U-Matic

Neighborhood/City Clips
7-10-89

U-Matic tape containing silent b-roll footage of the New Center Commons neighborhood, a blighted house on Virginia Park Street, the Virginia Park Community Plaza Farmer Jack, the interior and exterior of the Detroit Police Department's Twelfth Precinct Station, condemned and inhabited houses on the 1600 block of West Philadelphia Street, a tire dumping site on the location of a burned-down building, and a stretch of Patton Street in Warrendale.

The tape opens with a title card, created using a character generator, which reads "Neighborhood/City Clips" in white text against a black background.

The b-roll then begins with a southwestern view along the brick-paved stretch of Pallister Avenue in New Center Commons. The camera then moves about to show the houses along both the northwest and southeast sides of the street, as well as the street's brick pavers. Following a shot of a bare tree, the camera moves for several zooms in and out of a Third Avenue, northwest of Delaware Street. New Center Commons banners decorate the light poles along the street, and on-coming traffic, including a police car approaches. A close-up follows of one of the New Center Commons banners, then the camera is rotated for a southwestern view along Third Avenue from the eastern corner of Third and Delaware Street. A person is filmed walking between the entrances of the apartment building on that corner. Next, a postal worker is filmed walking along the southeast side of Delaware Street, northeast of Third Street. A neighborhood watch sign is visible in the foreground. The camera then returns to the eastern corner of Third and Delaware Street for a shot of three children walking along Third. The camera then gets footage of two neighborhood signs, first a pair of New Center Commons banners with the motto "A Special Place to Live," and then a "New Center Commons" sign in metal letters along the side of a low brick wall on the east corner of Third Avenue and Pallister Avenue.

Next, a lengthy series of shots focus on a brick house, located on the north corner of Virginia Park Street and Rosa Parks Boulevard, with boarded up lower windows, broken upper windows, a missing balcony, and damage to the brickwork of its porch. The camera briefly breaks away from the house for shots of two homes across the street, and of two women walking northeast along Virginia Park while carrying shopping bags.

The camera then moves to an alley, for footage showing a row of dumpsters, overhead utility lines, and a collapsed garage door.

Then, from across Rosa Parks Boulevard, the camera gets a brief shot of the Virginia Park Community Plaza Farmer Jack grocery store and signs.

The next portion of the tape depicts the Detroit Police Department's Twelfth Precinct Station on Seven Mile Road, west of Woodward Avenue. This footage begins in the station's lobby, which features a desk, a Faygo vending machine, a board with several lights, and several people. The tape goes on to show a lecture hall area, an "Investigative Operations" sign, police officers walking through the halls, the station's armory counter where an officer receives a shotgun (complete with a Faygo carton holding what appear to be radios), and the station's exterior and parking lot.

The next segment of the tape features both blighted and maintained homes on the 1600 block of West Philadelphia Street, between Rosa Parks Boulevard and West Euclid Street in Virginia Park. This segment cuts between shots of several structures. The first is a red brick duplex at 1664 with missing doors, significant damage to its brickwork on its side wall, and broken windows. To its left is a yellow and green wooden-sided building, with damage to its siding, and missing windows and doors. Across the street, at 1669 West Philadelphia, a family is filmed while they site on the porch of their home. Two houses to the right of 1669 is 1681, a red brick house with broken windows and a red City of Detroit Buildings and Safety Engineering Department "Danger - Keep Out. Condemned as Dangerous and Unsafe" posted beside its door. This section also features a view northwest along the street from the center of the block, and a view along the alley between West Philadelphia and Pingree Street.

Several scenes show the interior of 1664 West Philadelphia, and possibly one or several more of the blighted buildings. These interior shots feature spots where fixtures are missing, damaged walls, broken glass and window frames on the floor, holes in the walls from missing sconces, and fast food garbage presumably from someone staying in the abandoned houses.

Another interior shot from one of the neighboring buildings features a view over the shoulder of a woman peering out her window at the duplex at 1664.

Never, several close-up capture the danger sign posted at 1681 West Philadelphia.

Then the camera captures the exterior of 1675, a well maintained white and green house, as well as a close-up entrance to the duplex covering 1687 and 1689, and a boys looking through the storm door of another house.

This is followed by a series of shots of large pile of debris consisting both of the charred remains of a collapsed house, and a pile of tires. Second Empire-style homes and an old brick apartment building appear in the background of these shots.

The final portion is the tape was recorded on Patton Street, south of Sawyer Avenue in Warrendale. From in front of the 7310 Patton, the camera films a northward view along the street, as well as the house at 7313, across the street.

The recording is on a UCA-60 U-Matic tape with a handwritten 3M label on its top. The tape is housed in a black plastic latching case with a matching label on its cover.