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"So Russell... what do you love about music?" Share Your Almost Famous "Everything" Moments

William Miller: "So Russell...what do you love about music?"

Russell Hammond: "To begin with...everything".

Exactly! This is the last bit of dialogue we hear before the end of the movie, "Almost Famous". It is the scene where William finally gets his interview with Russell. It is a moment that induces head nods and knowing grins from all serious music fans. I (we) know exactly what Russell means. Everything means, well, everything. 

It is not any thing about the music; it is everything about the music: the songs, the vocal and musical nuances, the inspiration for the song, the actual recording of it, where they recorded, the band, the guest musicians, the album cover, the naysayers, the promoters, the stories and all of the tall tales associated with the music...everything.

Here is a bit of  "everything": 

On Bob Dylan's 2001 release, "Love and Theft", drummer David Kemper tells a revealing tale about the "training" Bob put them through initially. Rehearsals for the new album started nearly a year before recording it. Kemper said that one time, for a period of three days straight, Dylan had the band play only Dean Martin songs(?!). Dylan would have them do this with many other early legendary and unheralded American recording artists. The band would rehearse these songs over and over and then never play them again once Dylan had heard what he wanted to hear. 

A year later when they began the recording process, Dylan would introduce a new song such as, "Summer Days".  He would instruct the band to play it in the style of Dean Martin or one of the other artists they had practiced. Dylan had been training the band (a year in advance!) for the sound he wanted the album to have.  Kemper said it was like going to the "School of Americana, as taught by Bob".  That gives me a whole new perspective on the album each time I put it on. You can't go back and have a listen and not think about this. 

Everything does not have to be a legendary tall tale either. There is a scene in the director's cut of "Almost Famous" where Russell give us a hint at what he means by everything. Right before Stillwater plays their first gig, Russell is talking to William about the significance of the "littlest details in songs".  Russell said that these little details are the ones that people "remember the most".  Russell uses the "first whooo" in Marvin Gaye's, "What's Happening Brother" as an example (I included that in the Tune Tags playlist below. The "whooo" shows up at 2:15...and the first one is the memorable one).

Russell (Cameron) is right. These are the unplanned, down to the bone, in the groove moments that can make bad songs good and great songs legendary. They are real moments of inspiration and emotion that collide and combust from within the musicians...because they are feeling it. That is what makes the songs special. That is why we like these little moments.

You must have a few of these yourselves. I know I do. In the spirit of Russell's "everything" and "littlest details", I am offering up ten songs that strike sparks for me.  I have included a bit of twitter'esque detail on each "little moment".  Feel free suggest some of your favourites and I will add them to the playlist for others to put their ears to. 

• Neil Young - "Cinnamon Girl":  Here is another "whooo" for you and it happens at 2:09.  The "whooo" coincides with this guitar solo that launchs out of the heavy-duty muck n' mire rhythm that Crazy Horse is laying down. 

• Derek and the Dominoes - "Little Wing": Clapton and Duane Allman trading licks on a Jimi Hendrix song.  I'd shout out "whooo" too if I was Clapton (1:55)

• The band (w/The Staple Singers) - "The Weight":  This is from The Last Waltz and it is all about Mavis Staples.  There are two bits in here that make this a bow-down track for me. This is such a "breath-y" performance.  You get the feeling she is stirring something up inside and getting ready for the pay-off (an example at 1:03). That pay-off comes at 1:26.  It is a this from the gut "unh-huh" that brings me to my knees each time I hear it. 

• Rod Stewart - "Every Picture Tells a Story": I love this song. It always make me feel like traveling...on a whim. I think it is Rod's best penned song (with help from Ronnie Wood). At 2:35, Rod lets off a rather rowdy Whooo! (another "whooo"!). It might have something to do with Kenny Jones thundering away, Ronnie starting in with this galloping acoustic and the female back singer firing off an inspired backing vocal. Whoo indeed. (by the way, this one is on the Almost Famous soundtrack)

• The Rolling Stones - "Prodigal Son": A two for one! One of my "little moment" here comes at the end...but the entire song is needed to make it happen. Keef is strumming the hell out of his acoustic. You think he was enjoying himself? If the abrupt and ramshackle "heeyaay" is any indication...yes. The other one is a Mick moment. At 1:55, Mick drawls off a "mercy" that almost makes you feel like he means it. 

• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Shadow of a Doubt": Another two for one. At 2:03, Tom puts this inflection on the end of "kid" that starts to rev me up...and himself, too.  The tension starts there and builds up until Tom shouts out "aaaaiy" at 2:42. The song doesn't slow down from there. 

• Drive-By Truckers - "Sink Hole": One of my favourite "new" bands.  The Truckers tell a good story and this one by Patterson Hood is no exception. There is passion here, because it is most likely a true story.  The song moves like a stock car driver frantically trying to come up from the back of the pack. By the time Patterson gets to 3:12 and delivers that "eeeoouuuaaagh" you know he damn well means it. 

• The Animals - "The Story of Bo Diddley": Eric Burden spends five minutes and fifteen seconds telling us Bo's story. By 5:16 he has worked himself into a tizzy and squelches off a "eeehaaaaayy Bo Diddley" that came from the soles of his feet. This is a long song, but I always find the payoff worth it. 

• Warren Zevon - "The French Inhaler":  What a GENIUS song.  The lyrics are truly a gift to the listener.  Apparently this was about his wife (word is she was "ending up with someone different every night"). At 3:28, Zevon makes a kissing sound into the mic (the great kiss-off, perhaps). I have listened to numerous other studio takes of this track and have not heard that anywhere else. My guess is that this was a timely improve...and it works. 

• The Rolling Stones - "Casino Boogie": Ah, Keith. The master of the perfect anti-harmony vocal. On "Exile on Main St." he was in rare vocal form. There are so many Keef moments on this album that it is hard to choose. This one always makes me smile: check out Keef's squealing of "understaaaand" at 00:46.

OK, your turn. I'll add them to the playlist...

_____

*Disclaimer:

I am a bonafide nut over Almost Famous. I love the story and the romantic notions of a life as an outsider on the inside of this cool scene that was/is Rock and Roll.  Cameron Crowe did a brilliant job recreating the times and telling his own story. Here is a funny story of my own: 

Circa 2003 I was living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My wife had gone to the Florida Keys with some girlfriends for the weekend. I came home on Saturday after a night of drinking and carousing with my buddies. I decided I was going to watch Almost Famous in its entirety...which I surprisingly did considering my state of being at the time. 

About three weeks after this night I got a package in the mail...from Cameron Crowe?! Well, it wasn't Cameron himself, but someone on his behalf. This is where things get fuzzy. Apparently, after I finished watching the movie, I went on Crowe's website. At the time they were selling screenplays from the movie with a handwritten, personally addressed note from Cameron...complete with coffee stain on the cover. I bought one. I didn't even remember that I did it. But, there it was, at my doorstep. It was nicely bound and was printed on heavy stock paper...complete with the note from Cameron.

Wow.  My wife was just shaking her head and laughing at me. I think it cost thirty or forty bucks. The funny thing is, I probably would have bought it sober. I still have it, but it is on the open sea on the way over from Sydney, Australia along with the rest of our belongings. When it gets here, I will post a picture of it and the handwritten note. 

I found a free copy online and have attached it here for reading or downloading.

