MovieChat Forums > Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (1981) Discussion > Sped up songs?

Sped up songs?

posted 14 years ago by Dimebag666
11 replies | jump to latest

Has anyone else noticed that many of the songs in the movie been speeded up? Bowie's singing sounds really high and weird. Any idea why they've done that?

[–] MikeNewYork 14 years ago

As for "Station to Station," this ist the live version, which is a little faster than the studio version. As for the other songs, I'm not sure they're sped up. I don't think so.

[–] Dimebag666 14 years ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytBsRXL0R6Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WNC6ltZe0I

Just compare those two, the movie version is much faster and higher pitch, as if Bowie had inhaled helium. And it wasn't just that song, TVC15 on the nightclub scene sounded also much faster.

[–] MikeNewYork 14 years ago

The videos aren't available where I am. But I believe you, though I never really noticed.

[–] Falconeer 14 years ago

Yes, that drives me crazy. "Heroes" is sped up, as well as some songs played in the club. I'm a Bowie fan so I noticed it at once, and I can't believe other people didn't notice. As for why they did it, I have no idea.

"IMdB; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...'

[–] cinematic_randomness 14 years ago

Songs are often sped up in movies, for what reason I have no idea. But I actually like how the songs sound in Christiane F. especially TVC 15, it sounds amazing!

"Ahh, it's great to be young and insane" - Michael Keaton
The Dream Team

[–] gowland85 13 years ago

It's called PAL speed-up.

Films run at 24 frames a second; PAL DVD (also SD TV and VHS)runs at 25 frames a second. This results in a slight raising of pitch.

This should be a thing of the past once HD takes over completely. Should Christiane F get a blu ray release - I hope it does - then the sound should be ok.

Incidentally, this isn't an issue with NTSC, used in North America and Japan, as it runs at 24 frames a second.

[–] MikeNewYork 13 years ago

I know about the PAL speed-up, but why aren't the songs in other movies sped up? Why aren't the voices higher pitched? Is the human eye/ear able to really notice the speed-up anyway?

[–] gowland85 13 years ago

Their voices are higher pitched. People with good pitch can hear the difference if the two are played one after the other.

There's a thing called pitch correction that can somehow fix songs. God knows how. It's not always used, though.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] tigervispa 11 years ago

It's obviously because they are played in a discotheque. They use to speed up songs there in order to make them more dance-friendly.

[–] Starcraft_rules 9 years ago

I really like the way music sounds in this. Even in a rather poorly mixed mono soundtrack, Bowie music is so punchy and addictive.