Scott,
It is an editorial decision. We are not endeavouring to produce a definitive
history, merely present impressions.

The style replicates that of the series I mentioned in my original posting.

Adrian

-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Stark [mailto:sstark@...]
Sent: 22 February 2000 18:07
To: smallgauge@onelist.com
Subject: Re: [smallgauge] RE: Home movie search


From: Scott Stark <sstark@...>

At 10:48 AM 02/22/2000 +0000, Wood, Adrian wrote:
>The only proviso is that the footage must be shot in color/colour. Other
>than that anything is of interest.

That's curious -- why only color? It will certainly limit the amount of
work you are going to find, because I think color didn't really become
widely available as a home movie format until the 40s, and even then it was
more expensive and therefore used less.

ss


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At 10:48 AM 02/22/2000 +0000, Wood, Adrian wrote:
>The only proviso is that the footage must be shot in color/colour. Other
>than that anything is of interest.

That's curious -- why only color? It will certainly limit the amount of
work you are going to find, because I think color didn't really become
widely available as a home movie format until the 40s, and even then it was
more expensive and therefore used less.

ss

Bryan White wrote:

>The usual comment I get is "buy a video camera" or "nobody wants to make
>movies anymore".  I've seen good amateur videos but I feel there is
>something about sprockets and film that makes it worthwhile.

Below are some comments I recently posted on another mailing list about 8mm
film. It seems appropriate to the current discussion. I hope you enjoy them.

ss

The Middle Six Feet:
the birth and demise of regular-8 film and personal cinema
----------------------------------------------------------

[inspired by the SFAI Regular 8mm Film Festival, February 5-6, 2000, San
Francisco]

When Kodak first introduced regular-8mm film in 1933, the world witnessed
the birth of what later came to be known as "personal cinema." Although the
apparatus for home moviemaking was available to the general public
practically since the dawn of motion pictures, most home equipment was in
the larger, more expensive 16mm format, with its heavy and bulky cameras.
With the advent of inexpensive 8mm cameras, projectors and film, suddenly
the average person could afford to make movies. They could carry the camera
with them and unobtrusively document the events and nuances of their
personal lives. The process no longer required the apparatus of
professional filmmaking, and makers were free, whether they did so
consciously or not, to invent their own cinematic languages, unencumbered
by commercial conventions.

A roll of regular-8mm film is really a roll of 16mm film, with twice as
many perforations to accommodate the smaller frame size. The camera records
images along one side of the film, and once the entire roll has been shot,
the photographer opens the camera, flips the roll, and shoots again along
the other side. After processing the film, the lab splits the film down the
middle, separating the two rows of images into two 8mm strips, and splices
them together. Thus a 25-foot roll yields 50 feet of projectable film.

Arising in this new apparatus was the vocabulary of a new cinematic
language. Unlike today's moviemaking technologies, the photographer
actually handled the film while loading the camera, and had to run the
motor for a few seconds with the camera door open to make sure it was
threaded properly. The first three to five feet was considered leader,
since it became unavoidably exposed during the loading and threading process.

Thus every roll of 8mm film that came back from the lab started and ended
with fogs and flares. And if everything wasn't done properly -- perhaps
there was too much light when the film was loaded, or maybe it wasn't
advanced far enough before shooting began -- the first images were
sometimes bathed in a sublime, supernatural light.

The most distinctive feature of regular-8mm filmmaking, though, was the
middle six feet or so, where the filmmaker flipped over the roll to shoot
the second half. It became, inadvertently, record of human interaction with
the technology, right in the middle of the reel. While shooting, you were
supposed to watch the footage counter to know when the first half of the
roll was near completion, knowing that the last few feet would be fogged.
Often, though, you were paying more attention to the action in front of the
camera than to the footage counter, so that the colorful shots of baby's
first birthday or the Golden Gate Bridge would rhythmically dissolve into a
teasing blaze of orange and white light. Or perhaps you were overly
meticulous about the footage counter and stopped well before the end,
resulting in a pause of pure black before the midpoint. Or maybe you didn't
even cover the lens while getting to the end of the roll, producing a
lovely shot of your knee against the colorful pattern of your linoleum floor.

In any case, 8mm filmmaking invariably included this momentary interruption
midway through the roll, where the tension between reality and abstraction
was at its most volatile. It was a moment of suspense, reflection,
annoyance, boredom, surprise. It was a moment that you'd edit out in your
mind but that persistently reappeared with each subsequent viewing.

