In this installment of synchronicity in film I present Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1985). So far I've given one example of a film following music,
Back to the Future - https://steemit.com/video/@bsherrill/speaking-to-the-future-in-tongues,
and one example where the music was written to follow the film,
Aladdin - https://steemit.com/video/@bsherrill/syncrhonicity-aladdin-punk-in-drublic.
The main difference here with Ferris Bueller's Day Off is that it seems to be following two albums that are asynchronous, The Beatles - The White Album and Van Halen - 1984. It may seem like a strange thing to do, but some music can be complementary, so listening to multiple sources simultaneously becomes a new experience. These two albums don't seem either complementary or discordant, however.
The characters seem to alternate between the two albums to fit their current circumstances. It's unclear how much the film was written or edited and how much the actors were coached to follow the music. From the point of driving the narrative, though, there's a kind of battle that goes back and forth between Ferris siding with The Beatles and Cameron with Van Halen.
Shot Breakdown:
00:00 – 3:47
At the beginning of the film synthesizer sounds from Van Halen are heard as Ferris blinks his eyes. The Beatles song starts fast and loud. Ferris starts trying to get up as Van Halen begins steady keyboard rhythms.
His sister comes in asking what his problem is when The Beatles have a small guitar solo. Van Halen is still ramping up starting its drums. When Van Halen has the lyrics, “I get up”, Ferris falls down from trying to reach out. Ferris then does some baby talk as his parents leave and Van Halen is past its first verse into a bridge.
3:50 - 5:12
Ferris is out of the shower and quotes John Lennon of The Beatles.
It cuts to a shot of a classroom showing students and their confusion and various types of responses to the cacophony.
The next shot is of Cameron where he claims to feel shredded, a metaphor for the type of guitar sound and style of Van Halen.
17:48 – 19:46
This part of the video shows the Ferris’s mother and his principal reacting to the different stand out parts of each album. The principal flicks off something from his desk two separate times. When Van Halen has some low pitched guitar sliding sounds both lean back in their chairs.
5:15 - 7:16
Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill by the Beatles is played and Cameron says to keep him out of Ferris’s conversation with his own father. The driving drum pattern from Hot for Teacher by Van Halen is also being played while the father gives elaborate instructions to help make Ferris feel better. They end the conversation right as the guitar from Van Halen starts.
It then cuts to Cameron showing great indecision about leaving the house that is in line with the Hot for Teacher track.
7:20 - end
Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher is played for the second time alongside the Beatles’ Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey. There are various shots of the different characters until it arrives at the principal who is investigating Ferris’s house. His mishaps are timed to the standout parts of each song as he tries to retain his authoritative attitude.
