| The City | ||
|---|---|---|
| This clip is not available for streaming at this time. Please contact WPA. | Tape Master: | 11284 |
| Catalog #: | 490321 | |
| Clip Number: | 490321-1 | |
| Orginal Film: | NTOWNS-007 | |
| Timecode: | ||
| Location: | New York City and Metropolitan Area, Suburbia | |
| Year Shot: | 1986 (Actual Year) | |
| Audio: | Yes | |
| Color: | No | |
| Headings: | CITY PLANNING: New Towns | |
| Description: | 17.39.42-Shots of various "lowlife" types in the street, men making wolf-whistles and lewd gestures as women pass by. Shot where one man throws his newspaper in the garbage and another man picks it right back out again. Shot of a man, bewildered by traffic as he tries to cross a street, continually starts across and is thwarted [here Copland's music is very expressive of the scene]. Shots of others experiencing danger and desperation in trying to cross the street. Shots of long lines of people waiting for medical attention. Shots of signs which identify the major industry-related plagues of lung and skin disease. Shots of crowded streets. 17.41.07-Very cool sequence in which a TAXI passenger is caught in traffic, looks in vain out the sunroof of the cab, then the windows, for some sign that the traffic is going to start moving. However, we see that the taxi meter is moving even as the cab sits still [Copland's music gets more ominous and dissonant, and you almost expect the disgruntled passenger to pull out his tommy gun and open fire]. Finally he has to get out, pays the cabbie, and takes off on foot. Shot of crowded streets. Gigantic throngs of people in steets, shots of TRAFFIC COPS and street signs, emphasizing the prevalence of regimentation and prohibition in the modern life. Shot of strangely empty streets around Wall Street area. Shots of crowded highways [presumably as people get the heck out of Dodge on the weekend?], traffic jams, shots of drivers indicate early instances of ROAD RAGE. Shots of wrecked automobiles [1940's vintage]. Weird montage of bizarre kitschy roadside signs, traffic signals, cars on road, a mechanical traffic sign with a cutout of a COP whose arms wave up and down, concludes with a shot of a car going out of control and crashing down a steep rocky hillside ending in a heap at the bottom. 17.45.35-Shot of construction workers building tall frame out of steel girders. Shot of a Hydroelectric Dam. Shot of airplane propeller, shots of the DC-3 taxiing, taking off, air-to-air of a DC-3 in flight through clouds. Aerial of a suburban area, announcer talks about building "New Cities" close to the soil and to natural beauty. Aerial of a city area surrounded by miles and miles of trees. Aerial of new-fangled Cloverleaf interchange on highways. Shots of buses on the highway. Shot of Hydroelectric Dam, Shots of High-Tension towers, men working in machine shop and chemistry lab. Announcer says that in the "New City", men will regain control over machines. Shots of a factory cafeteria, the exterior of factory, homes in a tranquil subdivision across the way from the factory, men walking home from work. Shots of houses in the New City, announcer extols the cooperative spirit of the place. Shots of people riding on horseback and bicycles on the well-planned paths of this town. Shots of kids getting out of school and running off to play in the idyllic green spaces of the town. Line of boys speeding along paths on bicycles. | |
WPA FILM LIBRARY