The nature of this momentary midway pause was subject to many variables
that were dependent on the filmmaker's own behavior and environment,
including the quality of the light when the film was being loaded, and the
attentiveness and expertise of the filmmaker. In short, the filmmaker's
personal interaction with the technology was indelibly left on every roll,
like fingerprints.  The human element became unalterably fused with the
mechanical and the photochemical.

Perhaps the defining moment of the middle six feet was the splice itself.
It was an inescapable link, an apex, a momentary affirmation that this was
indeed only a strip of film running through the projector, and that those
images on the screen were merely imitations of the real moments that had
already slipped into memory. The splice was also final proof of human
interaction: proof that the filmmaker had correctly (or incorrectly)
flipped the roll, and proof that some anonymous lab technician had split
the film and spliced the two ends together by hand.

That evidence of human interaction -- along with uneven camera movements,
blinding floodlights, best-guess exposures, and flat focus -- is much of
what gave regular-8mm filmmaking its uniquely personal quality. The person
operating the camera was never completely invisible.

In the 1960s, Kodak developed the Super-8mm film cartridge. Suddenly, the
filmmaker no longer had to handle the film. Super-8 was easier to load and
resulted in fewer errors. The only fogging was a few frames at the very
beginning and end of the roll, which the lab often chopped off after
processing. And perhaps most importantly, the roll didn't have to be
flipped midway; 50 feet of Super-8 film was 50 feet long.

The middle six feet, that most human of moments in the realm of personal
filmmaking, began to disappear. The convenience of the new super-format was
paired with a resultant loss of control, a severing of the filmmaker's
tactile relationship to the medium.

In the 1980s, as video began replacing film as the home movie medium of
choice, movie makers found themselves even further distanced from the
technology they were using to create images. Video tape couldn't be fogged,
and mistakes were easily corrected. The images were recorded through some
mysterious electronic process that couldn't be seen or touched.

And now, in the year 2000, digital video requires an even more complex and
impersonal apparatus, further distancing makers from the physical processes
involved in creating and recording images. Sophisticated internal motors
reduce camera shakiness. Exposure and focus are instantaneous, automatic
and exact. Sound precludes a need for visual cues. Images do not exist
without the machines and software required to interpret binary data.

Technology, driven by commerce and a thirst for efficiency, endlessly
attempts to eradicate any lingering traces of humanity from the craft of
cinema. History is rewritten to accommodate the trend of the moment.

Any personal vision in contemporary moviemaking must now come solely from
its content, not its form.

The splice has become invisible. The middle six feet were never there.


Scott Stark, 2/2000

From: Wood, Adrian [mailto:AWood@...]
Sent: 22 February 2000 10:48
To: 'smallgauge@onelist.com'
Subject: [smallgauge] RE: Home movie search


From: "Wood, Adrian" <AWood@...>

Dear List,

The London Office of Trans World International is currently producing a
major documentary series on World War II. This is a follow-up to the
award-winning documentary series currently airing on History Channel in the
US, 'World War II in Color'.

We are particularly keen to locate amateur footage of everyday life in
Britain and Ireland during the 1930's and 1940's. We are also looking for
material that shows the British and people from the British Commonwealth in
other parts of the world.

The only proviso is that the footage must be shot in color/colour. Other
than that anything is of interest.

I hope you can help.

Adrian Wood,
TWI London

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-----Original Message-----
From: Wood, Adrian [mailto:AWood@...]
Sent: 22 February 2000 10:48
To: 'smallgauge@onelist.com'
Subject: [smallgauge] RE: Home movie search


From: "Wood, Adrian" <AWood@...>

Dear List,

The London Office of Trans World International is currently producing a
major documentary series on World War II. This is a follow-up to the
award-winning documentary series currently airing on History CHannel in the
US, 'World War II in Color'.

We are particualrily keen to locate amateur footage of everyday life in
Britain and Ireland during the 1930's and 1940's. We are also looking for
material that shows the British and people from the British Commonwealth in
other parts of the world.

The only proviso is that the footage must be shot in color/colour. Other
than that anything is of interest.

I hope you can help.

Adrian Wood,
TWI London

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Dear List,

The London Office of Trans World International is currently producing a
major documentary series on World War II. This is a follow-up to the
award-winning documentary series currently airing on History CHannel in the
US, 'World War II in Color'.

