The Gaps

So you've given it a go, and by now you realize some things really aren't adding up.  Just want everyone to know that I'm not trying to stall for too long.  It's just that Wright really did pull a number on this one and I think really hard about the way to go about revealing things.  I've got a life too, so.  Try not to worry, there's a reason for everything... even if it's a twisted one.

The first thing you should know, is that this monstrosity is probably going to frustrate the crap out of you.  You want to see it work but you reach a point where things just fall apart.  The answer my friends is not one that's going to make you happy, but does add a little adventure to it all.  That's the reason why I'm breaking this up into pieces.

It's hard to make sense of an artist's taste absurdly combined with a major broken arm, but there's a reason why no one has found this out and that is because of two things, one is THE GAPS.  If you have an actual CD, stick it in your computer, and play it on your Winamp, you're going to listen to the program's predefined rules of playback.  Typically this means it's going to ignore the gaps in between tracks.  What's a gap?  It's just a space of time, usually a few seconds, that fills in between the tracks.  It carries no track number, even though it CAN be used to play sound.  Generally it is a manufacturing trick after the mastering process of the album itself, helping define parameters between songs they don't want to "start too early".  

At least that's the best explanation I can come up with.  There's not a whole lot of info on the web about why they're even there, but you will find that on a lot of major label album CDs, they're there.  When you play an original CD in nothing but a standard CD player, it will recognize the gap and begin the next track with i.e. -03, -02, -01, 00.  CD-ROMs will as a basic player I believe, but a media program will ignore them.

What does this mean for S.P.vs.S.P. (Scott Pilgrim VS Smashing Pumpkins as I like to call it)? Well, you have to know that Edgar, in all of his master planning, seems to have included these gaps.

You know what that means?  In case you've tried to start out the movie already, and been somewhat successful playing your MP3s, AS SOON AS YOU GET TO ZERO, IT IS NO LONGER IN SYNC.

Because between track 3 and track 4 there is a gap on the CD.  And while it may appear to keep going, you will be missing the major changes happening together.  If you follow the instructions to the tee on the post titled "Zero", you will see, and hear, the way it should actually sync with the movie.

Now that you know this, just imagine what kind of bloop this has to be with the second reason that has destroyed the tangibility of a fan's reconstruction of this hidden gem... the last big screw to turn, and a subject for a later date ...the secret of the track switch.

An Ode to No One

How do you know how to play the game if you don't know it exists?  If Edgar didn't want to play an easter egg hunt with everybody,then what's this basket of them doing here?  It looks somewhat to me as though Edgar had a plan he was willing to share, at least at one point, but instead he just left the whole thing to spoil.  It almost appears that some of the eggs are cracked or deformed even (to put it in metaphor).  It's a very ridged and daunting task he's cooked up to have just laying around.  Obviously there has been no leads provided, nothing easily detectible anyway, and E.W. has never slowed down on the way to his next film.  Maybe he's expecting someone to just come out with it (tried that) and I guess that's a little of what I'm doing now, but what can I say?

Not much in regards to that.  I have no idea, and my suspicions are all that account for anything during the process of this discovery.  This is more of an invisible puzzle than an easter egg hunt.  I discovered this via "weird coincidence" that turned into speculations.  One of which is that all parties or individuals involved in this movie were under contract NOT to say anything.  That's the way the movie industry works after all. 

Actors and every participant are forced to sign their name, waving all rights to talk about the film until after it's release typically.  In this case, somehow I feel there must have been a clause scripted about it that may mean even the actors know but can't say a word.  There's no telling until this has become proven by enough people that it becomes fact, but it makes sense to me. 

Could it be that Edgar did the final editing himself, so as to mask his creation under utmost secrecy?  That's really not likely.  A director's cut is still only coupled with the skills of the film editor, and to have full control over the final product without anyone else "in" on it is a pretty ridiculous notion.  The final cut is laid out very precisely with the musical backdrop in play, and it has still taken ME many, many hours to just sync it up correctly.  Video editors will know what I'm talking about.  And a sound technician knows that a millisecond can make all the difference in the world.  In other words, that's a ton of work for one man who doesn't want anyone to know what he's doing.

But this just furthers the strangeness of it.  It's been 4 years and not a word.  He had to have had helpers and there must be some circle who know.  That's enough to incite conspiracy in the mind isn't it?  Is it possible this project was dropped?  Or did Edgar not expect it to be so long for someone to find out?  Why are there no leads?

To be honest, I would still like to get a word from Edgar Wright before it's all completely out there.  Alas I am but a silent star who's mail get's put in a stack with the others.  If I was more on my game I'd be riding his coat tails as much as the next trendy, but as I said before I'm not that pop savvy.   

"Love"                                         courtesy of Jerology

 

Even without any foreknowledge as to how this came into existence, the evidence is there, and it does not detract from the experience earned when seeing it come together.  I WILL post a detailed map of the whole thing and how it works, eventually, but I really think unless you do the hunt yourself, you won't get the pleasure of discovering it on your own.  This is kinda like the new Wizard of OZ and Dark Side of the Moon.  The only difference is it's not an accident, and in many respects it's going to be way cooler.

