Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2000)
UNL film studies major, Brett Simmonds, hopes fora career in the film business. Simmonds worked on the crew of'The Private Pubik' which was filmed in Omaha. Sharon Kolbet/DN worth the wager Simmonds pursues career in filmmaking BY SAMUEL MCKEWON Tinseltown dreams die fast. Disappointment goes down smooth. For that one who makes it in the film business, in whatever field, there are 10 others who wagered and lost, 10 more that thought but never wagered and 10 more who opted for the backup plan when that wager became too much to bear. Brett Simmonds was considering Door No. 3 during his freshman year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, even after the seminal moment that all aspiring filmmakers share: The Film That Changed Everything. For Simmonds, it happened in high school; the movie was Ron Howard's “Apollo 13.” “After that,” Simmonds said, “I just wanted to tell stories on film.” But there lurked a backup plan, just in case his shot at film never came into focus. It could have been any major. For Simmonds, it was computer engineering. “I figured it'd be good to be assured a job when I got out of college,” he said. To hell with assurances. aimmunus uucneu me major ana movea mio the newly formed film studies department. At least on the academic side, it’s where he sensed he “belonged.” He took analysis courses, then pro duction classes, making a few short films - “The Pickle Principle” and “Three of a Kind,” his person al favorite. But it wasn’t until last summer, when Simmonds got a whiff of the atmosphere of a movie set, that he discovered the movie business was much more gritty than it first seemed. "You can understand the process in an aca demic setting, but for the dynamic to come together, you have to experience it,” said UNL Assistant Theatre Arts Professor Rick Endacott, who taught Simmonds first production class last spring. Endacott also opened the door to Simmonds' first film set opportunity. “He came to me asking where he could get his foot in the door, where he could get experience right away,” Endacott said. “He had a lot of interest outside of class.” The professor had an answer: his business partner, Dana Altman of the Omaha-based North Sea Films, was getting set to shoot the feature length “The Private Public” in Omaha. Simmonds worked as an office aide. Altman then added the 20-year-old junior to the film crew as the second camera assistant What does the second camera assistant do? The old joke says: Assist the first camera assistant It's partially true. But there’s more detail to the film set than a finished screen product would let on. „ Simmonds was, at times, in charge of menial tasks, like carrying the cameras and overseeing the film stock - making sure the right film was in the right camera. But it was more than that, Simmonds said. He Please see SIMMONDS on 9 Angels add power, punch to drab movie BY SAMUEL MCKEWON It’s clear to see where the brazen $80 million budget for “Charlie’s Angels” went, which is a com plement It’s on screen all right: There’s two or three high gloss building explosions, several minutes worth of fighting scenes lifted straight from “The Matrix,” big boats and fast rides. The Indy car this movie trashes might have been worth $1 million on its own. “Charlie’s Angels” is an event movie, and as far as these things can go, which is to halt real life and entertain for 90 minutes, it’s pretty good. Considering the slog of misery that’s loaded the fall film slate to this point, it’s damn near heavenly intervention on the part of the three stars: Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Iiu. Gossip had these three battling like cats, espe cially Iiu against co-star Bill Murray, who cameos as Bosley. It doesn’t show. The chemistry, for what it's worth (and in a movie like this, it's worth a bundle), is likably natural Never mind the script, which might not pass muster in a college composition class. This movie was made for the stars, who deliver, and a flashy, new wave music video director named McG, who knows which eye candy to choose from the grab bag. Part of that candy is the women themselves; the Please see ANGELS on 9 Blues king fills Lied with sound of soul BY EMILY PYEATT The thrill is on. Singer, songwriter, gui tarist and blues legend B.B. King has produced at least 100 albums, won nine Grammy awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Larry Boehmer, the founder of the Zoo Bar, said when it comes to blues, King is the best “He is certainly the ambassador of blues,” Boehmer said. Truly the king of blues, King will be performing tonight at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. At age 75, King still plays about 200 shows a year. “It is unusual to see a touring blues musician at his age since the lifestyle is so hard and demanding,” said Tom Larson, professor of jazz and rock and roll music at UNL. King has had his share of the lifestyle that accompa nies the blues. He has 15 known children, by 15 differ ent women, survived 18 car accidents and a life of drink ing, smoking and gambling. Still, King “has achieved a status that is a one of a cul B.B. King with special guest Shemekia Copeland -(Where: fi tural icon,” Larson said. Born Riley B. King in Mississippi, he once worked in cotton fields picking for a penny a pound. King was first drawn to the power of music through church. After World War II, he moved to Memphis and started playing the blues. First known as Blues Boy King, he had a radio show on WDIA in segregated Memphis. The station was known as the “Mother Station of Negroes,” and the Blues Boy was given 10 minute slots to perform. The Blues Boy then shortened his name to B.B. King. He became popular with the white community after playing in Paul Butterfield’s Blues Band in 1965 and with the success of his solo song, “The Thrill is Gone,” Larson said. The impact of King’s music is phenomenal, Boehmer said. “If you are a blues guitar player, you’ve learned from B.B.,” he said. King’s style is distin guished by his powerful vibrato. “He has the best and probably most famous vibrato in the business,” Boehmer said. King is also known for his original note lead lines instead of cords, then singing a line and answering with chords. This style allows his music to speak for itself and has become “a style copied by almost everyone in blues and rock and roll from the Rolling Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Albert King and even British bands in the '60s,” Boehmer said. Larson said King’s music is unmistakably original. “All you need is about two notes to recognize B.B.’s music,” Larson said. “He just has a crafted sound that is so identifiable.” King draws a maximum of emotion and soulful sounds out of the minimum notes on Lucille, his famous Gibson guitar. B.B. has been playing Gibsons for about 40 years and constantly calls them Lucille. Still producing new music, King’s latest release is a classic collaboration with Eric Clapton called “Riding with the King.” Imagine putting two of the most talented guitarists together, then multiply that by the amount of soul in the V.,-y I J Melanie Falk/DN voices of Clapton and King and you get the ground breaking album, “Riding with the King.” Twelve tracks capture the diversity and the impact of a live blues concert. From the slow paced “Hold On I’m Coming” and sexy “Three O'clock Blues,” to the hyped-up “I Wanna Be,” the album encompasses all that defines the blues. Clapton once said, “People call me a revolution ary, but I actually copied my style from the King of blues; B.B. is the blues.”