Part 1. – Whether you live in an isolated village or a city centre, roads are something we all have in common. Make a short series of photographs about a road near where you live. You may choose to photograph the street you live or work on, or another nearby. How you choose to approach this task is your decision, but use this exercise to develop the observational skills that will be challenged in Assignment Two. The objective is to try to think about something that is familiar to you in a different way. You don’t need to make any preparations for this exercise. Work intuitively, and try not to labour the exercise. Compile a digital contact sheet from your shoot and evaluate your work, identifying images of particular interest – to you or, potentially, to a wider audience.
For my journey I chose the town centre of Alnwick which I walk around a lot. I focused on the shopping streets of Bondgate Within and Narrowgate, which is continuous.
Alnwick is a medieval historic town with Alnwick Castle at it’s heart. It is a tourist destination and there are many independent shops in the town. I wanted to show two sides to the town, that of the perceived middle class image and the more down trodden areas.
The timing of my walk was during the run up to Christmas, just after the quaint Christmas lights had been switched on and the shop displays were Christmas themed with many of them entering a local competition for best window.
On the other hand there are a number of unoccupied buildings that are showing signs of decay and like other towns in the country Alnwick is suffering a decline of the High Street.
Image 415 is a shot of the famous “Dirty Bottles” of Alnwick. It is claimed that they have remained untouched since the landlord touched them and promptly dropped down dead. The pub called the Olde Cross is locally known as the Dirty Bottles these days and is a visitor attraction!
On the other hand the local drinkers or club goers have left their own dirty bottles on a broken window sill at the now defunct Oscars Night Club.
The following image 413 is the old entrance to the night club.
Image 418 is a shot of one of the many gift shops in the town all lit up to attract locals in to buy there gifts locally instead of on-line or in one of the larger towns.
Image 419 is a victim of the collapse of travel agency TUI.
The final image is one of the Christmas lights on the local Camera shop. Most of the shops have sponsored a light design which represents their business.
Contact Sheet
I decided to focus primarily on windows. I think that the subjects I have chosen feature in the films narrative in the way that they tell a story about the history of the town and that they are rather mysterious in some ways and in others they are quite straightforward. They give a sense of fear (as with the Dirty Bottles) and they are also hopeful too because of the Christmas lights and the optimism that they bring on a cold mid-winter day. The dereliction and closed shop is also relevant to the story of the road where the leading actors are undertaking an assignment to document toxicicity within the area. Can the decline of the High Street be described as toxic I ask myself?
Watch one of the films mentioned in this section or any other ‘road movie’ of
your choice. Write a short review (around 500 words), focusing on how the road
features within the film’s narrative.
Part 2 – Watch one of the films mentioned in this section or any other ‘road movie’ of your choice. Write a short review (around 500 words), focusing on how the road features within the film’s narrative.
Road – Written and Directed by Leslie McCleave and starry Catherine Keller and Ebon Moss – Bacarach.
I didn’t actually intend to watch this film. I thought I was watching Jack Kerouac’s On the Road!
The film was from Road 10 North, the same makers of The Motorcycle Diaries.
This was an oddly weird film about a freelance photographer (Keller) who has just landed a big assignment to document toxic waste. She invites her ex-boyfriend (Moss-Bacarach) along.
The film starts with a wide empty road and then headlights appear and the car comes towards the viewer. The car is old and beaten up with seats that are hard to adjust and looks like it wouldn’t manage to cross town never mind a long road trip into the wilderness.
The road is featured throughout the film not least because they get stuck on it and lost on several occasions. Early on the Jay (the boyfriend) hits something and when he goes back to see what it was he finds traces of blood but nothing else. Later there is a news bulletin about a hit and run accident in the area and we are left wondering if that is what he hit. On the way back to the car he has a near miss himself so I guess this was an attempt to suggest danger.
They do get lost and stuck on the road and what might be described “go round in circles”. I am wondering if this is how life is sometimes and the film is attempting to describe life in that journey.
It may be a weak film but the photography and cinematography is superb. Most of the film is from either inside or outside the car (through the windscreen) with the light and reflections playing a major role in setting the scene. The accompanying music is also very good at creating the mood.
They meet people living in the contaminated area and the gamma camera that Margaret uses shows many of them are contaminated with radiation so too is the water they are drinking and working by.
Travelling along the road the couple first of all get on well with reminisences of their time together, suggestions from Jay that they may be more than friends again which is met with rejection. As the journey progresses and the atomosphere of the environment and the people become more and more surreal so does their relationship resulting in them parting company. Margaret hitchhiking a lift from a truck and Jay taking the car. However, Jay feels bad about leaving and they meet up in a cafe – not sure how he knew where to find her. At that point things begin to get better and they find the places they are looking for and their relationship blossoms but there’s more this is where Margaret reveals that she is engaged to be married.
All settles down in terms of the road and the role it plays in the film and so does their relationship and they remain friends.
In conclusion, one of the weirdest films with a weak plot and weak acting. I think the writer was attempting to portray the road as a metaphor for some of life’s trials and tribulations of life, but the cinematography was superb.
References
Road, written and directed by Leslie McCleave available at https://ghostrobot.com/video/road/
OCA Landscape, Place & Environment 