Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
or transport films - the statistics reflect a spatial and geographical read-
ing of films, not a reading by genre. However, a large number of these
films were made by amateur filmmakers and members of local cine clubs,
and they feature journeys in and out of the city center. Figure 6.5 shows a
selection of locations documented in amateur films. The overwhelming
majority of the films that fall within the amateur category are made by
filmmakers and cine clubs based outside of Liverpool (especially in the
Wirral). Mapping these more expansive location points highlights the
essentially mobile nature of much amateur filmmaking practice in the
region, demonstrating the extent to which transport geographies and
routes within and beyond the city have remained an important factor in
the documenting of Liverpool on film and, by extension, of the shaping
of ideas of place, locality, and identity.
The ability to map the geographies of amateur filmmaking practice
in Liverpool and Merseyside allows us to pay closer critical atention to
the spatial situatedness of the “archival gaze” and the routes and mobili-
ties that have helped shape and determine the imaginary of Liverpool
and/or Merseyside to which, taken collectively, these films contribute.
Narrowing the search parameters further, films made by Liverpool-
based amateur filmmakers and cine groups active from the 1950s (of
which, compared to their Wirral and other regional counterparts, there
have been comparatively few) are mostly clustered within the central
urban area; there is less visible evidence that these filmmakers were
interested in filming the wider region, other than perhaps anticipated
popular destinations such as Aintree Racecourse to the north or New
Brighton, a seaside resort a ferry journey away across the Mersey. By
contrast, as indicated in figure 6.5, films made by amateur filmmakers
operative across Merseyside display a more far-reaching geographical
spread in terms of the distance traveled between place of domicile and
filmic destination, highlighting the close association between amateur
film and leisure practices such as travel, tourism, and sightseeing. The
focus on forms of transport to and from Liverpool and within the city
center itself suggests (1) the enduring popularity of transport as an ama-
teur film topic and (2) the geographical relationship with Liverpool, its
transport forms, and its landmark gateways (ferry terminals, bridges,
tunnels, railways, etc.) for filmmakers commuting in from the Wirral
