09 June 2010

Home Movies [Resource Shelf]



I remember, from my earliest days, the shelf in the closet in our television room and the box of home movies that resided there. Along with the (even then) charmingly antiquated 8mm camera were reels and reels of movies that I had never seen. When my mom sold the house I grew up in, that box, along with all of its contents, was put into the trash, and those movies--documentaries of my family and probably a number of my relatives that passed away--are now gone forever. What I wouldn't give now to have copies of those films!

What have you done with your home movies? 

If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you could upload them to the internet to let the masses appreciate Dad's handy filming technique and Mom's stylish hairdos. Archive.org's Home movie category includes some real gems for researchers, like a 10-minute movie of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, and a charming day-in-the-life movie of a Kentucky family.You can browse the whole Home Movie collection by keyword here.

Feeling a little less like Cannes-abilizing your films? Maybe just transfer reel formats to digital,  for the sake of easier viewing

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