Click here to download:

Cameron Crowe's (355 KB)

Tune Tags

The Goods

• Cameron Crowe's website
• Almost Famous Wikipedia Page (lots of great insights and factoids here)
• Almost Famous IMBD page 
• Check out Bill Simmons', The ESPN Sports Guy, use of Almost Famous in one of his recent columns about the offseason for the NBA (well worth the read just for the AF reference alone) 
• Podcast that talks about the recording of "Love & Theft"
• "Untitled": director's but/bootleg of Almost Famous (this is suberb...better than the original theatre cut)

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Podcast 107 - Forget Doctors; Trust in Pilot Season

Click here to download:

lovehatethings - Forget Doctors, Trust Pilot Season.mp3 (8876 KB)

Considering some impromptu thoughts on why I love the beginning of the new TV season, why I having problems believing everything that's being said about H1N1, and the ten most boggling selections for greenlit movies based on plot pitches.

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thinglets: Ten Film Plots That Should Not Have Been Greenlit

Below are ten short plot summaries for films that have, shockingly, ALL been made. I have not put the name of the film at the beginning of each entry in case you'd like to play a "Name the Film" game. There is a link contained in each entry that points to the IMDB page for the film. Prepare to be dumbstruck.

1. "A Texas Ranger is assigned to protect the only witnesses to the murder of a key figure in the prosecution of a drug kingpin -- a group of University of Texas cheerleaders. He must now go undercover as an assistant cheerleading coach and move in with the young women."
2. "A deservedly struggling young comedian, lands a menial job on a cruise ship as the Miss-Universe contest is being held on-board. The Big Man On Deck for this voyage is the ship's comedian and all-around ladies' man. As an assorted array of thugs, Panamanian mercenaries and terrorists try to storm the ship, the young comedian hopes for one big chance to prove himself and enter the exciting world of cruise ship comedy."
3. "After separating from his wife, a former agent quit the spy business and became a restaurateur. The government has asked him to come back and save the world again. The evil antagonist has hypnotized animals into doing her bidding, and plans to use them to take over the world! It's up to the agent to save the world, as only he can battle her Vegetarians and man-eating rabbits!"
4. "When "street smart" rapper applies for a membership to an all-white Country Club, the establishment's proprietors are hardly ready to oblige him. Unwilling to accept that the club views him as unfit for membership, he purchases land that contains the 17th green - willing only to exchange the hole for a membership. This sets the stage for an outrageous assault on the country club and its membership committee as he and his fun-loving, streetwise crew disrupt the goings-on at the club with their irreverent attitudes and a back-and-forth prankfest."
5. "A father's psychic abilities are put to the test when his two daughters are trapped inside of a corn maze haunted by the spirits of two young girls who disappeared a year earlier."
6. "A professor introduces Paul to the practical-joking Kathy. Paul and Kathy seem to hit it off rather well but, during a meteor storm, a meteorite fragment strikes Paul, burying itself deep in his skull, which has the unpleasant side-effect of causing Paul to mutate into a giant reptilian monster at night and go on murderous rampages."
7. "On the night of a big fashion show, world-famous French designer is poisoned. The same night, his murderers are trying to kill a member of the popular rap group. As the designer dies on the street, a midget witch tries to do something to save him. The next day, as the body of the designer is buried, his soul wakes up to find himself in the rapper's body. Both souls are trapped inside the rapper's body, and every time he suffers a blow, they switch personalities. A tough black rapper becomes a fruity fashion designer and then back again."
8. "After the death of his brother, a street dancer goes to attend university. But his efforts to get an education and woo the girl he likes are sidelined when he joins in his fraternity's effort to win a step dancing competition."
9. "Jack is a struggling baseball pitcher who has great natural talent but keeps choking under pressure. Traded to a class A minor league team, he is appalled to discover his third baseman -- and roommate on the road -- is a chimpanzee. While the chimp can actually hold his own on the diamond, Jack feels there's something a bit undignified about having to look after a monkey, and it doesn't help that the chimp has poor hygiene and a chronic case of flatulence."
10. "An unemployed cartoonist moves back in with his parents and younger brother. When his parents demand he leave, he begins to spread rumors that his father is sexually abusing his brother."

