Fabulous Gulf Coast, The (Part 1)
Identifier
F.2007-08-0019
Date Of Production
1954
Abstract
2 part edited footage of a road trip along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the border of Mexico. Includes much natural scenery, often from a moving car, but also documents visits to the Tabasco factory and two ranches. A woman also evokes the Longfellow poem, Evangeline, by taking a wistful walk.
Log
PART 1/2: 00:00 - map of Suwannee, FL to Brownsville, TX, SA MLS car pulling small speed boat drives up to Gulf, time lapse boat cover peeling back, MS our Host humorously struggles to remove jacket, pushes boat into water 02:01 - map of Wakulla, FL, RA MLS Host riding in boat, TS trees and swamp water, VS birds, cranes, eagles, FA boat riding through thick vegetation, TS river ahead, MS man taking pictures, MS alligator swimming, MLS boat pulling up to dock 04:48 - HA swimmers on docks sunbathing, diving, snorkeling in clear blue water, underwater shots of coral, fish 06:23 - MS Host spinning in boat, underwater shots of fish, then boat going by, MLS Host filming falls into water w/ camera, CU opens up to find a fish inside 07:51 - map of Panama City, FL, TS tall skinny trees, MLS factory, smoke stacks, TS white sand beaches, MLS ZOOM IN CU tractor leveling sand, TS beach houses, MS man taking photographs 09:20 - map of Pensacola, FL, MS, CU pilot boarding Navy propellor plane, VS plane takes off 10:37 - Var HA, MLS Time-lapse cars driving through busy intersections 11:33 - map of Mobile, AL, LS, MLS Host zips by in speed boat under transportation bridge, MLS stops to fish, catches and releases a fish 13:13 - map of Bellingrath, AL, VS women in bright dresses walk through gardens, fountains, feed swans, children look on, CU flowers, posing by pool of lily pads 16:56 - Biloxi, MS, trees, PAN DOWN to Host’s car and boat, Host wakes up, gets ready, eats breakfast with camera man 17:53 - MLS two men pull net out of Gulf, throw catch into buckets, MS five men take two fishing boats into water from beach, MS women sun bathing, ZOOM IN lighthouse w/ clouds rolling in in background 19:09 - boat POV PAN, VS sailboats in water, MLS traffic on street played in reverse, MS FA couple eats watermelon at table, TS neighborhood houses, VS palm trees, flowers, TS women walking outside at Sun-N-Sand Hotel Court, MLS people at the pool, CU kids swimming, VS women going down water slide, HA MLS, CU women doing laps in pool 23:02 - car TS road, map of Gulfport, MS, MLS family in speedboat, PAN ZOOM IN MS fishing boats, CU hands holding shrimp 24:08 - map of New Orleans, LA, LS cars on road through trees, PAN to host taking pictures of sky, PAN sky, TIME-LAPSE blue sky with white clouds rolling in, VS wind blowing banana tree, grass, LS black stormy sky, wind whipping trees, MS black storm 25:56 - TS New Orleans street at night, neon signs and lights, AERIAL New Orleans cityscape, barges on water, stadium, Huey P. Long Bridge, industrial and farm lands, PAN rooftops, MLS church, PAN ZOOM IN statue memorial 28:31 - MS boy scout raising American flag, TILT UP flag, MLS perspective city building, CU street lamp sign “Pirates Al., S. Orleans Al.” PAN street vendor, CU trinkets, MS art prints, PAN woman selling prints in front of a wall of art, CU art, CU salesperson 30:03 - PAN building, MS balcony, ZOOM IN architectural detail, ZOOM OUT LS row of buildings and street, PAN CU fence design, indoor/outdoor garden space, ZOOM in statue, greenery, MS older white woman posing with a life-sized African American statue/doll in flannel with head scarf [keyword racism!], MS wax figures of royalty 31:44 - MLS people entering restaurant, ZOOM IN sign, interior MLS mostly empty fancy dining room, MLS exterior shops, VS people dining on restaurant patio, CU food, checkered table cloth, hands feed food to the camera 33:21 - map of Delta, LA, AERIAL green forests, geometric canals, river, farmlands, TS houses, mausoleums, CU car tires driving over oyster shells, AERIAL river delta, barges, MLS PANS sulfur plant 36:35-39:35 - TS moss covered trees, PAN neighborhood of small houses, PAN equipment, boats in water, Host standing by enormous machinery, RA car driving off, MLS generator TILT UP men working on oil drill tower, VS parts of drilling platform and machinery in motion, TS cloudy sky sunset, LS sunset behind ship, sign END OF REEL ONE; PART 2/2: 00:02 - ES Aerial footage over fields and trees. The nature of Avery Island. Native scenery of hanging moss and flowering trees is interspersed with CU on exotic flowers such as lotus, azaleas and camellias. Frequent PAN, TILT or ZOOM. Also includes wildlife such as lizards and herons. 05:28 - Salt mining; Aerial ES, factory and outdoor vats of water, PAN to follow water flowing. Conveyor belt of packaged salt, CU on the Sterling label. Making Tabasco sauce; LS and MS of harvesting in the pepper fields. Inside the factory the process is fully documented from the initial piles of peppers, through liquid aging in oak barrels and the mechanized assembly lines of bottling, labelling and packaging. MS and CU. Ends with a dramatization of a man putting the sauce on his burger and the plate bursting into flames. 12:10 - Camera follows a woman wearing period dress clothing as she walks through a landscape of flowering trees, sits under the Evangeline Oak and passes by a statue and cabins while reading the Longfellow poem. Two men eating halves of a giant watermelon at the roadside. 15:44 - Var. views. Birds in MS. TS from a boat. A long truss bridge over water. HA view of a ship on a river. ELS of factories with boats docked in the foreground. TS of the roadside and along a beach past stilted houses. 20:03 - Scenes from Galveston, Texas. Var. views of a shipyard. Loading crates onto a ship’s deck in LS. LA of flags waving transitions to var. beach scenes. Sunbathing, umbrellas along the shore, swimming. Cattle in the field of a ranch, men talking and looking at a map of Texas. Follows three women on horseback riding out into the fields among the cattle in MS, MLS. Solitary woman bottle feeding a fawn, MS and CU. CU of same woman in a cotton field followed by TS of men harvesting cotton. 26:20 - The shores and houses of Corpus Christi in TS. HA PAN of the city. Moored boats and caught fish in the harbor. Someone pretends to steal the car and a man chases him down the block. 28:22 - Var. flowering cactii and TS of roadside vegetation. The grounds of Santa Gertrudis Ranch, ZOOM in on the building. Two men inspect the car (a convertible) in MLS. CU of a rancher in cowboy hat by the car. Var. horses and cattle in a fenced pen. Nice LA shot of the wide Texas sky with barbed wire in the foreground. 32:55-35:00 - Var. footage on the road, crowds on the street in Brownsville, Texas. ELS of the city. On the bridge to Mexico. At a beach, fishing. Film ends without the usual ending title.
Run Time
39 min 35 sec
Format
16mm
Extent
1,430 feet
Color
Color
Sound
Silent
Reel/Tape Number
1/2
Has Been Digitized?
Yes
Language Of Materials
English
Genre
Form
Subject
Related Collections
Related Places
Main Credits
Gromer, Julian (is filmmaker)
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