Shelter From The Storm (Poison Rain)

I want to feel, sunlight on my face
See that dust cloud disappear without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the Streets Have No Name/U2

Not all people seeking shelter in movies (and life) are in the mist of a world war like in my last new posts on Fury and Unbroken. Not all are running from a literal storm. Some struggles are more personal. Closer to the homefront—even in the home. Three movies came to mind this morning about women seeking shelter from—to borrow the U2 phrase—various kinds of “poison rain” that have damaged more lives than all the atomic bombs combined. (Wayward fathers, abusive husbands, drugs & alcohol.)

I started this run of “Shelter From The Storm” posts based on the Bob Dylan song, so it seems fitting to end this post with lyrics from another Dylan song:

May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever Young/ Bob Dylan

P.S. If you’re in an abusive situation may you seek shelter from the storm today:
The National Spouse Abuse hotline is 1-800-799-7233
National Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Information help line is 1-800-784-6776
Alcoholics Anonymous 

Related Posts:
Sleeping with the Enemy (The novel & the story have roots in Cedar Falls, Iowa—as does this blog.)
‘Winter’s Bone (How it Got Made) One of my favorite films in last decade.
‘Winter’s Bone’ (David Morrell)
‘Winter’s Bone’ (Debra Granik)
Susannah Grant on Failure (Screenwriter of 28 Days)

Scott W. Smith

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Filmmaker Scott Duncan (Part 3)

“A co-worker of mine was raving about him, and I had never met him or seen his work, and I said, ‘What’s the big deal about Scott Duncan?'”
Natalie Jowett
Producer—ESPN/Maggie Vision

Here are three more videos to give you a glimpse into Scott Duncan and his creative world. The first video is an overview of a shoot he did on the impact Nelson Mandela had in South Africa, the second is a little closer to home that Scott shot in Parkersburg, Iowa, about the legacy of high school football coach Ed Thomas. ( Ed Thomas Family Foundation.) And the third video is a mini documentary that Scott was the DP on and features Bono and the U2 gang joined by the Soweto Gospel Choir.

P.S. Scott Duncan does have a blog. And I want to give a shout out to the web design and e-commerce group Spinutech who did the website for The Ed Thomas Foundation (and who I work closely with via River Run Productions here in Cedar Falls).

Scott W. Smith

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Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame’s Iowa Touch

“A historic, music-affirming extravaganza. Hail, hail rock ‘n’ roll.”
USATODAY.com

Tonight HBO will broadcast the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert that was taped back in October. The concert features a solid line-up of Bruce Springsteen, Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, U2,  Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Brown, James Taylor, Smokey Robinson, John Fogerty, B.B. King, Sting, Billy Joel and other rock giants.

And while all those musicians are on stage they will be under a touch of Cedar Falls, Iowa. Artist Gary Kelley was commissioned to create a multi-panel mural that arched above the stage at Madison Square Garden.

Kelley’s studio is just a couple blocks from my office and it’s fun to drop in from time to time and see what he’s working knowing it could be something for Rolling Stone magazine or another national venue. Kelley is most known for his murals of writers at Barnes & Nobel Booksellers across the county and in 2007 he was elected into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame.

One more example of great work coming from the middle of nowhere.

If you’re interested in purchasing Kelley’s artwork contact the Henry W. Myrtle Gallery.

Scott W. Smith

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U2 on You Tube & What it Means to You

I want to feel, sunlight on my face
See that dust cloud disappear without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name
Bono/U2

I’m going to break up my posts on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to point out the significance of the U2 concert last night that was live-streamed via You Tube to seven continents.

I’m sure we’ll hear in the coming days how many people participated in watching the concert online, but I’m guessing into the milions. I started just watching to see and hear the quality and to see if they could pull it off technologically. They did and I stuck around for the entire concert. It was a late night here in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

For the last four days I’ve been posting a mini history of the Hollywood film industry. They film industry is in a lull now connected to the economy and I wanted to show how it’s always been an industry in flux.

But there are new technologies emerging that will provide many opportunities related to how we shoot and view movies and other forms of entertainment. Last night’s concert was a tour de force of current technologies mixed with great talent and creative energies giving us a foretaste of what is to come.
As a personal side note the concert brought back a few memories of my L.A. days back in the 80s when I did several photography, film and video shoots at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena where the concert was held last night. The concert itself reminded me of Bruce Springsteen’s last Born in the U.S.A. concert at the L.A. Coliseum back in ’85 which I attended with around 100,000 other people.

And as Bono started into The Streets Have No Name I couldn’t help but recall a missed opportunity. I was a writer/director/cameraman and editor with a Burbank production company when their Joshua Tree album came out. On the morning of March 27, 1987 we got wind that U2 was going to be playing on a rooftop in downtown L.A. and thought that would be pretty cool to shoot and experience. Then we decided we didn’t want to deal with all the traffic and the crowd. Watch the You Tube video below to see the security risks involved. The police were doing their job, and the rockers were doing theirs. (Also this was back in MTV’s heyday when record labels dropped a lot of money producing music videos. One more example of how things change.)

Sure wish I would have gone. Life is full of regret and missed opportunities and what I’ve been trying to show in the last couple days and will show in the days to come is that the film industry has been through many bumpy roads in the past but there are new opportunities coming— but it’s going to require you embracing a new way of doing things.

Just keep in mind that five years ago You Tube hadn’t even launched. Can you even imagine what kinds of distribution channels there will be five years from now?

Scott W. Smith

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