Worth a Look

Blogs, sites, and other links of useful and interesting topics concerning 8mm footage.

I found a lot of these by using my Google Alerts and thought I'd share the wealth.

This blog and video captures the essence of family Christmases long ago.

Here's a blog with a video link about Christmas long past also. It feels like snooping!

Here's a frame from an old 8mm film. Kind of creepy at first.

This guy is an amazing writer. He talks about capturing memories. There's no video though.

Remembering the "Spirit of Christmas" - an article and video.

Here's a guy who knows a guy who will do 8mm film of weddings. Video footage included. Why didn't I know about this for my wedding?

Well that's what I've run across, the abridged version.

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season!

Calling All Film Makers, Home Video Buffs and Artists!

Would you be interested in archiving, organizing, and sharing your work for free? A new web site set to debut in early January is seeking submissions of 8mm and Super 8mm original videos. The site plans to cater to the amatuer film maker, the historical documentation and preservation of precious home videos, the experienced film collector and the educational/scholastic or cultural/anthropological/historical minds as well.

This new online community will provide a structured database of our preserved cultural heritage. Our legacy, our parent's and grandparent's legacies.

The site is not yet live but will be shortly. Please contact me directly for more information.

blog[at]contentworth[dot]com <-- please note, ContentWorth is not the site, it is simply the best current address.

8mm Preservation and Conversion

I ran across this site when looking for more information on preservation, conversion, and archiving of 8mm and Super 8mm films. It has an offer to transfer these films from film to digital or tape free.

I've emailed them a query and will post the findings. It doesn't appear to be indexed by Google so I'm wondering what type of traffic they're seeing. The site does appear to be updated as recently as Nov 2006.

Why 8mm film should be preserved.

Sure you've got digital formats. You have YouTube and AOL Video. You've got old VHS tapes you never watch and DVDs you've bought or burned. But there's another format out there that's worth preserving. While old copies of The Christmas Story can be replaced with new ones, what about your own memories?

8mm and Super 8mm film is still out there. While the film is no longer being produced it is worth preserving before it's distroyed. Think of the family memories hiding in those old dusty boxes of 8mm film. What would you give to see your gramps slug one out of the park when he was 13? Or your grams on her way to a formal? Maybe your parents have footage of their childhoods. Maybe you have footage of yourself.

Think it's too expensive, too time consuming, too difficult to convert those 8mm films to digital format? Would you put a price on memories? Really, your children and grandchildren deserve to know their heritage. How awesome would it be to put your own music to old film and show it at famly gatherings? What about archival purposes?

8mm film is still a format being utilized today by niche markets. For example this video from YouTube (WARNING: it's a South Park original and the language may be unsuitable for some)was created by the makers of South Park in 1992 using an 8mm camera and construction paper.

This video shows the underwater show at Homassassa Springs in Florida. A home video preserved and shared -- also via YouTube -- for the world to see.

YouTube is great for postin lots of things, but a personal archive would be better. While YouTube is popular it is messy, unorganized, and non specific. For those of us wishing to preserve our own memories, compile footage for educational purposes, or create a historical database we can pass along to others YouTube and the like aren't quite right.

But do yourself and your family a favor, preserve thosse precious memories before it's too late.

I'll be posting links and tips on how to do that and other helpful info in the days and weeks to come. Please feel free to send your own thoughts, links, and information on 8mm preservation, footage, archives, etc.