Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 4694 (Master Record)
Title | Year | Date |
AERIAL VIEWS OF YORKSHIRE | 1979 | 1979-01-01 |
Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Silent Duration: 10 mins |
Summary Part of the West Yorkshire Police collection, this film features aerial views of Yorkshire and a West Indian Carnival in Leeds. |
Description
Part of the West Yorkshire Police collection, this film features aerial views of Yorkshire and a West Indian Carnival in Leeds.
The film opens with aerial views of a Yorkshire motorway and surrounding verdant countryside. There are then several different views of Yorkshire towns, before aerial views continue over Leeds with views off the city centre and residential areas.
The next sequence features a West Indian Carnival. On a street in Leeds, a shot shows girls of West Indian descent...
Part of the West Yorkshire Police collection, this film features aerial views of Yorkshire and a West Indian Carnival in Leeds.
The film opens with aerial views of a Yorkshire motorway and surrounding verdant countryside. There are then several different views of Yorkshire towns, before aerial views continue over Leeds with views off the city centre and residential areas.
The next sequence features a West Indian Carnival. On a street in Leeds, a shot shows girls of West Indian descent dressed up in colourful and extravagant garments, before boys are captured playing steel pans. A shot then shows the girls at the front of the procession dancing and holding a banner that reads, 'Morning Glory'. They shake and shimmy towards the camera as they move down a residential street with other people dressed up in colourful costumes following. The filmmaker keeps pace with a steel pan float as it moves down the street surrounded by people.
On a slightly wider street, the filmmaker captures a wide view of the scene showing the participants fashions and styles. The street is packed with people enjoying the festivities and people can even be seen on the roofs in the distance.
In a park, some dancers from the procession are on stage near a loudspeaker, and a policeman can be keeping watch over a large crowd of people. A west Indian band then play; slightly raised above the ground, a man with an afro hits a small metal wheel with a stick and a drummer is visible playing beside him. A shot focusing on the drummer shows two young's boys behind him swaying to the beat. More views then capture steel pan players. Shots then show views of the crowd mingling and enjoying the music including a pair of old ladies.
The final shots shows a large group of West Indians wearing bright, vibrant costumes with large hats and staffs gathered in a part of the park.
Context
A bird’s eye view of the tower blocks and new roads of 1970s Leeds contrasts nicely with the colourful and exuberant Caribbean Carnival, headed by an intriguingly titled banner.
In this film of two halves, West Yorkshire Police provide an aerial survey of an unknown area, possibly Leeds, while down on the ground the 1979 West Indian Carnival is in full swing. Apparently disconnected, these different perspectives on Leeds make for an interesting comparison of living in a city environment in...
A bird’s eye view of the tower blocks and new roads of 1970s Leeds contrasts nicely with the colourful and exuberant Caribbean Carnival, headed by an intriguingly titled banner.
In this film of two halves, West Yorkshire Police provide an aerial survey of an unknown area, possibly Leeds, while down on the ground the 1979 West Indian Carnival is in full swing. Apparently disconnected, these different perspectives on Leeds make for an interesting comparison of living in a city environment in the 1970s. This is one of a large collection of films made by West Yorkshire Police, mainly from the 1960s and 1970s, usually of demonstrations of one kind or another. It is not at all apparent why either half of this film was made: the first part doesn’t appear to be tracking anything, while the Carnival appears very innocuous – possibly looking out for the dreaded ganja. The Leeds Carnival predates London's Notting Hill Carnival, with its founder, Arthur France, also helping to set up the United Caribbean Association – campaigning for equal rights and an end to discrimination – in 1964, along with Cedric Clarke, the first black Labour Councillor in Leeds, and George Archibald – with 27 people crowding into his bedsit! |