# how to obtain reverse messages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439 "2015-05-20T19:27:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/1 "2015-05-20T19:27:49Z")
Hello. I don’t know if there’s really anything regarding “reverse messages” in songs, speeches and the like, but, I do know that there’s a certain movie “out there” that I’ve wondered about for many years due to it being so saturated with evil from start to finish. And so I would like to satisfy my curiosity and find out. I’m not a tech savvy fellow at all, yet, I would like to know from you that are if it would be a fairly simple matter for me to be able to locate the movie in question (from the Internet) and play it backwards? Or, if that’s not possible, would it somehow be possible to buy said movie on DVD and play it backwards, at regular speed of course, on my computer and get the results that way? For what it matters, this is an old Dell computer and, I think, it’s running a Window’s 7. Lastly, I don’t wish to be mean, but, I can’t give out the name of said movie just on account that while it’s legal and fairly well known, it’s just way too dark and I don’t have it in me to taint others with it… I thank you in advance for any help you can offer.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/2 "2015-05-20T19:33:44Z")
Contact your closest Church of Scientology. They should be able to help. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/3 "2015-05-20T20:10:49Z")
Redrum, redrum!! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/4 "2015-05-20T20:46:45Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > Hello. > > I don’t know if there’s really anything regarding “reverse messages” in songs, speeches and the like, but, I do know that there’s a certain movie “out there” that I’ve wondered about for many years due to it being so saturated with evil from start to finish. And so I would like to satisfy my curiosity and find out. > > I’m not a tech savvy fellow at all, yet, I would like to know from you that are if it would be a fairly simple matter for me to be able to locate the movie in question (from the Internet) and play it backwards? Or, if that’s not possible, would it somehow be possible to buy said movie on DVD and play it backwards, at regular speed of course, on my computer and get the results that way? > > For what it matters, this is an old Dell computer and, I think, it’s running a Window’s 7. > > Lastly, I don’t wish to be mean, but, I can’t give out the name of said movie just on account that while it’s legal and fairly well known, it’s just way too dark and I don’t have it in me to taint others with it… > > I thank you in advance for any help you can offer.🙂 “Finding Nemo?” ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/5 "2015-05-20T20:49:28Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > “Finding Nemo?” _pfft_ Shows what you know. He’s obviously talking about\* Mary Poppins\*. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/6 "2015-05-20T20:58:51Z")
The right video editing software might be able to take video clips/movies and render them backwards, but such software generally isn’t free and also generally requires a significant learning curve. For free-and easy, look for Audacity. You should be able to download this free from more than one place on the internet, and it’s pretty easy to use. The catch is that it only works with audio, not video. But since you appear to be only interested in the audio portion of the movie, maybe this will work for you. Audacity should be able to flip the audio track to play it backwards for you without too much trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/7 "2015-05-20T21:00:59Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > would it somehow be possible to buy said movie on DVD and play it backwards, at regular speed of course, on my computer and get the results that way? After you set the [del]needle[/del] laser on the disc, just spin the turntable backwards. Seriously, you’d think there’d be an easy way of playing videos backwards, if only for the comedic/timewasting value, but I don’t know of one offhand. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/8 "2015-05-20T21:28:26Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The right video editing software might be able to take video clips/movies and render them backwards, but such software generally isn’t free and also generally requires a significant learning curve. > > For free-and easy, look for Audacity. You should be able to download this free from more than one place on the internet, and it’s pretty easy to use. The catch is that it only works with audio, not video. But since you appear to be only interested in the audio portion of the movie, maybe this will work for you. Audacity should be able to flip the audio track to play it backwards for you without too much trouble. Fantastic – I’ll check it out! Thanks Much! ---
**Author:** ![Maeganspop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Maeganspop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeganspop)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/9 "2015-05-20T21:38:09Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > Lastly, I don’t wish to be mean, but, I can’t give out the name of said movie just on account that while it’s legal and fairly well known, it’s just way too dark and I don’t have it in me to taint others with it… > > I thank you in advance for any help you can offer.🙂 “Clockwork Orange” eh? They make him evil. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/10 "2015-05-20T22:08:52Z")
If you watch it backwards, it’s called _The Curious Case Of Everyone Except Benjamin Button_ ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/11 "2015-05-22T18:36:42Z")
You can encode video in reverse with ffmpeg, which is free, but: 1. ffmpeg is a command-line program. If you aren’t familiar with those, get ready for a challenging learning curve. 2. It’s not straightforward. You have to first dump each frame as an individual image, then re-stitch them together in reverse. 3. It takes a ton of disk space and processing power. Here’s a [Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2553448/encode-video-in-reverse) thread with some pointers. If you’re looking for reverse messages, though, all you need is the audio. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/12 "2015-05-22T21:39:26Z")
If I want to view a video backwards, I open them in MPEG StreamClip, drag the slider to the far right, then hit the reverse play button. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/13 "2015-05-23T21:00:09Z")
“Backwards masking” as they used to call it back in the day when everyone was worried the rock n rollers were leading their children toward Satan, is a myth. Any cases of it being actually used were put there in deliberate response to the hysteria. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-obtain-reverse-messages/720439/14 "2015-05-23T22:06:50Z")
Most video editing programs have a reverse mode. They also have an “extract audio track” function, and the result can be fed into any audio editor, which also has a reverse mode. If you are going to do a lot of listening or analyzing, working with audio only would be more convenient than playing the video, as the video is only excess baggage. Prune it down to the essentials. Most audio editors can also import video files and convert them to audio only. I don’t use Audacity much, but I think it will do that.