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FD8 Reviewed + my own thoughts on Screenwriting apps

I have been thinking about this upgrade since the announcement of FInal Draft 8. As much as I think it's a sham to pay $99 for a text editor with über macros - FD and I have had an ongoing relationship now - going on 13 years.  Boiling it down to its essence, FD's ability to help me spend more time writing and thinking about story, rather than format sold me on day one. Since then it has all been fluff IMHO. VO, story cards have just sucked - lets just say it now. They have been done so much better in apps like Scrivener, but those apps don't have the industry adoption that FD has (Ugh). Basically the Tab key, and auto complete make FD worth the $300 initial investment. Anything on top of that is well ... gravy? Im not sure. I've been waiting for a while foe a company to come along and clean up in this space. But it hasn't happened yet. 

Collaboration is a huge hole, as it is in most of the production world - just look at the post world if you want to see a train wreck. Apps like CeltX rock with server side integration, story board and budget information, as well as bleeding into production. CeltX allows you to save a document and pull it down from any machine, anywhere - it also shows you when the last time the document was modified and the changes made - It's like SVN meets screenwriting. Most writers are like WTF is version control? But those of you who understand versioning and its importance will get it, and fall in love with that openness. However, CeltX has put the cart before the horse - its scripting tool isn't 100% - in fact its more like 75% in its feature set - no ability to create shooting scripts for one, a serious deal breaker with most authors - so again we are back to working with FD.

Our current workflow involves parking versions on our public Mobile Me™ accounts, pulling versions down and manually updating version numbers after we've made comments. Then of course there is the system of printing out the entire script, making notes with a Sharpie and then returning it. We do that about once every couple of months - there is something very important and organic about marking up a script with a pen, rather than on the computer. I know there is a developer out there who is listening  and taking notes :) 

For the first time in quite a while I can appreciate the new features that have gone into version 8. I think it will make collaboration with my writing partner that much easier (at least I hope..pray). Most interesting to me are the floating palettes, new layouts, index cards (although i think scrivener is still better visually), and the new .fdx format. This last little bit could be a real game changer in incorporating Final Draft in with third party applications for Production, Post, and on the iPhone; that is so long as there is a strong enough developer support and proper SDK provided by the small and often ill-equiped FD staff. 

Going to upgrade now - I'll write an addendum after my initial first impressions - and after FD gets another $99.00 out of me. 

J

Here's the review:

• Final Draft 8

Screenwriting software gets a refresh, adopts new file format

by Tim Haddock, Macworld.com

As a 15-year user of Final Draft, I’m fairly accustomed to the program’s quirks and subtleties. I wasn’t really looking for an upgrade. But even I appreciated some of version 8’s feature refurbs and flourishes. For example, users who take advantage of Final Draft’s ScriptNote feature to give and get feedback from other writers will appreciate the readily accessible ScriptNote navigation controls, transplanted to the toolbar at the top of the main screen.

Similarly, newbies no longer have to search the drop-down menus to update their title pages; a button on the toolbar makes it quick and easy. Likewise, the Split Panels controls, which make it easier to view your Index Card outline and actual script pages simultaneously in parallel panels, have been relocated to this same prime real estate.

Final Draft 8 is also a lot easier on the eyes—literally. The once frail and marginally legible onscreen Courier font has gotten a collagen injection, making it plumper and easier to read. And the Zoom feature now boasts twice the range (75 percent to 300 percent) of its predecessor, facilitating a better user experience with today's large widescreen monitors.

Final Draft’s Index Card feature also gets a usability boost in version 8. The virtual index cards that are used for outlining and notes are now double-sided—one side displays scene notes and the other displays corresponding scene dialogue and description. Unfortunately, flipping the cards is a little clunky, as you have to select the appropriate Index Cards state in the View menu, which then flips all cards simultaneously. Though I really enjoyed the double-sided interface, I found myself wishing that I could just flip individual cards with a mouse click.

