Almost Famous

Within this scene of Almost Famous, music is utilized to anchor the otherwise silent characters to the emotion of the scene. Cameron Crowe understands the emotional appeal of music and that sometimes the human experience can be more effectively captured not solely by images, but through sound. What is so beautiful about the medium head shots of each character's hostility evolving with the panning of the camera into a bond over their passion of music comes from the establishing tone of  Elton John's "Tiny Dancer". Music tracks the band's emotions as they change with the lyrics of the song with each character realizing the beauty of pursing a mutual passion. What could be solely a melancholy scene of important plot evolution transforms into, as Cameron Crowe stated in his Oscar acceptance speech, "a love letter to music". Emotional appeal to music is universal. Lyrics resonate with memories and often become the feeling of the moment itself. Using "Tiny Dancer" to establish a lighter tone to the scene creates an emotional appeal to the audience by connecting with their own memories of the song and resonating with the common experience of exploring a passion. As Lester Bangs states, "the main reason we listen to music in the first place is to hear passion expressed." Passion is a function of music  and is unitized to portray the power

music has on people's lives. Russell was ready to quit the band and his bandmates were prepared for the split. Yet the power of music is used as a subtext to the whole film motivating the characters to move forward. Utilizing the lyrics of music as a subtext serves as a technique to create a greater sense of the symbolism of sound. What appears to only be a song has so much more meaning in its dramatic context of silence. As Cameron Crowe states, "Music is usually more profound than anything the actors may be saying." The fluidity of connecting images with music creates a plot line in itself with no dialogue needed to connect it. Music is utilized within this scene of Almost Famous to demonstrate the emotion of the scene.



Within this scene of Almost Famous, lack of sound and music are utilized to portray Penny's emotions in the scene. As William is trying to caution Penny of Russell's true feelings towards her, there is little background noise and only synchronous sound of the rustling of leaves and wind. By creating a silence around them the scene focuses on the dialogue. The sounds that are included are all very natural suggesting this evolution and realization of Russell selling Penny to Humble Pie is essential for her character. It also creates a conversation that is very real. The medium jump cuts of the dialogue shots and realistic background noise establishes the audience's pity towards Penny's character as she realizes her own self denial concerning Russell. When her realization hits, a soft background music creates the establishing tone moving forward. The music begins very soft and somber as Penny lets herself feel, but quickly raises in volume and switches to a uplifting tone. Penny's joke is used as a coping mechanism and the music of the scene portrays her

own mentality of moving on. Music moves the characters forward in every scene. As Cameron Crowe states in an article on his website, "Music was always the baseline passion of the groups I covered." Crowe's utlization of music as a force of emotion in each scene almost creates it as a character itself. Whether it be background music or silence, symbolic sound is prevalent in each shot of the film. Almost Famous utilizes sound to more accurately portray Penny's emotions in this scene.

Works Cited

"The Quotable Lester Bangs: Mantra for the Uncool and Other Thoughts." Theboxcutters. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. <http://theboxcutters.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/the-quotable-lester-bangs-mantra-for-the-uncool-and-other-thoughts/>.

"The Uncool - The Official Site for Everything Cameron Crowe." The Uncool - The Official Site for Everything Cameron Crowe. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. <http://www.theuncool.com/>.

MLA formatting by BibMe.org.