Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
Almost Famous – Close-viewing: Exposition
:
1.) First impressions
Describe the technique
Music: What song is playing? Style?
Beat, pitch? Diegetic/non-diegetic?
Explain the effect
What kind of tone or mood is created?
Analyse the purpose
Why? How does this song reveal
information about William’s world at
the moment?
Setting: What is William’s world like?
(Give specific details)
What kind of society is depicted
through these details?
Why do you think the director wanted
us to understand that this is what
William’s life is like at the start of his
journey?
Costume: What is William wearing?
What is his mother wearing? (Be very
specific)
What impression does this give us of
William?
Why does the director want to create
this impression straight away?
Dialogue: What are William and his
mother talking about?
What do they say? (exact words)
What does their dialogue reveal?
How does this dialogue relate to
important ideas in the film as a
whole?
What kinds of camera shots are used
to reveal the setting?
Summary: Overall, what impression is created?
What techniques combine to create this impression?
Why? What is the director’s overall purpose of presenting William and his world like this to us?
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
2.) William and his sister
What do Elaine (his mother) and Anita (his sister) talk about?
What does this reveal about their personalities and values?
Compare/contrast William, Elaine and Anita:
William
Anita
Elaine
What reasons does Elaine give for putting William ahead of his year and for not telling him?
Why does this annoy Anita?
How does this shot especially capture the nature of their family relationship?
:
3.) Rita leaves
Describe the style, pace and tone of the song that Anita plays to explain why she’s leaving:
Here are some of the lyrics. How does this song relate to what Anita is doing?
The song that plays as William becomes older is called ‘Amazing Journey’ by The Who.
Describe the style and tone of this music:
Why is this a fitting choice for what is happening to William?
"Let us be lovers we'll marry
our fortunes together"
"I've got some real estate
here in my bag"
So we bought a pack of
cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner
pies
And we walked off to look
for America
"Kathy," I said as we
boarded a Greyhound in
Pittsburgh
"Michigan seems like a
dream to me now"
It took me four days to
hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for
America
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
Almost Famous – Close-viewing: Turning point & first impressions
William’s family: Review the opening scenes and complete the chart below:
Elaine (mother)
First
impressions of
personality,
values and
feelings towards
William.
How does the
film show this?
Anita (sister)
Good points
Negative points
Lester Bangs
Identifying the film
technique
Costume
Actor’s
performance (facial
expressions, body
language,
movement, tone of
voice)
Music:
What music is
associated with
Lester at this
point?
Summary: What
overall impression
do these
techniques create?
Analyse: To what
extent is Lester a
good role-model for
William as a
person? (not just
as someone
interested in music)
Describing the use – be specific and detailed.
(Bullet points)
Explaining the effect.
What does this tell us about Lester?
What kind of impression does it create?
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
Penny Lane:
2. Costume:
Describe
the way Penny is l
1. LightingWhere is the light? How bright is it?
Describe what Penny is
wearing in this scene?
Why would the director introduce
Penny in this way?
What kind of impression
does this create?
How does the lighting reflect
William’s point of view of Penny?
3. Actor’s performance:
How does the way Penny acts back up points
you have already made about her?
The next time we see Penny, her and William have this interaction (before Russell turns up) where she messes up his
hair and won’t tell William her real age or real name.
What can we tell about Penny’s personality from this
interaction?
What are some actions and dialogue that back these
ideas up?
How do we know that William is infatuated with her?
Russell: the guitarist with mystique
Describe Russell’s costume and general appearance when we first see him?
What kind of impression does this create?
What does the composition of this shot
say about Russell?
What is our first impression of the band,
Stillwater as a group when they arrive?
How does William get the attention of the
band?
What does this tell us about them?
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
Russell and Penny and William take 1: backstage at Black Sabbath
A series of close-ups and mid-shots are used when William “introduces” Penny to Russell.
For each shot note down what we can tell about the character’s feelings and pinpoint what we can see which specifically
reveals these feelings.
Identify the shot:
Describe what can we tell from this
Explain how? (What is it about the shot that
shot?
allows us to make these inferences?)
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
Russell and Penny and William take 2: Hotel in LA
Describe the editing and camera movement during the scene where Penny leads William
through the hotel corridors and arrives at Stillwater’s room where she does an impersonation of
an airline hostess.
(Useful vocabulary: quick cuts, long cuts, hand-held camera, panning/pans, tracking shot)
What kind of effect does it create as a viewer? (It makes the audience feel…)
How does the speed and motion in these shots reflect what’s going on with William?
How does the speed and motion of these shots also convey aspects of Penny Lane’s
character? (Which are different to William’s character)
What do you think of Penny, using William to meet up with Russell, even though she knows he
has a girlfriend?
What do you think of Russell, meeting up with Penny even though he has a girlfriend?
Who is the worst person out of these two and why does William like either of them?
William & Elaine & isolation
Both these characters are isolated to some extent throughout most of the film:
In what ways is William isolated?
In what ways is Elaine isolated?
How does this isolation make William feel?
How does this isolation make Elaine feel?
How do these long shots capture this sense of isolation AND what other techniques in play in these shots reinforce this?
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
Golden Gods and Tiny Dancers
What do the band fight about?
Why does Russell take off? What does he mean by: “let’s go find something real”?
How does the whole scene at the house party reveal Russell’s actual level of maturity, despite his
actual age?
There’s a scientific/psychological term called: Peter Pan syndrome.
