A highly visual essay on the North East of England, set to a specially composed musical score. A range of images, often using time lapse, double exposure and slow motion, combine in a colourful montage to present an overview of the region's history and development. Title: North Images in the montage are as follows: Rural landscapes; River Tyne shipyards; Tall Ships Race on the Tyne; derelict quayside wharfs and steps. Victorian terraced housing; the Queen Victoria statue located in...

A highly visual essay on the North East of England, set to a specially composed musical score. A range of images, often using time lapse, double exposure and slow motion, combine in a colourful montage to present an overview of the region's history and development. Title: North Images in the montage are as follows: Rural landscapes; River Tyne shipyards; Tall Ships Race on the Tyne; derelict quayside wharfs and steps. Victorian terraced housing; the Queen Victoria statue located in front of St Nicholas Cathedral in Newcastle; various shots of Tyne bridges. Close-ups of steam locomotives in action on the Tanfield Railway in Gateshead; factory exteriors; close-ups of mechanical factory processes and machines, cogs, and kilns. Tracking shot from High Level Bridge, Newcastle; Newcastle Central Station with overhead shot of railway tracks. Tracking shot along row of army tanks under tarpaulin at Vickers factory yard; footage of tanks firing shots; soldiers in camouflage gear operating tank guns; shots of a war memorial illuminated by flashing lights intecut with large scale explosions at night. Close-ups of radars or clock face; interior factory shots with steelworkers, processes in steelmaking; shots of welding. Commuters leaving Newcastle Central Station; action inside the Stock Exchange; overhead shots of ship construction; various shots of demolition of industrial buildings, including tall chimney, by explosives; dramatic shot of chimney collapsing along length of rail track, dust clouds from demolition; demolition footage intercut with stock exchange film and shots of dealers' hand gestures. Tracking shot along derelict street at night, a spotlight illuminating houses bricked up; speeded-up film of traffic on The Side and Quayside looking towards Tyne Bridge; panorama of Newcastle, shadows move across bridge. Women queue for sale; slow motion shot of women at garment sale; women hang washing on line; shots of garment workers in factory. Men are queuing along a street as a worker moves past with Greggs baker crates; men painting windows and trimming hedge at home; man slices potatoes at home; a man cleans a car; a man hoovers up in the living room; tracking shot and double exposures as car moves down suburban street; family eat at kitchen table; men queue at a Greggs "Seconds Shop" with "Everything 1/2 price." Tracking shot of suburban semi-detached houses with superimposed shots of credit cards; frantic sales customers; figures input on till; garment workers; supermarket check out and shoppers; giant car park; schoolchildren dropped off by car; seductive shots of cars. Panoramic high angle track across Newcastle (?) urban landscape with high rise housing estates; overhead shot of motorway and rail tracks intersecting; speeded up film of traffic on motorways and underpasses; busy traffic shots; scrapyard with junked cars; heaped container boxes; close-up of the Nissan Bluebird logo on car; Leyland logo on jacked-up truck in scrapyard; Morris Oxford car logo intercut with broken headlight of Triumph, Maxi 1750 car logo on junked car; Nissan wooden crates piled up; zoom into unemployed worker outside high car factory fence. Crane moving against sky; machine conveyor; clock face with no hands; trolley shots of young men and women moving past Tyneside landscapes of derelict industrial building, commercial high street, car park, housing demolition sites; unemployed worker from previous shot outside fence around disused mineworks; stationary shipyard cranes along Tyne; various shots along Tyne river at night. A motorway sign for The South Durham A1(M), a hitcher stands beside motorway with "South Please!" sign; various shots of hitchers follow; rail station arrival board with destination London; speeded up rail passengers on platform; "For Sale" signs displayed; people departing by coach. A male supervisor consults his watch in a garment factory; shots of wheel cogs turning; close-up of sewing on machine; a woman in the middle of factory machines; women sew garments; slow motion of men rowing past camera; further speeded-up garment worker shots; people at a function beside a river (Durham?) outside marquee with "Leisure" banner. Women at conveyor belts in Pyrex factory in Sunderland. Pyrex factory and garment factory footage is intercut with footage of the "rich" at leisure rowing on the river in Durham with crowds of spectators, perhaps at the Durham Boat Race. Shots of Durham Miners Gala parade with banners is intercut with waves crashing at Marsden Rock. End Credits: Camera Assistant Peter Woodhouse Assistant Editor Sean Mackenzie Recording Engineer Paul Harrison Composer Richie Close Editor Alan Mackay Director/Cameraman Maxim Ford With thanks to Marsden Bay Lifeguards Ryhope Engines Trust Tanfield Railway Robert E. Taylor (Clocks) Terry Middleton Made under the A.C.T.T. Workshop Declaration and with financial assistance from Channel Four and the British Film Institute. A Trade Films Production 1986