We are particualrily keen to locate amateur footage of everyday life in
Britain and Ireland during the 1930's and 1940's. We are also looking for
material that shows the British and people from the British Commonwealth in
other parts of the world.

The only proviso is that the footage must be shot in color/colour. Other
than that anything is of interest.

I hope you can help.

Adrian Wood,
TWI London

Hi Melinda,
I recd a copy of Bryan White's letter on Super 8 revival. As the author of a
soon-to-be published book on home movies in the US, I'd be interested to know
more about your organization and the festival. I live 25 miles west of
Boston, Mass.
Thanks,
Alan Kattelle

AS the director of the super super 8 film festival I
can tell you that super 8 is alive and well.  Tell me
where you live and I will let you know if our world
tour - Super 8 2000 is coming to your town....



--- Smallgauge List <smallgauge@...> wrote:
> >From: "Bryan White" <idiotlight@...>
> >To: smallgauge@...
> >Subject: Super 8mm revival
> >Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 11:19:06 PST
>
> My parents recently moved from their three bedroom
> house in the suburbs into
> a high rise condo.  In the process many relics of my
> past have been offered
> to me with a "pickup or it's going to the curb"
> message. Amongst these are a
> Bell and Howell Super 8 movie outfit and boxes of
> old films.  These include
> 1960's and 1970's family footage of parties and
> holidays.  There are also
> the films I shot when I was a member of an amateur
> film club in high school.
>   These films haven't been seen in about 18 years
> and are like a box of
> buried treasure found in the backyard.
>
> Upon showing these to my kids they both agreed that
> these movies are
> "awesome", especially the ones of daddy playing high
> school football.  I
> have been on the Kodak web site and am surprised to
> find Super 8 film still
> available at a reasonable price.  None of the camera
> stores in town carry it
> or are even willing to order it.
>
> The usual comment I get is "buy a video camera" or
> "nobody wants to make
> movies anymore".  I've seen good amateur videos but
> I feel there is
> something about sprockets and film that makes it
> worthwhile.
>
> It will be interesting to see who else out there is
> into this and what their
> experiences are.
>
>                                    Bryan W.
>
>
______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at
> http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
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>From: "Bryan White" <idiotlight@...>
>To: smallgauge@...
>Subject: Super 8mm revival
>Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 11:19:06 PST

My parents recently moved from their three bedroom house in the suburbs into
a high rise condo.  In the process many relics of my past have been offered
to me with a "pickup or it's going to the curb" message. Amongst these are a
Bell and Howell Super 8 movie outfit and boxes of old films.  These include
1960's and 1970's family footage of parties and holidays.  There are also
the films I shot when I was a member of an amateur film club in high school.
   These films haven't been seen in about 18 years and are like a box of
buried treasure found in the backyard.

Upon showing these to my kids they both agreed that these movies are
"awesome", especially the ones of daddy playing high school football.  I
have been on the Kodak web site and am surprised to find Super 8 film still
available at a reasonable price.  None of the camera stores in town carry it
or are even willing to order it.

The usual comment I get is "buy a video camera" or "nobody wants to make
movies anymore".  I've seen good amateur videos but I feel there is
something about sprockets and film that makes it worthwhile.

It will be interesting to see who else out there is into this and what their
experiences are.

                                    Bryan W.

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

How about untrained home movie makers?

A friend of mine once showed me a reel her grand mother had shot on a
trip to St-Petersburg in the seventies. Pan here- pan there- pan around -
zoom in - zoom out - and hardly any shot over15 frames. It was wild, and
it gave me a view of St-Petersburg I had never seen anywhere else. This
lady was aware of traditions and fashion but she wasn't trained to
reproduce them. Her work was certainly of outstanding originality in
concept, subject and techniques: it made me think of deliberate attempts
at deconstruction seen in experimentalist's and avant-garde works, but
I'm sure she never saw a Brackage film in her life. And let me tell you,
her film was exctatic!

However, I would be hard pressed to qualify it as "art brut", if only
because she was not dwelling on the fringes of society, upon the
contrary, she was a very well integrated bourgeoise. Do we have to equate
"outsider" to "art brut"? Do people who live on the fringes of society
bother about making films at all? I should think not much, because the
distance introduced between the subject and his work by the necessity of
using technology to produce it seems to me to me an obstacle to the
direct expression of self that seems to be the goal of "art brut". But
maybe video would qualify.


