have the patience to try and perfectly time each individual track, nor would I want to watch TCM hovering over my turntable in an attempt to get this exactly right. But what I did find is certain points in the movie where, if you start a side and let it play through, some things seem to work and match up - for the most part, anyway. YMMV.



(If it matters, I conducted this experiment using the 2008 Dark Sky Films Ultimate Edition blu-ray of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I watched with the audio from the re-score only - I didn't mix it with the original audio from the film.)



Side A - 1:05 - Music should start just as the date "August 18, 1973" appears onscreen. The corpse sculpture should appear with the change in music, and the title card comes in with the drums/main theme. Franklin's wheelchair tumble is still a little off, but this side syncs pretty well as a whole.



Side B - 21:03 - This is the one I am least sure of. If you start here, at the Old Man's BBQ joint with the girls at the soda machine, the music ends at what seems like the right time, but the syncing is honestly a mixed bag. As a whole, it works well enough, but the stings and changes are all over the place. The mallet hits will never be timed right. I need to just accept that.



Side C - 43:45 - This is the hardest side to sync, as the music fades in and finding a concrete starting time is difficult. Generally, the music should kick in shortly after Sally and Franklin are finished with their convo outside the van and we switch back to Jerry looking for Kirk. Initially it may not seem like it's working. In fact, "Kirk" won't sync up - at all. But by starting at this point, S.A.W is awesome, has a number of changes corresponding with action, and should last for the duration of the Leatherface/Sally extended chase, finishing as Sally falls through the door at the Old Man's place.



Side D - 1:04:04 - As Side C goes almost immediately into Side D, you're gonna have to pause on this one, unless you want to risk a super-quick flip. The headlights coming out of the darkness is the cue to start (and incidentally, if you have this version on blu, it is on or just before the start of chapter 10). This side probably works the best, and is definitely the big payoff.


So, this is a rough outline of what worked for me, but like I said, YMMV. I would love any feedback, especially if someone can find a starting point that works better for the B Side. I had a lot of fun watching this with the score (mostly) in sync. The album is so damn good. The fact that it works this well with the movie makes it all the more impressive.

While at the TCM screening at MondoCon, several of us asked if this score could be synced with the TCM, and they said it wouldn't be possible with all the breaks, and silence from Antoni & Umberto throughout the film. I haven't checked, but what is the exact run time for the double 2xLP of the TCM Score compared to the run time of the TCM? As I was watching the film, I was watching them perform at the same time, and as I said there were breaks of silence, then BOOM! The music goes crazy. This will be a very hard thing to do, to get it right on que that is. Your method may work great, I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the work on the timing and syncing.

At the very least, it spaces the score out so that it starts at the beginning and ends at the end. Cause just letting it roll won't pan out. I'm still tweaking the start times a such. Needle drops are pesky things to time consistently.

UPDATE: Changed Side C start time.

@BasementHorror, Thank you for working on this. This is kind of like our own version of a "fansub".

So, the video is a little messy (will have to redo it at some point) and the audio isn't the best, as I recorded it from my speakers...but I think this is how Digging should go...

[video]http://youtu.be/YkfuSM_7TMY[/video]

That is perfectly sublime.

Great stuff. Need to get myself a copy of the film on Blu-Ray so I can try syncing it, only version I have at the moment is PAL encoded which would make it impossible.

This is brillant, thanks a lot BasementHorror.

I doubt i'll be able to do something like that with my region 2 DVD, but i'll have to find a way!!

Amazing! Gives it a totally new perspective, the beginning reminds me of Jodorowsky

Dude, that is pretty much on que!! Kass Martin & myself sat dead center very front row, and this was the loudest screening I have ever heard/seen!!! Hands down! Bravo on the syncing, did you use the restored 4k version blu Ray for the edit?

They said it couldn't be done, but that was it man, I wish everyone hear could have been there to see this live, oh my god!!!!!

Awesome. You need to get more sleep!! So now all you need to do is create a cd-r including all the pauses and breaks and distribute it to the STBC members who own the vinyl!

Just out of interest why would this not work with a pal version?

@philball1974 PAL runs slightly faster than NTSC.

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement, folks!

