Instructions
For this assignment you should choose a travelogue from before 1970. Using software (like Google Maps) or by hand, you will map the travelogue to show the journey taken on film. Next you should find footage or images from today that correspond to stops on the travelogue. Finally you will write a short essay reflecting on the travelogue and the new images.
Travelogues
Mapping the Travelogue Then and Now Choose a travelogue from one of the links posted to Canvas. You should choose a travelogue that was made before 1970. You can choose any travelogue subject, but you may want to keep in mind the challenges of finding new footage that corresponds to the locations in the film. Well-traveled locations and famous monuments will have many more options.
Once you have found your travelogue, you should map the journey. You can choose to create a map by hand, or use any software you would like. One particularly easy way to do this is to create a custom map using Google Maps. Your map should show the route traveled with all the individual locations featured in the film marked as stops. Don’t feel as though your map needs to conform to traditional notions of cartography – feel free to be creative, like we saw with the Cinemaps project (including that map of the Mad Max world).
Once you have created your map, you should choose 3 specific locations from your travelogue and locate contemporary views of the same landscapes (these might be “natural” landscapes, urban landscapes, or something in between). Feel free to use Youtube videos, Instagram, flickr, or any other sources to find contemporary footage/images. You can even shoot your own video if the locations are local. Ideally these will be shot from similar points of view in both your travelogue and the contemporary footage you find as you want to be able to compare the landscapes then and now.
If you use Google Maps for this, you can create a custom map and add pins to mark the points of the travelogue. Once you create the pins, it is easy to add photos and videos to these location markers. I have posted a tutorial on how to do this. Once you are finished you can submit a link to your custom map on Canvas along with your analysis.
If you don’t use Google Maps you can submit a video essay that juxtaposes the footage you find with the scenes from the travelogue, or submit a word document with stills or photographs to illustrate the locations you have chosen.
Analysis
Write a short essay comparing and contrasting the landscapes of your chosen travelogue to the way these landscapes are represented today in your research. You should consider how the actual landscape has changed over time as well as how the representation of the landscape is the same or different. You should use your own research as the examples in your essay.
Your essay should make a clear and coherent argument addressing one or more of the following questions:
– How is the landscape aestheticized onscreen? Does it conform to the earlier modes of landscape painting described by Tom Gunning?
– How does technology affect the representation of the landscape now and in the past? Think about technologies of vision (camera, lens, filmstock, digital filters, etc), but also about technologies of transportation (trains, planes, drones, etc).
– Who created these images? Government? A corporate sponsor? An educational film company? A Hollywood studio? Or a tourist home moviemaker? How did this shape the representation of the landscape now and in the past?
– How does mapping these travelogues help to understand what Adrian Ivakhiv calls the geomorphic (and/or anthropomorphic and biomorphic) power of cinema?
Your Project will be evaluated on:
– Your map of the historic travelogue and the presentation of your research showing contemporary images of 3 locations from the original film (10 points)
– Your essay’s clear and coherent argument including a thesis statement, evidence, and conclusion (5 points)
– Your essay’s analysis of specific aspects of the travelogue and your research as evidence to support your argument (5 points)
– Your essay’s engagement with concepts from class readings and lectures to support your argument (5 points)
– Works cited page detailing the sources used in your map and essay (5 points)
Citations
Your works cited page should include complete bibliographic references for any video or image sources used in your map as well as course readings or additional materials referenced in your essay. You can use the citation style of your choice (MLA and Chicago style are most common in the field of film and media studies) as long as references include all the necessary information. Here are some useful templates for citing A/V material in Chicago style:
– Youtube videos: [AuthorFirstName AuthorLastName], [“Title of Video,”] YouTube video, [running time], [publication date], [URL]
– Travel Film Archive: [AuthorFirstName AuthorLastName], [“Title of Video,”] [Year], Travel Film Archive video, [running time], [URL]
– Online images: [AuthorFirstName AuthorLastName], [“Title or Description of image”] [Year], [Website or Publication] Accessed [date you accessed], [URL]