In this lecture we watched a short documentary film called ‘Terminal Bar’ (2002) by Stefan Nadelman. Through photographs taken by bartender Sheldon Nadelman the film communicates a social narrative of the last 10 years of the bar from 1972-1982. The film showcases the gritty reality of the bar and its customers. The visual narrative is communicated by the ageing of the customers in the photographs and accompanied by the anecdotes of Sheldon, representing the idea of time and its passing. Time is the strongest theme throughout.

The main focus for this film would be centered around the photographs and how their presentation communicates the narrative. This would have to be considered alongside the narration, music, the video recordings of Sheldon and other aspects, such as the excerpts taken from then current newspapers. Their presentation would have to successfully communicate time, showcase the bar, its location and the age and range of the customers. There are no recordings of the bar so the photographs would also have to be manipulated to suggest footage. In one instance, the camera flicks between 2-3 images and the changing positions of the subjects recreates the idea of film footage.

The music is also a very important part of the film, as it dictates the sequence and movement of the images. The images move or disappear and fade to black or to another image to the beat. The social narrative is also strenghtened by the music as a way to reflect on what was happening at the time: a fast paced tempo to represent action and a slower tempo to suggest a calmer time.