Savannah, Georgia 1991

Footage shot by Mark Adams of Savannah, Georgia when he was a graduate student at the Savannah College of Art & Design from 1990 to 1992.

The first section of the footage, shot on the ground, is actually from the fall of 1990, when Mark took a field production class. The instructor suggested he take the camera (a Sony DXC M7 camera) and the 3/4" recording deck and practice shooting with the new equipment, so he walked around the historic downtown district getting beauty shots.

The majority of the footage, however, is from the Spring of 1991. This is aerial footage of Savannah, Georgia. In the Advanced Field Production class Mark was given the assignment of producing a promotional video for the Chatham County Sheriff's Department. He was taken in a Sheriff's Department helicopter to record aerial footage, and only a few shots were used in the final video. Much more of the footage is presented here, although a total of 40 minutes of aerial footage was shot.

Some interesting things to see in this footage;

The current Talmadge Memorial Cable-Stayed Bridge over the Savannah River was under construction, standing next to the original old Talmadge Cantilever Truss Bridge which was still in use. Shortly after this video was shot the new bridge was completed and the old bridge began to be torn down.

Much of the downtown historic district can be seen, and this was before a lot of the rebuilding and revitalization of downtown had begun. The book & film "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" had not yet been released, nor had the "Forrest Gump" film, which both brought a lot of attention and increased tourism to Savannah. Much of the downtown (seen from the air) was still relatively "run-down" as compared to today.

The Georgia State Railroad Museum, formally named the Roundhouse Railroad Museum, can be seen from the air. At the time this was recorded the site was still showing signs of neglect but has since been restored and opened as a museum.

Abercorn and Abercorn Extension can be seen, as well as Ogelthorpe Mall.

The very beginning of the construction of the Truman Parkway can be seen at the very end of the video.

The Savannah International Trade and Convention Center, and the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort on Hutchinson Island had not been built yet.