Wright was very specific about the scene changes, amongst everything else, so you might want to do some experimenting with what appears to be the video to the music.  Ultimately this will lead you to find out a major discrepancy with the track layout, and once that happens, hopefully something will click and you will find the missing piece of the invisible puzzle. 

So I got a new method for you to find out how this all works.  The scene above depicts where the song "Love" appears in the film.  But before this battle comes into play, I want you to start ahead of the game with one of my favorite MCIS pieces, "An Ode to No One".  You're gonna have to feel it out some.  Maybe you'll get it wrong the first few times, but you'll see something going on.  There are obvious theatrics playing a part of the music if you can just get it to be in harmony.  The setting of where to start will be when Scott and Ramona first spend the night together after their first date, on the morning after...
  
Good luck

The Road that Leads to The Infinite Sadness

So far all you've been given are hints.  I feel like I'm robbing people of the experience.  The disbelief, however valid, has surely toppled over any suggestion of this album/movie fusion absurdity.  Now it's time to see it for yourself.

I had been listening to MCIS for days at the time I was watching this film, and something about this scene with "THE INFINITE SADNESS" stirred something in me.  It wasn't anything to do with the comic, it was the timing.  Some natural instinct kicked in, and something was telling me that this was placed very peculiarly at a moment in time.  Something somber and melodic came to mind.  It was the first moment I had some nagging feeling about it, and I had to find out if my feelings were more than just nostalgic wondering? 

I love nostalgia.  I thought it out realistically about the only way it would happen if my assumption was correct.  What does the beginning of the film and the album have in common? 

Kim knows

The answer is a slow beginning, and then it begins a glorious rocking introduction. 
Kim is the leader.  This you must pay close attention to.

But before that, here's a really big tip.  If you don't have the MCIS album, get it.  Push play and start the movie.  Depending on what medium you're using to watch the film, differences on starting time must vary.  But I've found that the general idea is about a 7-8 second head start on the album.

That's right, track 01"Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" begins at -00:07

movie time.  What does that mean?

That means this movie is literally inside the album's start to finish. (both discs)

Huh.. I wonder why no one has figured it out...

Don't worry you're not blind, there's more than one way to completely pull the wool over the public's eyes, and Edgar Wright and whoever else behind this did just that.  We'll get to that later...

So if you don't want to screw around with watching the beginning, this is the short cut.  In fact, it was the only logical way to first see it to believe it.

The next track is the one and only "Tonight, Tonight"

If you start at track 02, you follow Kim's lead and she will begin the whole symphony.  All of a sudden the band is transformed.

Prepare yourself, you might get goosebumps.

Here is your first real viewing of the great Scott Pilgrim VS The World, the way it was meant to be seen.

But that's not all there is to it.  There is some room for interpretation about how the scenes are being played out, but some parts can deteriorate the consistency if not properly lined up.  So to be fair, I should mention that if you're following Kim's lead, the moment she strikes the cymbal on her drum kit is when the music should begin.  What this means for your music player is that any delay in beginning the track will effect the outcome.  In other words, you might need to play earlier.  Secondly, THERE IS a delay on the track itself, so you DO need to hit play early enough for the beginning of the song to land on her first beat.  It's little things like these that make this experiment a rocky climb in the beginning.  The trick is, don't get too technical about it, go with your gut.  Maybe hit play on Kim's "THREE!" to get the head start.  Whatever works for you.

1-UP

When you get it all right, you will find the beauty of this well kept secret and know the ecstasy in seeing the music come alive in the film for the first time.  Every scene, every move, every splash of sparks, even eyes darting in new directions have been plotted out to accompany the sounds of MCIS.  Screaming voices, the wailing of the guitars all become real.  Love becomes an emotional roller coaster in the griping melodies of the Pumpkins, while Scott and Ramona travel down the winding path of complicated romance together.  The epic battle awaits beyond the digital stuffing the movie is seemingly comprised of, fueled by the most aggressive songs.  Visual and social puns consistently turn up, contrasting expression and demeanor, even putting words into mouths.  Corgan speaks through all of them, Edgar jokingly extracts visual metaphors.

That is the way it is.  I know it's a rough to get there, as rough as Scott's life, but I'll do my best to help you out.  There is a formula that makes it all come together, and you are going to figure it out through trial and error. Unless somebody wants to ask me personally about it, then I guess I could be a little more insightful...

You Weren't Supposed to Know

This piece of work seems to me to be a unique blend of alienated attractions.  On the one hand, the film is going to be mostly enjoyed by a younger generation than the Smashing Pumpkins fans who, like me, have a dated coming-of-age story of our own.  That's why it took me a couple of years before I even watched the movie.  I haven't the attention span, nor the type of friends keeping me well informed of the pop culture going on.  These differences in taste and generations, no doubt, will leave a rift flowing between the uninformed and any phenomena to to be experienced.