Catherine

This will be my last comment referring to "outsider art"  as I fear it is
slowly
drifting away from "small gauge" areas of concern. However, the problem of
"knowingness" in this media-infused world is hard to get around. Of course,
artists have often tried to defy it or attempt to shove it away, but there
always is the awareness (perhaps, on a unconscious level) of what it is they
are reacting against or alongside of.

A anthropologist friend of mine, once told me a fascinating story of an
experiment
done in Australia (I think), quite a few years back.
Researchers had gone out to a remote area and given movie cameras to
individuals who had likely never seen a movie let alone a camera before.
They were
shown only the most rudimentary workings of it's function and then were then
left alone to use it as they would. What they created was interesting.
Apparently, this group photographed everything in long shots. The concept of
a close-up never even occurred to them, presumably because of the way they
perceive
the world, how THEIR reality is.  Maybe they see man as part of the world in
such a way that it's inconceivable for him to be divorced from environment.
Maybe, it has to do with notions of -what's important-to that particular
person, or maybe they were never shown how to operate the zoom lens :) . But
it's difficult (and possibly foolish, dangerous, colonializing, etc...) to
interpret  from "our" perspective.

I believe it is THIS kind of film that may point to a direction (though not
perhaps the direction you wanted to travel) where "outsider film" may
reside.  In fact, it could
be a destination that may no longer exist. Globalization of media and
satellite transmissions have made the idea of an unsullied media-free
subject, that is, an "outsider artist" increasingly hard if not impossible
to find.

paul

Paul Narvaez wrote:
>>But I'd be interested in talking this definition through further.

In order to come up with a definition of Outsider Film, I thought I'd adapt
one of Outsider Art, so I went to the website for the outsider art magazine
Raw Vision (www.rawvision.com) and discovered that it took them page upon
page to try to define all of the different terms (art
brut/outsider/visionary/folk, etc). Here's one quote of they used:

""Art Brut", or "outsider art", consists of works produced by people who for
various reasons have not been culturally indocrinated or socially
conditioned. They are all kinds of dwellers on the fringes ofsociety.
Working outside the fine art "system" (schools, galleries, museums and so
on), these people have produced, from the depths of their own personalities
and for themselves and no one else, works of outstanding originality in
concept, subject and techniques. They are works which owe nothing to
tradition or fashion."

There's a whole bundle of contradictions in this, however. Personally I
don't see how anything can "owe nothing to tradition." And is Howard
Finster, the most famous American outsider artist creating "for no one else"
now that he has a 1-800 number and a website? The examples of Sadie Benning
and Stan Brakhage are complicated ones, because their films/videos did
seemingly start out as completely personal works, but then at some point
they cross the line by knowing just too darn much about the history of
avant-garde cinema.

It seems like it's a tangled interweaving of: artistic intention, implied
audience and access to traditional commercial and artistic tools and
techniques. So yeah, there are many grey areas in any definition of
"outsider film," and I'm not even entirely sure if such a category exists, I
was just playing a hunch that it would given the fairly long tradition in
other media.

Dwight
______________________________________________________
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An interesting idea I suppose, but I have a hard time visualizing it. The
criteria
seems somehow different. Perhaps it boils down to the intent to distribute
or is it the
lack of consciousness of +ACI-an audience+ACI-.

Any person in an insane asylum can put charcoal to paper and express
his/herself.
But, to imagine a someone +ACI-outside+ACI- the normal distribution channels,
creating a unique product (and possibly something personal or bizzare) with
no budget,
y' know... all the things that one would identify with +ACI-outsider art+ACI-
(or
variations of Folk Art)  still ends up only being +ACI-independent cinema+ACI-.
Take
someone like Sadie Benning. Here's someone who used to (and maybe still
does) make personal films in her basement on a pixelvision camera...still
it's not outsider in anyway.  Or is using her as an example to tinged with
the avant-garde legacy of her father?

Does outsider by definition mean that the artists themselves are not
marketing their own product in anyway?  Famous examples like Henry Darger
come to mind but then again, so does my father.

This term +ACI-outsider film+ACI- may have little relevance. You closed your
email
by looking for +ACI-untrained, ecstatic works+ACI-.

That could accurately describe artists like Stan Brakhage.
But I'd be interested in talking this definition through further.

