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OLD WORLD HISTORY, exemplified by its ancient buildings, might be the theme of this travel study through England and Scotland. Seen
are Parliament, London Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral; Walter Scott monument and Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, and Old Curiosity Shop.
THE NEW TRAVELOG
EARL L. CLARK, Director, Associated Screen News
"AS THE sun pulls away from the shore, and the ^^^ ship sinks slowly in the West, we approach the lovely island of Lulu." With this satirical parody, Spike Jones has accurately pinpointed modern audience reaction to the old-style travelog. For no longer can a travel film rely for its appeal solely on far-away places with strange sounding names.
This does not mean that "pretty pictures" are no longer important. Attractive composition will always be of major importance in a scenic film. Picturesque material, color and pretty girls will always make a pleasant film to watch. But it does mean that a good travelog should be more than an illustrated lecture, more than a series of unrelated and relatively static scenes held together with inconsequential narrative. Today's travelog has been restyled and brought up to date. It has added to its old values the additional virtues of thematic purpose, dramatic action and logical continuity.
STATING THE THEME
This new travelog is a film with a mission; an objective. The theme is established early in the continuity, goes on to link up the pertinent sequences and provides a dramatic summation for the ending. Let's look at an example.
Let's say your travelog subject will be the Grand Tan \on of the Colorado. Your theme, then, might be that of Timelessness, the timelessness of this age-old natural phenomenon and the limelessness of its appeal to the \ i~i I ors who throng it annually. Your opening statement
of this theme, presented either in subtitle or by narrative comment, might run as follows:
Product of more than a million years of ceaseless, natural conflict, the Grand Canyon — since its discovery in 1540 — has created unending awe and admiration in its millions of visitors.
The body of the film would then present sequences illustrating this theme of timelessness: the revealing geologic strata and formations, the ceaseless struggle of rain and river to cut through the giant walls of rock, the unending flow of visitors down, up and around the trails, and, above all, their universal feeling of awe at this tremendous spectacle. Then, at the film's closing, the theme is rounded out with a restatement.
And thus the great river flows on into the future, as timeless and everlasting as its never-ending stream of visitors.
This close relationship of thematic introduction and summation can readily be adapted to any subject or idea. Take the excitement of fishing. . . .
Opening: Black bass — inch for inch — and pound for pound — the gamest fish that swims! He asks and gives no quarter. He's a real tackle buster.
Closing: . . . And when you hook into a bass — look out, brother, you re playing with a real tackle buster!
Or take the attractions of travel. . . .
Opening: Sailing day is a gay day for a white Empress.
Closing: As long as open sea lanes beckon, travelers will follow the wind.
A purposeful theme, dynamic development and free-wheeling
continuity comprise the New Look in modern travel studies