Does Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ perfectly sync with ‘Blade Runner’?
If we were to draw parallels between OK Computer, the 1997 masterpiece album by Radiohead, and Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner, dystopian themes would be a good place to start. There’s something particularly representative of 1980s sci-fi thrillers in the robotic voice in ‘Fitter Happier’, but what if the connection ran deeper still?
Over the past couple of years, technophiles and Reddit junkies have latched onto a new trend of “movie syncs”. If you’re new to the concept, essentially, people claim to have found albums that perfectly sync with the dialogue and scene dynamics of specific movies. Among the nuggets located was someone who found Weezer’s Blue Album to synchronise with the Pixar animation A Bugs Life.
I’ll give my two cents on the phenomenon before we continue: I remember spending the evening with some friends in my teen years. As men of a certain age, we spent most of the night playing video games. In the background, we played some tunes and later settled into a card game to rest our square eyes. In the meantime, we left a muted TV tuned into an episode of South Park and noticed that, eerily, Chef and Eric Cartman’s mouth movements started and stopped in perfect unison with the lyrics we heard.
This went on for practically a whole song. Afterwards, I wondered whether an innocent lager had gone to my head or perhaps it was all just a coincidence. A few months later, while reading about optical illusions and magic shows, I theorised that our brains must’ve contrived an association. Though not useful in these applications, the human brain has evolved through millennia to seek patterns and jump to conclusions based on the visual and aural information it receives. Throw in a will to see Eric Cartman lip-sync Pink Floyd’s ‘The Great Gig in the Sky’, and you have a surefire recipe for self-deception.
So, back to the matter at hand. In 2023, a Reddit user, enthused by the recent craze, decided to find a new “movie sync”. Initially, they were going to try ‘Blart Side of the Mall’ (Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 with The Dark Side of the Moon) but decided against such a violent dissonance in quality.
Ultimately, the user decided to watch Blade Runner alongside Radiohead’s OK Computer as a more cohesive and promising package. But how does one go about choosing the pairings? Is it random? No, it’s not random. The craze has caught on under the looming shadow of artificial intelligence. One can simply ask ChatGPT to search the digital universe for albums and movies with similar sonic footprints, and it will suggest some options.
Although I’m generally a technophobic troglodyte with a particular apprehension surrounding AI, I decided to give it a go. I simply asked, “What movies sync with which albums?” The ChatGPT wizard came back with five options: The Wizard of Oz with The Dark Side of the Moon, 2001: A Space Odyssey with Meddle; Pink Floyd’s The Wall with the band’s album of the same name; The Lord of the Rings trilogy with composer onward Shore’s score for the movies; and Blade Runner with its score by Vangelis.
The last three were, of course, cheap shots, but there seems to be a theme with ChatGPT suggesting Pink Floyd albums and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
If you’re at all interested, you might want to give The Wizard of Oz a whirl with The Dark Side of the Moon, but our friend on Reddit notes a caveat. “There were moments where I wasn’t sure if something did sync, so didn’t note it down, but I have to say that it didn’t really work,” the user noted in conclusion. “It started off really well, sure, but it fell apart during the second half of the album, and the second playthrough almost didn’t sync at all. However, there were a few moments towards the end of the film that synced.”
Chat GPT ostensibly operates using soundwaves as opposed to visual data, such as registering mouth movement. A significant degree of approximation is evident, too. Therefore, if you do plan to try a “movie sync”, please prepare for disappointment. Alternatively, just enjoy Pink Floyd’s The Wall in all its original, unadulterated, AI-free beauty.