Even Pumpkins fans have moved on to a certain degree.  It's a given, no matter how great an album is, it's easy to wear it out, and I wouldn't expect anyone to be looking for this to suddenly rise out of the moist graves of the 90's because of a trippy flick characterized as a live video game.  The movie is a blindside any associating fan base of the Pumpkins.  Although I find it interesting that just after finding out this hidden movie game, there has been a certain revival of their "exclamation mark" alt-rock juggernaut.

I don't know if this means there will be a new upsurge for the pumpkins, but Wright's experiment definitely adds some interesting new flavor to the pallet.  Watching a reenactment of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is fucking crazy.  The way the director associates the visual with the audio is so esoteric at times, you feel like the emotions are forming words in a language of impulse.  I have trouble differentiating the two from each other now.  When I hear a MCIS song, I think of Scott Pilgrim fighting for his life.

Edgar has managed to make a story out of the album, that's the bottom line.  He immortally disguised this film triumph however, and its a wonder that it even exists.  It's simplified organization, jutting up against a cocky decisive move, creating an inflexible code for a feature that has a strange breadth of land to cover.

You see kids, dear Edgar picked a big twist of track... did I say track? I mean fate... to chunk his melodrama into.  It's a cypher wrapped up in an enigma, and considering which accidental circumstances that must crop up to be able to detect such hidden treasures... well, that's to be debated.  In this case, it has to do with a screwed up meta-tag because, yes, I downloaded the album because, yes, I already bought it five times probably.

You're not gonna believe this, but Scott feels like a RAT IN A CAGE
You can play Bullet With Butterfly Wings to this video and see for yourself

I cut this clip EXACTLY 8 seconds before where the 00:00 mark of the song should be.
In other words, when the video hits 0:08, that's the time to play the song.
I would do it for you myself, but EMI doesn't like it when you upload their copyrighted stuff.

The Evil Xs

You may of noticed, of course, that there is some bit of circling around this frequently used mark, but it is important not to get confused about the number.  It's the placement of that mark that should stand out.  Here's one you might have missed:

If you know anything about film editing with ACTUAL film, that is, cutting and splicing frames together in a series, you'll know that this is one way to keep track of the millions of frames and their correct order.  In theaters long ago, switching reels during the middle of a film was the job of that guy in the window behind everyone's seats.  They'd have to mark the corners of the frames, sometimes circles, sometimes x's, to signal when the end of the reel was coming up.  This is a frame from the opening credits.  As the background whizzes by, this appears as fast as a flash, but instead of a little corner, it fills the screen.  Your eyes will see it though most likely its nothing to remember.  

How is any of this relevant?  It's not.  But it is a BIG chalky X I wanted to talk about.  In fact it may be misleading in the end.  There is actually something very striking about this X, but it's not the one in Sex Bob-Ombs. 

The funny thing about eyes and ears is they can work together in so many different ways, but if they don't harmonize, a lot can be missed.  People generally use their eyes first before any other sense, that's why consciously we discard so much visually.  Eyes need more than light to effect the brain in much more moving sorts of ways.  Like the "tale" of a tree falling in the woods, only the other way around. When things are appropriately in sync will your ears tell your brain that what you just saw was coming from what you heard.  

Take the twins for instance.  They never say a damn word! ...and now they're dead.  The twins take the Sex Bob-Ombs on with their hair and pop-synth.  Pretty evil.  As big and loud as the electromagnetism that's bringing down the house, they try to "scorch" the band.  Oh but the comeback is epic.  Scott proves his heart is bigger than emo!

As silly as it seems, this ninja-move-X is right in the middle of an audio-visual masterpiece.   You will know the tree has fallen to the "earth" then.

Now, I know what you're thinking... but if I told you there were 7 Xs hidden through this movie that tell you what to do and that was your way to find everything you need to know about this film, I'd at least be fooling you in a good way.  Luckily Edgar Wright has already done a good enough job at that already.  His confusing placement of symbols and mood will throw off even the most perceptive. 

3 unmistakably direct incursions of bold Xs positioned to line up with the album is more-so the truth.  And these 3 unmistakably obvious placements of Xs will drive you prematurely insane if you're up for it.

If you're a "night" person like me, playing into the wee hours of the morning is a little more like prime time.  There are less distractions anyway. 

Zero

When I first "fell" upon my discovery I went searching online for support only to find that there was actually NO talk about this whatsoever... besides that E.W. likes to do weird movies ...Specifically that he took special care with this particular film, which for some reason most assumed it to be of an unimportance.  (I'm guessing this because no one has come up with any idea why.) 

The Internet is full of talk about the video game mostly, which is something I still have never looked into.  All the information that seems to surface across various websites are quotes about Edgar Wright stylizing his films by placing hidden Easter eggs in them, so people could uncover them and point them out, trending as people do about trivia and whatever.

The merchandise and consumerism have almost created a wall between the deeper content laying hidden beneath the slapstick heroism performed by Michael Cera.  The role of his character is in a play, a musical drama if you will, and a shrouded and non-detectible one. 

Following the film, The video game's release takes precedence over other topics.  Fan's have looked more to the "spin-off" game as the continuation of the film's legacy. I have to say, those are just distractions to the real underpinnings this film was being envisioned as.

Underpinnings...
or maybe under-torpedo. Take your pick.

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