A quick note: as with the Dark Side of the Rainbow sync on DVD, the syncs described below are no longer available from the producer. The information contained herein is for archival purposes only. All links to (the now defunct) Evening Star Gifts have been deactivated, as the links lead nowhere. There are other people "bootlegging" these DVD's, so all hope is not lost.
The discoverer of this sync is unknown, though the longest known promoter of it is the Arkiver from the Synchronicity Arkive. But now, from Evening Star Gifts (ESG) not only does this sync include the usual 23 minute Echoes/Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite (JABTI) sync that most syncers already know about, but is, in fact, the entire movie of 2001: A Space Odyssey sync'd up with Pink Floyd music from various albums, which, of course, culminates with the Echoes tune from Meddle at the end of the film. Taking on more than the usual 23 minutes or so in any movie, much less a Stanley Kubrick film for a sync, is a daunting task -- one might even call a fool's errand. A key ingredient for keeping any sync fresh (instead of boring) is plenty of action; not necessarily car crashes and fighting (though it probably couldn't hurt) but objects moving across the screen and scene changes are very important. Kubrick films are not known for their action, but are characterized by scenes of standing and sitting and looking, and looking, and looking ... and very slow progressions of movement. With all that said, ESG pulls this one off very well! There are some parts that are so good it makes you giggle with delight, as you press the rewind button on the remote just to see how neat it looks again! One of those instances, for example, is the feeling I got from the scene where the gigantic spaceship is moving across the screen to the sound of the chirping birds of Grantchester Meadows from Umma Gumma. Absolutely surreal!
In my opinion, one of the better "other" syncs I've seen.
Available in the "regular" format or in Megabit format, which takes up 2 DVDs because of the enormous size of the picture and sound files. Both versions are beautiful to see and to hear.
SYNC TIMING: The timing of JABTI is perfect, and the timing of the rest of the movie has to be seen to be appreciated.
PACKAGING: Professional printing and paper, professional quality cover art on front and back of the DVD cases. The cover art is a combination of the classic 2001 space wheel and the ripples in water image from Pink Floyd's Meddle. The Megabit version has a silver foil cover that is very attractive.
PICTURE QUALITY: Harvested directly from DVD. Optimized for Home Theatre. The Megabit version is probably even nicer viewed on a TV better than that which I am in present possession.
SOUND QUALITY: Harvested directly from digitally mastered CD.
INTEREST LEVEL: Depending on where you are in the sync, it fluctuates between 4 and 8 with a few 9's here and there. Overall, I'd have to say it's a 7.5 or slightly better. A full length sync that works better than most. The finale, of course, is a 10.
NAVIGATION: No menus. Auto-play. You can bump your way ahead with the FORWARD button - but you really shouldn't do that.
BUMMERS: None
If you'd like to obtain a copy go to Evening Star Gifts
Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland and Pink Floyd's The Wall.
The best information to date on the origin of this sync is that in 1998, it was posted on the Synchronicity Arkive by coolfred2165 (who reclaimed credit for it in March, 2004), and reiterated by acw_echoes2001 in September of 2002, with what appears to be the setup formula used in this DVD.
This is one of the strangest syncs I've seen. When I first began watching it, it didn't seem to be going anywhere. However, once The Thin Ice began playing, I began to see syncs -- contrasting things like "If you should go skating on the thin ice of modern life ..." to the ripples in the water made by Alice's finger. Granted the water wasn't ice, but in my mind, it lent itself eerily to the imagery of Fantasia where the little faeries were skating on the ice. The music continued to work in this multi-layered manner for a little while, waxed and waned a bit for a while -- a sync here, a sync there - certainly not as obvious as many had claimed. Then, beginning with The Show Must Go On and throughout the remainder of the sync, it became quite entertaining. I found that my mind kept superimposing the imagery of The Trial, from the film, THE WALL, over the imagery of the trial sequence in Wonderland, which indeed produced some very interesting mental sensations! Like I'd mentioned earlier, it was a strange sync -- strange in the sense that, at least in my case, other movies seemed to mesh and overlap with this one. I don't know if I'm conveying this well enough but, the bottom line is, I liked it! Sidenote: Recently I've re-watched this sync, and have to amend my original statement concerning the beginning portion of the sync. I really think this is a great sync from beginning to end.
SYNC TIMING: Interestingly, the film and music are the same length, minus Comfortably Numb (so much for the 100% intent theory which coolfred2165 promoted), meaning zero repeat play-throughs, which in my book is a plus!
PACKAGING: Professional printing and paper, professional quality cover art on front and back of the DVD cases. Picture labeled discs.
PICTURE QUALITY: Harvested directly from DVD. Optimized for Home Theatre
SOUND QUALITY: Harvested directly from digitally mastered CD.
INTEREST LEVEL: It doesn't come on with a bang but be a little patience it becomes very entertaining.
NAVIGATION: Animated menus with sound. Another beautiful release from ESG!
BUMMERS: None
If you'd like to obtain a copy go to Evening Star Gifts
This is my own little baby. The fellow from ESG liked it so well that it was offered as a "bonus featurette" before we'd even met, while he thought the discoverer was unknown. After we met, and I explained and proved to him that I indeed was the one who'd discovered this sync, the credit was given to me on all subsequent releases. Originally it was also offered as a standalone disc, though no longer. However, it's included as a special feature on all versions of THE DARK SIDE OF THE RAINBOW and DARKEST CITY.
SYNC TIMING: Perfect timing (and I should know).
PACKAGING: ESG describes Contact/Echoes as "a quality and staggeringly worth-while sync. Anyone that has seen it didn’t just enjoy it but completely loved it. It should be used as a primer for those unfamiliar with syncs as it is obvious, short and requires no cheat sheet to explain why or where the sync is. If the sync can’t act as a music video it is not truly a sync." Karl Tune, well respected sync critic says it's "FAR superior to 2001:JABTI/Echoes".
PICTURE QUALITY: Harvested directly from DVD.
SOUND QUALITY: Harvested directly from digitally mastered CD.
INTEREST LEVEL: I may be biased since I am the discoverer of this sync, but based on the responses I've gotten from others (especially unsolicited ones), I'd have to give it a 9 overall. It's not huge on the lyrical syncs but the way the music changes with the scenes, and the overall mood is undeniably great!
NAVIGATION: Navigation is allowed only as the bonus featurette on DSOTR and DC. No menus on the standalone. You can bump your way ahead with the FORWARD button - but why would you want to do that?
BUMMERS: None unless you count the fact that it can't cook, clean, or give you a massage.
If you'd like to obtain a copy go to Evening Star Gifts
DARKEST
CITYMy first full-length sync loaded with music from multiple
artists, receiving rave reviews and declared a
featured sync in the Synch Database of the Synchronicity
Arkive.
For more information click here.
Another popular sync producer, The DeVille's Workshop (DVW), has a version of the "Queen Mother" of syncs with alternate title, The Dark Side of Oz, which is basically the same on the first play-through as ESG's The Dark Side of the Rainbow, but DVW has purposely set the timing differently on subsequent play-throughs, distilling a different and interesting brew of syncs. All DVDs from DVW are professionally produced and packaged. There are also additional exclusive syncs offered. http://www.syncmovies.com/
Stegokitty is neither the manufacturer nor distributor of this, Nor OF any dvd PRODUCTS reviewed on this site. For concerns regarding quality, shipping, etc., you must contact THE PRODUCERS THEREOF. THIS SEGMENT OF THE WEBSITE IS FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