Also useful for story planning and evaluation is the newly added Scene View feature, which strips your script to its bare bones, displaying only slug lines, a little description, and page numbers. Most importantly, it lets you add a title to each scene, like “Hero Finds Amulet.” The resulting view essentially becomes a high-level skeletal outline of your story--very handy.

Final Draft 8’s Scene Navigator is a big improvement over previous versions’ Navigator function. First off, it’s now a floating palette, so you can leave it open all the time when you’re writing and use it to quickly navigate to portions of your script in progress. In addition, it now provides a variety of scene information in table format, including scene start pages, scene page count, and color coding. How is this useful? Well, one might color-code scenes according to whether they represent the adventure A-story, the romance B-story, or the humorous C-story. Thanks to color coding in the Scene Navigator, a single glance helps you identify improperly interwoven stretches of story.

Also new to Final Draft 8 is the Scene Properties Inspector floating palette. Here you can add and edit additional scene information, including notes and scene titles, as well as more color coding. Personally, I use it as a mini “grocery list” to make sure that I don’t forget any key ingredients of the scene when I’m writing.

Final Draft 8.0 moves key controls such as Split Panels to the main toolbar for easy access.

Perhaps Final Draft 8’s most substantial change is its new XML-based .fdx file format, which allows Final Draft scripts to work seamlessly with a variety of third-party story planning, budgeting, scheduling, and storyboarding applications. The bad news: Previous versions of Final Draft are unable to open this new format. This could make it a little more complicated to script-swap with others who have not yet made the upgrade—which might irritate some users whose main reason for purchasing Final Draft was its universal, cross-platform compatibility.

The good news: Saving a script in the legacy .fdr format couldn’t be easier. But be forewarned that page count and pagination can vary when bouncing between Final Draft 7 and Final Draft 8 formats, and that can be irksome when your lean 110-page comedy puts on a few pages.

Overall, I was very impressed by the stability and formatting consistency of Final Draft 8. It does what it’s supposed to do, and it does it well. Veteran Final Draft users contemplating an upgrade can rest assured that all the bugs that plagued the release of version 7 didn’t show up for the picnic this time around. During 10 days of testing, I experienced nary a crash or freeze.

Also welcome was Final Draft’s continued commitment to multi-tiered customer support. In addition to e-mail support and live chat, Final Draft still provides 24/7 phone support, the first 20 minutes of which are free. Subsequent minutes will set you back a hefty $2.50 apiece, but when it’s 3 a.m. and your deadline is first thing in the morning, it seems like a bargain.

Macworld’s buying advice

Final Draft 8 is simpler than ever for beginning users; subtle feature fixes, bountiful script templates, and top-notch support for the production rewrite process ensure that an aspiring A-list writer won’t quickly outgrow the software. But for existing users, the decision to upgrade may have less to do with new features than an increasing pressure to switch to the .fdx file format, which may follow in the footsteps of the .fdr format to become a new de facto industry standard.

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My path is set. It was always meant to be. It was only a matter of time. What would Pilar Alessandra say to this?

Put this on your page and sell it.

brads - Brass fasteners used to bind a screenplay printed on three-hole paper, with Acco #5 solid brass brads generally accepted as having the highest ...
www.screenwriting.info/glossary.php

More definitions and my friend Pilar

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Trailer for "The Box". This has been a back of my mind obsession since I first saw the Twilight Zone version in the 80's

"Norma and Arthur Lewis, a suburban couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger, delivers the message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. But, pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world; someone they don't know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the cross-hairs of a startling moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity." - imdb

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Yari Film Group

"If you're passionate and believe in your product and give a damn you might have a shot with them, they may even read your screenplay"

- either Rod Lurie or Michael Bortman in a creative screenwriting interview by Jeff Goldsmith

yarifilmgroup.com

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Errol Morris on Frauds and Fakes

via morris.blogs.nytimes.com

Fascinating piece on Master Forger Han Van Meegeren who made forgeries that weren't direct copies. Sold them to the Nazis which, of course, led to his demise.