Peter Pan Syndrome can affect both sexes, but it appears more often among
men. Some characteristics of the disorder are the inability of individuals to
take on responsibilities, to commit themselves or to keep promises,
excessive care about the way they look and personal well-being and their
lack of self-confidence, even though they don’t seem to show it and actually
come across as exactly the opposite. Another characteristic of people
suffering from the ‘Peter Pan Syndrome’ is that they are constantly changing
partners and looking for younger ones. “Whenever the relationship starts to
ask for a high level of commitment and responsibility, they become afraid and
break it up. Relationships with younger women have the advantage of being
able to live by the day without any worries, and they also involve less future
plans, therefore less responsibilities.”
-
Sciencedaily.com (21/05/14)
1. To what
extent does
Russell have
Peter Pan
syndrome?
2. Do any other
characters
have Peter Pan
syndrome?
1.
2.
On the bus, the band and rest of the group all sing along to Tiny Dancer, by Elton John. Director, Cameron Crowe is
widely known to think very carefully over the musical choices in his films. There is always a reason behind the choice
and the choice is never, “because it’s a cool song.”
1. Why do you think Crowe chose Tiny Dancer for this scene?
2. How does the editing of the scene and the arrangement of close ups and mid-shots complement the meaning
created through the music?
You are
home.
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
Wake up, Penny!
This scene reveals a lot about how William is changing as a person but also continues to develop the complexity of
Penny Lane’s character. For example, consider how she reacts to the news that she “was sold to Humble Pie for a case
of beer.” Track and comment on the use of the following techniques throughout this scene.
Technique
Camera angles
& over the
shoulder shots.
Choice of when
to move into
close-ups and
effects of close
ups.
The costume
and lighting of
Penny Lane.
Use of music
near the end of
the scene.
Analyse: how
does the
director want us
to feel about
Penny and
William? Why?
Link: How does
this scene link
to other
scenes?
How does it link
to aspects of
both William
and Penny’s
coming of age?
Describe details
Explain and analyse the effects.
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
New York, New York
This is probably the most important scene in the film. We see the most exotic character, the love interest, Penny Lane at
her absolute lowest and William, the character we have the most sympathy for and identify with the most, stepping up
the challenge and becoming the hero. We will spend an entire lesson creating notes on this scene, which will need to be
inserted into this booklet once they are typed up.
1. Why does Penny overdose on pills and alcohol?
2. What is the difference – in terms of costume and appearance – between Penny in this scene (at the restaurant
and in her hotel room) and how she appears throughout the rest of the film before this scene?
3. What admirable qualities of William are shown throughout the scene?
4. To what extent does this scene glorify or not glorify drug use?
The cross-cutting between William and Penny and Elaine at William’s graduation.
What music and voice-over transition across this cross-cutting?
How does the use of these techniques illuminate what is going on in both places?
What song plays at this point? What other sounds are there?
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
To what extent does this scene address and reaffirm the values of honesty, integrity and loyalty?
How do these qualities relate to the director’s ideas regarding growing up and becoming an adult?
Aftermath
How does Penny revealing her real name to William signify a coming of age on her behalf?
How does the composition of the shots, costume, lighting and music combine to create strong, emotional effects in
this scene? How do the film techniques help us understand these two characters – William and Penny?
Film
technique
Composition
of shots (e.g
the use of
hands as
framing
devices)
Costume
(Penny’s
costume)
Lighting
Music
Describe
Explain and analyse the combination of
techniques:
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
Plane scene – facing death again
How does this scene illustrate the development that William has gone through?
How does this scene reinforce his heroic qualities?
How does the contrast between William and the rest of the band in this scene
demonstrate their differences in maturity?
The return home
What kind of advice does William get from Lester?
What values does Lester reaffirm for William?
How does the filming of Penny at her home convey a sense of honesty about her that was
missing throughout the rest of the film?
How does Penny’s action (her tricking of Russell) reveal that she has gone through her own coming of age? That she
has come to a deeper understanding of herself, her effect on others and the reality of the world in general?
How would the film have created a different impression of Penny if she had given Russell her address?
How does her making the trip to Morocco reinforce this?
To what extent is her costume of all black symbolic here?
How does Russell’s actions – of realising why Penny tricked her and giving William his interview reveal that he has gone
through his own coming of age? That he has come to a deeper understanding of himself, his effect on others and the
reality of the world in general?
What song from earlier in the film is repeated here? Considering how it was used earlier, why is it an effective choice?
What final impression of human nature does the film leave us with?
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Year 12 study
Motifs: recurring images, ideas throughout the film that add meaning to the greater messages inherent in the story:
Symbols
1. Dancing/dancers:
What are some of the connotations of dancing?
When does dancing take place and by who?
In what other circumstances is dancing part of the film?
How does dancing symbolise aspects of character or theme?
2. Home:
When is home mentioned and by who throughout the film?
What contrasts are created between the family home and the other home of hotel rooms and the road?
How is home used to symbolise thematic ideas, or ideas about character throughout the film?
3. Thresholds and roads:
What thresholds are crossed by…
William
Penny Lane
Russell
How does the crossing of thresholds help represent ideas related to coming of age and loss of innocence?
Lighting on Penny Lane
1. Penny is almost constantly back-lit in a way that makes her shine.
What are three examples that stand out for you that make use of this back-lit lighting?
What are the connotations of this?
2. The lighting on her is different after the overdose scene and she doesn’t appear as striking anymore.
Why do you think the director wanted this change in lighting to happen?
Costume of Penny Lane
1. How would you describe the kinds of costumes Penny wears throughout most of the film?
2. How is her costume different in New York when she turns up to the restaurant and then overdoses?
3. How is her costume different again from this point on?
4. How do the changes in her costume convey a change in character?