In the documentary style, short film Terminal Bar (2003) [1] which was directed by Stefan Nadelman who used his father’s, Sheldon Nadelman’s, photographs which had been taken over 10 years (1972-1982) of the bar’s patrons. The bar was based on Eighth Avenue which was known to be one of the ‘roughest’ neighbourhoods in the city. The film combines the still images of articles and the photographs with narrative and videos of Sheldon talking about each patron when shown their photo.

Sheldon was the barman for the bar and was determined to document it because no one else would, nobody would know it had happened and he wanted to prevent people being ignorant of what he thought at the time would be the past. Many regulars appear in the photos and over the span of 10 years their aging is documented and is emphasised on. Alongside this the older crowds’ numbers slowly dwindle and there is an increase of younger generations appearing. The older generations are shown with slower paced music and slow transitions to other photos which speeds up when younger generations are shown to show the ‘new cycle’.

The relationship between Sheldon and the patrons is shown as he talks about each individual easily, even the disruptive customers who came from the ‘rough’ neighbourhood. The photos of those customers are shown with faster paced music and fast transitions to the next photo which are shown as a visual break between the old and the new and suggests that there was too many to count as time went by.

Later Sheldon revisits where the bar was and claims that nothing has changed since they left. The city was still the same with very little care for those around them which he suggests is the way of life in New York and that it will continue to be the way.

Bibliography:

[1] youtube.com. Terminal Bar. (2003). [film] touristpictures. Directed by Stefan Nadelman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfWBbZBqYjo

[Accessed 8/10/17]