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On-line resources from the American Studies Resources Centre at LJMU | Search ARNet |
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Road Dreams lecture a great success A report by Bella Adams 24th March 2009 The Centre's guest lecture by Elliott Bristow on 12th March proved a great success and attracted a diverse audience that included those who remembered the original documentary series Road Dreams (Channel 4, 1989), to a new generation of viewers seeking to better understand American culture in the late 1960s and the 1970s, the influence of American writers, most obviously Jack Kerouac, on Elliott's films, the film-making process and the road trip experience. Elliott's lecture, interspersed with short films from his most recent collection, Retro Road Trips Describing his trip as 'a form of dream time', mainly because filming and travelling meant he lived on the margins of mainstream America, Elliott's films also resemble dreams in terms of structure and interpretation. The films shown and discussed during the lecture present a series of images. Sometimes these images are recurrent, sometimes singular and fleeting, and they are accompanied by music rather than narration or explanation. In this way, Elliott's films allow viewers to experience Retro Road Trips for themselves.
Elliott said that his film diary was intended to preserve memories, 'to look at the present as it if is a memory', and record it in a format, in this case, Super 8 film that, despite its age, poignantly and powerfully conveys some aspects of everyday life in the US during the late 1960s and 1970s. Elliott insisted in his lecture that his films are not issue-based. What these films also lack is a hero, a message, a beginning, middle and end. But what you do get from Elliott's films is the time and space to see, reflect and ask questions. Elliott will probably say that I have read too much into his films, that he was just on a road trip filming what he saw as he passed by, although I am not so sure, given his response to a question from the audience that expressed his concerns about the mainstream media, misinformation and stereotyping.
Read a fuller version of this article here Links Road Dreams - a Super 8 American film diary 1968-1982 - read the artcile Elliott wrote for American Studies Today Online. Retro Road Trips - visit Elliot's own web site where you can view samples of his films and order the DVD. (opens in new window.) Images and audio by courtesy of Aidan O'Rourke
Study Opportunities
Discover American Studies: Free interactive CD Rom from BAAS Produced by British Association for American Studies in association with LLAS and with the support of the US Embassy, this CD Rom is designed to provide anyone interested in American Studies (students, careers teachers/officers and lecturers) with a wealth of information about the range, content and experience of studying America. Discover American Studies also contains details of degree programmes in the UK as well as interviews with students and introductory essays on a variety of topics ranging from American Politics, to film, literature, history and popular music. To obtain your free copy of this CD, call 0151 231 3241, go to our on-line order form, or email the ASRC at info@americansc.org.uk, with your name and full address.
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Centre closure The ASRC will be closed between May 15th 2009 and 31st October 2009 because the Aldham Robarts Learning Resource Centre is being refurbished. Global Lincoln Conference at the Rothermere American Institute 3-5 July 2009 The Rothermere American Institute is hosting the Global Lincoln conference over 3-5 July this year. The conference will examine the world-wide impact of Abraham Lincoln in the bicentennial year of his birth, and will consist of a series of plenary lectures by distinguished academics. Monday 18th May 6.30pm Click here for details
Local links
The legacy of Liverpool's year as the European Capital of Culture lives on, and details are here.
Liverpool John Moores University
World Museum Liverpool, Merseyside Maritime Museum, Lady Lever Art Gallery and more besides. The jewels in Liverpool's Cultural crown.
BAAS Teachers and Student Awards The British Association for American Studies has a number of annual awards for both teachers and students in secondary education. The schools essay prize, open to all sixth-formers for work on American Studies topics, is £250. The Teachers Fellowship involves workshops with US Teachers, and research opportunities in the US. These will take place in the summer.
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ARNet is maintained by the American Studies Resources Centre, The Centre is an independent body, overseen by two advisory panels, one in the UK and one in the US. Its aim is to support the study of all aspects of United States history, culture and politics. It is supported by Liverpool John Moores University Centre Director Bella Adams.
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(2007), proved to be educational, entertaining and at times moving. He began by explaining how his two-week holiday to the US in 1968 became a twelve-year road trip of 500,000 miles (800,000 km) when he was mugged at gunpoint. This involved him in the American judicial system and his visa was extended, which allowed him to find temporary work as a 'video roadie' for Groove Tube on the underground American TV channel, Channel 1. After this contract finished, Elliott continued his road trip with a Super 8 camera, supporting himself, with varying levels of comfort, by showing his films on the US college circuit. 
While Road Dreams and Retro Road Trips reproduce 'dream time' through their informal structure, Elliott highlighted in the lecture the discipline involved in editing seventy-five hours of his Super 8 film diary, especially the harsh process of literally cutting film, a process now superseded by contemporary digital technologies. In addition to this contrast between form and process, Elliott highlighted other points of contrast in the lecture and films, from the extreme weather conditions and diverse landscapes in the US to the romance of the road, along with its privation and danger. 