Van Meegeren's story seems like a screenplay waiting to happen.

http://morris.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/bamboozling-ourselves-part-1/#

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Podcast Forty Two - Loading the Cannons

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lovehatethings - Loading the Cannons.mp3 (7891 KB)

Concerning the death of originality in the summer blockbuster movie season, snippets of a life lived in and around hockey and...

by special request...

a special reading of a letter from Linus Torvalds explaining the penguin as the Linux logo as read by... Morgan Freeman!

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lovehate: Hollywood's Canon Fodder

I hesitate to create a lovehate about the state of ideas in Hollywood, as the concept of derivative plot lines and characters has, it itself, become derivative. I'm sure as far back as silent film, people have been talking about the overabundant repetition and hackneyed ideas. When the legendary silent film "The Great Train Robbery" was such a success in 1903, it didn't take long for the "Little Train Robbery" (1905) to be made with a bunch of exploited children.

So I do understand the irony in the fact that whining about lost creativity is an artistic constant and hardly news-worthy. I only bring it up at this time because, in looking over the next few months of films that will likely challenge records at the box office, there's precious little originality that isn't a sequel, reworking, or retelling of an existing franchise or historical success. And I guess what really bothers me is the hundreds of millions being spent on precious few derivative blockbusters while anything independent or original has to scrape by with a few hundred thousand. The yearly Oscar for best original screenplay is being reduced to precious few to choose from.

Starting with Wolverine on May 1st, while I certainly don't begrudge the makers extending the Marvel brand a bit further with what is likely the most popular character of the X-men franchise. The fact that this film will capture the Comicon crowd is not lost on me, yet does take the place of at least a few original screenplays and character sets that should see the light of day.

I've always loved Star Trek, and I'm sure I will like the May 8th release, but was it really necessary to rework the original characters? The history established by the past television series and films cannot help but paint this story into a corner. We know which characters cannot die because they are around decades later. Where's the original Sci-Fi these days?

And then let's run the summer blockbuster list:

Angels and Demons - Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code prequel which is two years too late in terms of maintaining the wave of the series original popularity, but not like we'll look for a new alternative to film or anything.

Terminator Salvation - Yet another sequel with Christian Bale playing a dark and brooding anti-hero. Suffers, again, from the same plot issues as Star Trek, being stuck into an existing mythology.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - Ben Stiller + sequel = banal.

Land of the Lost - While I know I'm deriding remakes, I really looked forward to this one until I heard Will Ferrell was attached. Now it becomes a de facto sequel of every other movie Will Ferrell has ever made.

The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 - Again, LOVED the original. Isn't there another screenwriter out there who can write a train heist film? You couldn't do much worse than Money Train.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -  Is this the one where Jar Jar and Michael Caine fight a robot shark from a future dystopian world? I suppose to ask for another writer to come up with an original story about trucks that turn into intelligent robots would be too infringing... how 'bout next time we go with Voltron instead?

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - In a genre where originality should be most abundant, we have to sit through yet another Ice Age... when does it all melt? All I can do is thank Pixar for UP at the end of May. I don't have much idea what it's about - and that's a very good thing.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Hasn't Harry got a nice job as a clerk in a central London office by now? Aren't the characters on crack benders somewhere? I think we should conscript Jon Lithgow and create a Harry Potter and the Hendersons combined sequel.

All these along with new iterations of G.I. Joe, Final Destination (not so final was it?) and Halloween makes me wish for a time like the 70s when, for all of the historical nostalgia about a "golden era" of directors and films, at least we had some original stories. But I guess that's when this 30 year-old funk that we're in now started.

I know that some of these films will be great, but it reminds me of the ominous parallels to the literary criticism of T.S. Eliot's canon. Essentially, there will be films that are part of the canon and those that aren't and those that are there were always desitined to be there and those not should not have expected more. How many of the sequels and remakes we watch over the next year will serve more as cannon fodder than find a place in the canon?

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