First a disclaimer and request. This is a labor of love by a true fan. I wanted to catch one of these screenings so badly. But as I couldn't, I wanted to try and replicate the experience here at home, if possible. As I was able to (almost) pull it off, I figured I would share my process with my fellow STBC true believers that might be trying to do the same thing. I might post another video or two, but firmly believe 90% of the fun is in trying to do this yourself...

And another thing...let's keep this to ourselves. I'm keeping the videos "link only" and only posting them here on STBC. And if Spencer, Matt, Antoni, or anyone wants me to take this stuff down, just let me know. Not trying to piss on anyone else's hard work/copyright/livelihood...

Yeah, it's 25fps instead of 24 so there's a 4% speed-up. The sync would be constantly out.

This is part of "Home/Black Maria" (I tried to upload the whole thing, but alas, too long). This is the sequence that probably syncs the best, and shows just how brilliantly The Hook & Pull Gang works as a rescore of TCM. It (maybe?) falls out of sync a little toward the end, but even still...hot damn, is this one hell of a finale!

"Digging" was an appetizer. This is the main course.

The FULL version of HOME/BLACK MARIA is below, and should be available to everyone. You will need the password STBC (all caps). It's long (18min) and starts a little slow (and blurry - sorry about that). But it's worth it.

[video]https://vimeo.com/110606527[/video]

OR if you don't have the patience for that, you can cut to the chase, so to speak, with just BLACK MARIA below...

[video]https://vimeo.com/110585778[/video]

Loving your work.... One of the best threads on this board so far. Having seen the restored version on the big screen a couple of days before I received the vinyl I could vaguely imagine how it might go together... But if anything this makes me realise that I missed out on something great not being in the same country as the live rescore events....

Kudos BasementHorror...great efforts and fantastic stuff!

"This video is not available in your country"

Yeah, YouTube is restricting the hell out of this one. I am going to try and do an edit today, but it seems like however I load this, it gets copyright flagged - but only for certain countries (which didn't happen with the 1st video).

UPDATE - Vimeo to the rescue! Videos fixed and embedded.

This video is off-center, and it annoys me. It's also maybe half a second off. When I can upload more stuff to Vimeo next week, I'll fix it. Until then, I am going to cool it for a bit. I've updated Side C's starting time yet again, and fixed the videos for HOME/BLACK MARIA. The password for all videos is listed a few posts back. If anyone is having trouble viewing anything, or has any feedback/tweaks, let me know.

Everyone here has been great. Hope you enjoy watching/trying this as much as I have enjoyed putting it together...

And now...

S-A-W!

(Video has been removed cause it sucked.)

Ok, so I fixed "S-A-W". Password is STBC (all caps) for all videos.


[video]http://vimeo.com/110671768[/video]

I was wondering are you using Adobe Creative Suite, Final Cut Pro, or what? Cu r ions to your transfer methods and the editing software you are using. I do FanEdits, bit always use digital media for the audio/video curious to your method and equipment.

@VinylOST - my methods are pretty primitive, I'm afraid.

I basically set up my iPhone 5s to record my TV while I hand-synced the records - pausing at the correct time, starting the record, then restarting the film when the music would kick in. I was able to record the music at an acceptable level on video by blasting the score at an incredibly high volume...an awesome experience for me, but probably not so much for everyone else in my neighborhood...

I would then load the video onto my Mac and do basic video edits with iMovie, usually only trimming the edges.

Someone (you?) could probably do this properly, as there is no big secret to this and I am just recording video of the syncing instructions I posted above.

I run on Mac as well, and also have a blu Ray reader/nwriter for mine as well. I just need a copy of the restored 4K Resolution of TCM, unless the original DVD copy will work for a more "rustic feel". I have my autographed copy of the hook & pull gang or others call the (TCM) 2XLP. I need to transfer them to my Mac to WAV files, and covert the TCM video to h264 for the audio & video media, then I can use my Adobe Creative Suite or my FINAL CUT PRO to start the editing. I'm not trying to steal your idea at all, please do not think that. I would actually like to help you perhaps! If this comes out as it should, or the best as possible, it will be free for the board members to view whenever they wish. This will take me a little time to transfer this all to digital media, and correct format.

No, by all means! Go right ahead!

I actually used the 2008 blu-ray, not the new 4k transfer, so your dvd might work.

I might work out some track-by-track starting times, as this has been fun, and shouldn't be too far off the starting times for each side that have been worked out...