Listen to part of a lecture in a film history class.

Professor: OK, I'd like to look at a genre of film, a type of film called the travel lecture film.You find much, if anything, about the genre in most film history books, but I think it does deserve some attention.I'd like to trace his history. But, uh, let's start at the beginning. Any guesses as to what a travel lecture film is? Julia. Female Student: Um, well, if it's a travel lecture film, maybe it's like a movie of a person who's traveling around giving lectures. I don't know, like a documentary of a lecture tour?

Professor: That's a good guess. But what I'm actually talking about is a live performance. Female Student: Uh, wait, how is a film alive performance? Professor: OK, basically what happens is you have a filmmaker who travels, say, a guy from the United States, who travels to, say, Argentina, and shoots some films of the scenery, landscapes, or famous landmarks, or other interesting things to see in Argentina. Then when the filmmaker returns home, he edits his footage and makes it into a regular hour, maybe hour and a half long, silent film. Then he goes on tour with his film and presents it to audiences around the country.

Female Student: OK. So the filmmaker shows the film, and the audience is looking at the images of Argentina. He narrates, he talks about his trip. Professor: That's about right. It's not all that different from when authors read from a book they've written. Though, with these films, it's more like a guide book than an adventure novel. Lots of different little facts about a place, some useful, some just curious. Female Student: Oh, so it's not filled with, like, crazy stories and suspense and intrigue. Professor: Actually, it's more along the lines of, did you know there are 54 species of snake in Belize? Question? Bill.

Male student: Yeah. These are films that are still being made today. Professor: Yes. Male Student: Because it sounds like travel lecture films are pretty similar to how early movies were. Professor: OK, good. In fact, the travel lecture film is one of the genres that started in the early cinematic period, around the turn of the 20th century, and they really haven't changed much. So can you explain why you think they're similar to other early film genres?

Male Student: Well, like the filmmaker does everything, shoots the film, does the editing himself, and presents it all just like old time filmmakers. Right? Professor: Yeah. And also, don't forget, in the early cinema period, there was no sound, no spoken dialogue in any films. The sound that an audience heard would have been alive accompaniment, someone playing piano, perhaps right there in the theater. And the piano player would improvise, not play a set piece of music every time. It's the same idea with travel lecture films, except the sound is someone talking instead of playing music. And since the person talking is giving a live performance, the performance will be tailored to that particular audience, especially as audience members ask questions and get engaged with what they're seeing.

Male Student: Where can you see these films? Professor: Well, that's another thing. Travel lecture films are events that could happen in many different places, not just theaters. Last year, colleague of mine saw a travel lecture film about Norway in a university library. This was also typical at the turn of the 20th century, people saw films, including travel lecture films, at a variety of locations. Keep in mind that the genre has always been characterized by its lack of reliance on, um, uh, plot. This is different from other films that tell an actual story with the beginning, middle and end. One way to think of it is to imagine, um, uh, trying as a model for movie plots. If the story takes off from one place and heads toward a certain ending, it's like a train on its track keeps moving forward toward its destination. Right? But for a travel lecture film, imagine an automobile instead, if you're traveling in a car, you don't have to simply go from point A to point B. You can take side trips, detours. You can stop when you want and where you want. You can go any direction at all. That's what you get in a travel lecture film.