Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Mapping Urban Film Genres
A breakdown by film genre enables a more precise mapping of the shape
and form of local production practices over time and the ways in which
these processes reflect or create exceptions to national and international
trends and developments in terms of the kinds of practices that develop
and the types of films made. Mapping the locations that appear in differ-
ent genres of the city film highlights the extent to which specific produc-
tion practices construct and project different ideas and spatial percep-
tions of the city, with particular locations serving to convey, for instance,
a “civic vision,” as typically can be found in promotional films produced
by local councils and municipal authorities.
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As we discuss below, these
may be contrasted with genres in which locations are suggestive of an
altogether different sense of place and urban imaginary.
Focusing on the city center area of Liverpool, the paterns observ-
able in locations mapped across film genres demonstrate the ways in
which a city's cinematic geographies reflect what can perhaps more ac-
curately be described as
cities
in film: a mosaic of overlapping represen-
tations of the city's urban landscape that convey the different meanings
atached to speciic discourses and practices surrounding the production
of city films. If we chart the locations featured in “official” productions,
such as newsreels and promotional films, we can form an overall impres-
sion of the type of locations and landscapes that shape the cinematic
geography of these generic representations.
The map of locations in newsreel productions (figure 6.2) reveals
an overall emphasis on spaces associated with industry and commerce
(docks, the Royal Liver building, Water Street, hotels), transport links
(including the two Mersey road tunnels, the Lime Street railway station,
and the Overhead Railway), civic buildings and monuments (Town Hall,
Municipal Buildings, St. George's Hall, the Cenotaph, the Wellington
Monument), places of worship (the city's Anglican and Metropolitan
Cathedrals, St. Nicholas' Church), and education institutions and asso-
ciated locations (the University of Liverpool and Royal Liverpool Hos-
pital). Strongly reflective of the city's institutions, engineering prowess
(Queensway and Kingsway road tunnels), and proud civic identity, the
