Fans of home movies and moving image archives may want to check out the guidelines for this short film competition, sponsored by the Association of Moving Image Archivists: PRESERVING THE WORLD’S MOVING IMAGE HERITAGE — AMIA Short Film Competition. As the competition website explains, the challenge is to create a film or video that conveys the importance
of preserving the world’s moving image heritage.
The entry deadline is August 15th, so start shooting!
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If you weren’t able to make it to SXSW this year, you can catch a summary of “The Power of Super8″ panel I participated in on YouTube. This 6-minute video (of a 90 minute panel) leaves out many of the tips I shared about finding archival footage and DIY Super8 transfer, so stay tuned for a forthcoming post with some of that missing information. Enjoy!
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I came to filmmaking late in my academic career, so it was without any formal photography training and during my first year of film school that I set out to learn best archival practices, digitization techniques, and the ins and outs of small format filmmaking.While there’s no substitute for learning hands-on through trial, error and frustration as I did, the following is a collection of websites and online resources that most helped me as I stumbled through the first phase of preservation:
Working with Home Movies
General Interest & Footage Sources
Home & Amateur – A blog about home movies and amateur film, whose contributors hail from the Center for Home Movies.
Lost in Light – The documentation of a (now complete) free home movie transfer project, including home movies, categorized by topic, many of them available for Creative Commons remixing.
Prelinger Archives/Archive.Org - A collection of home movies includes amateur films and videotapes from the collections of the Center for Home Movies, the Prelinger archives, other home movie aficionados. Many of the movies are public domain or available for use under Creative Commons guidelines.
Supplies & Small Format Filmmaking Resources
Film Shooting – A great online source for news about all things home movies and small format filmmaking based in Norway. Given that two major print publications (Super8Today and SmallFormat) have shut down their presses in the last year, this online news pool is essential.
On Super 8 – This site bills itself as “impartial and comprehensive resources for today’s Super 8 and 8mm small gauge film makers.” It’s all that and more; based in the UK.
Pro8mm- The only movie house I know of in the US that specifically specializes in Super-8 film stocks and transfers. In 2008, they added a Milliennium II Scanner with daVinci 2K color corrector to their transfer menu, capable of SD or HD scans. It’s the premier scanning system for small gauge film.
Super 8 Site – A German Super8 site. The “links and addresses” page is worth a look.
Urbanski Film – Though the website screams 1990s, I’ve ordered and been very pleased with film cleaning supplies, projector bulbs, and other hard-to-find small format equipment.
And though it goes without saying, eBay is an immense (if risky) resource for finding old Super 8 cameras and projectors, as well as professional VHS decks for digitizing old videocasettes. Before purchasing the unknown, I’ve found the folks on the AMIA Small Gauge/Amateur Film Interest Group listserve to be incredibly helpful and willing to share their expertise.
Preservation & Care Information
Brodsky & Treadway -The transfer house for rare, valuable, and fragile home movies. Their companion site, Little Film, contains detailed, downloadable tips and instructions for caring for home movies.
Home Movie Day – A major project of the Center for Home Movies, Home Movie Day is an international celebration of home movies. The site contains lots of information about film handling and care as well as links to home movie day events across the country and the globe. Home Movie Day also keeps a running list of home movie transfer houses.
National Film Preservation Foundation – A clearinghouse of film care basics and resources for more advanced users. Be sure to download their extensive film preservation guide.
If there are other resources you’d like to know about, leave a comment below and I’ll share what info I might have!
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Join me along with panel moderator Phil Vigeant (owner Pro 8mm) on Saturday, March 13th – 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas!
As part of the panel, I’ll share clips of For Memories’ Sake and also tips and tricks for finding and using archival home movie footage in independent films.
Panel Description: Super 8 is the OG of guerilla filmmaking. Find out how you can make this beautiful, classic film gauge work in an HD world. From finding a camera to choosing film stock, scanning and encoding options, inclusive workflows, tips that make the difference and more. These aren’t your grandpa’s home movies…
Panelists:
Philip Vigeant – Pro8mm
Adam Garner – Trigger Studios
Branden Lower – A Bryan Photo
Ashley Maynor – Preservation Project Films
Add it to your SXSW schedule here!
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Home Movie Day PSA via YouTube
Home Movie Day is important because our lives, our recollections, and our truth is recorded in home movies. One day, what the heck, c’mon! -Steve Martin
Sadly, I won’t be hosting a Southwest Virginia Home Movie Day this year. Instead, I’m focusing on distribution efforts for my upcoming film about my grandmother’s home movie collection, For Memories’ Sake.
There are many ways, however, to participate in this year’s International HMD activities, both in person and on the web. Check out the many other locations for Home Movie Day 2009, this year’s revised and updated film transfer guide, and Home Movie Day’s Facebook page.
Small format and Super-8 enthusiasts may also be interested in a post I wrote recently for Self-Reliant Film on Super-8 Resources.
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