graphics intensive page...read the text while the pics load
...a marriage of two obscure artistic entities...
the
music of
with
the film
...an exercise in sensory overload...
So, sync fans, where does one
begin to explain this little ditty?
Well, I guess at the beginning...
Okay, so me and the wife are channel surfing late one night in January of 2000. We run across this animated film playing on HBO called "I Married A Strange Person". I could tell right away from the animation style that the culprit was Bill Plympton, famous for his bizarre, hallucinatory images. We had missed the first few minutes, but decided to stick with it since nothing else was on worth watching at the time. What followed for the next 65 minutes or so quite simply blew our minds.
In a nutshell, here's the basic
premise of the story...through a freakish accident (which is revealed in the
first two minutes of the film), Grant Boyer is given the mental power to make
whatever his imagination can come up reality. The next 70 minutes is then
filled with the most insane things you've ever seen depicted on film while Grant
tries to keep his new bride Kerry from leaving him and the military from
capturing him. The picture above describes it well...
ULTRA SEXY, ULTRA VIOLENT, ULTRA FUNNY
So anyway, back to my story.
Unfortunately, I had to wait another 3 weeks or so before the next airing
in order to record it. In the mean time, I started contemplating what
sort of music or band would fit nicely with this film. Since Plympton's
work breaks all filmmaking convention, I knew it had to be a band or artist who
also forged new ground with their work. I also felt that this band had to
be as obscure as the movie. The choice was simple...a now defunct,
art-punk, dada-esque, avant garde outfit out of Southern California who called
themselves
Breakfast With Amy.
After having done syncs/rock opera experiments with bands like Rush and Supertramp, along with well known films like "Willy Wonka..." and "The Matrix", I felt this project would be a nice change of pace. There's a tendency among most sync experimenters to use alot of progressive rock bands, and while there's certainly nothing wrong with that, I wanted to make a departure from that with this project.
I realize that with this film being as obscure as it is (it hasn't even been released on video or DVD yet) and with Amy's music being long since out of print (the handful of CD's they released in the early to mid-90's can fetch a sizable sum in certain circles), that it is next to impossible for the average Joe (or Jane) to pull off this sync. So the purpose of this page isn't to tell you what songs to play or where in the film to start the sync at. Those of you who have seen my other works (which can be accessed by clicking HERE), know that I offer copies to those who ask. The only compensation I ask for is money to cover the costs of a blank tape and postage. I am not in this to make money or infringe upon any copyrights...I just want to share with people what I feel is a unique visual and audio experience. You can find out more details on how to acquire a hifi stereo dub by emailing me.
Below are some stills from the film, as well as the song list used. If your interest is piqued and you feel you'd like to indulge yourself in this experience, let me know.
click
on poster to see large version
Breakfast With Amy
a chronological listing of the songs used in the project
Ralph's Garage
Jello Wiggle
Song Of The Humpback Whale
Videos & Food
Happy Song
Ferris Wheel
Sea Shanty Of An Icelandic Midwife
Accordian/The Tollhouse Waltz
Velvety Dave At The Naugahyde Lounge
Icky
Abandoned Houses
Social Studies
Voices
Little Maxine's Epiphany
Icky Muzak
Edwin Loves Texas
Fashion Gal
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Power
Mr. Ed
Uniform Tree
Ad America
...plus a bunch of other Amy weirdness that permeates their discs...
To visit Bill Plympton's website,
click his self-protrait below
Unfortunately, Breakfast With Amy has no web presence
est. 3/14/2000