-Paul



+AD4-From: +ACI-Dwight Swanson+ACI- +ADw-dwswan+AEA-hotmail.com+AD4-
+AD4-
+AD4-Two of the best days in my life have been my trips to (Samuel Dinsmoor's)
+AD4-Garden of Eden in Kansas and (the Rev. Howard Finster's) Paradise Gardens
in
+AD4-Georgia, since there+ANU-s nothing I love better than old, um, eccentric
guys
+AD4-who have filled their yards with homemade socio-religious iconography. All
+AD4-of the Outsider Art I+ANU-ve ever read about has been painting, sculpture
and
+AD4-assemblage, but it seems that somewhere there must be an 8mm equivalent. I
+AD4-sent an e-mail to the Outsider Art museum in Baltimore, but they didn+ANU-t
+AD4-respond. Does anybody know of any likely cinematic candidates (not
+AD4-necessarily religious, just somebody creating untrained, ecstatic
+AD4-works)?
+AD4-
+AD4-Dwight

Dwight,

I think it is difficult to try to find anyone with an
untrained eye however I have met some truly inventive
film makers within the amateur film clubs who design
and build their own equipment for special effects etc.
  The best example of this is Sid Laverents in San
Diego.  I can put you in contact with him and he will
send you a tape for a small sum.

I just finished a documentary on four visionary
environments and their makers (all southwestern) when
I get done at the dub factory I will send you one.

best,

Melinda

--- Dwight Swanson <dwswan@...> wrote:
> Two of the best days in my life have been my trips
> to (Samuel Dinsmoor's)
> Garden of Eden in Kansas and (the Rev. Howard
> Finster's) Paradise Gardens in
> Georgia, since thereÕs nothing I love better than
> old, um, eccentric guys
> who have filled their yards with homemade
> socio-religious iconography. All
> of the Outsider Art IÕve ever read about has been
> painting, sculpture and
> assemblage, but it seems that somewhere there must
> be an 8mm equivalent. I
> sent an e-mail to the Outsider Art museum in
> Baltimore, but they didnÕt
> respond. Does anybody know of any likely cinematic
> candidates (not
> necessarily religious, just somebody creating
> untrained, ecstatic
> works)?
>
> Dwight
>
______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at
> http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
__________________________________________________
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Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
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Two of the best days in my life have been my trips to (Samuel Dinsmoor's)
Garden of Eden in Kansas and (the Rev. Howard Finster's) Paradise Gardens in
Georgia, since thereÕs nothing I love better than old, um, eccentric guys
who have filled their yards with homemade socio-religious iconography. All
of the Outsider Art IÕve ever read about has been painting, sculpture and
assemblage, but it seems that somewhere there must be an 8mm equivalent. I
sent an e-mail to the Outsider Art museum in Baltimore, but they didnÕt
respond. Does anybody know of any likely cinematic candidates (not
necessarily religious, just somebody creating untrained, ecstatic
works)?

Dwight
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

Following is the proposal of AMIA's Regional Audio-Visual Archives' interest
group for a session at the AMIA 2000 conference. Thanks to Karan Sheldon of
Northeast Historic Film for her hard work in putting it together. Please
contact any of the participants below with suggestions and comments.

AMATEUR CINE CLUBS: ACCESS? PRESERVATION? FUTURE?

Amateur cinema clubs provide the opportunity for archivists, scholars, and
producers to interact with amateur-filmmaking culture and to promote film
preservation, across the range of avant-garde, documentary, travel, personal
experimental—and quite unclassifiable--filmmaking.  What are the ethics of
working with amateur clubs? What strategies have our speakers used to work
with clubs on screenings, preservation initiatives, and other projects?

The sphere of amateur cine clubs is global, from the earliest days of
cinema, taking off in the 1920s with the establishment of the Amateur Cinema
League, with 30,000 members within a few years. This session will examine
amateur cinema clubs—which, by their existence, reverses the notion that
amateur film was unedited and only shown at home. Clubs provided technical
expertise and screening venues. They nurtured collaborative filmmaking and
innovation: some club members designed and crafted home-made gadgets to
create special mattes and animation effects.  Speakers will examine the need
to collect and preserve amateur equipment and supporting paper materials
relevant to the life of clubs.

Discussion will include archives’ and producers’ experiences in working with
collections from current and disbanded clubs, and an innovative archival
project to solicit and preserve contemporary works from clubs.

Session Chair
Dwight Swanson, AMIPA

Participants
Karen Shopsowitz, National Film Board of Canada, kshops@...
Melinda Stone, University of California, San Diego, amateurish@...
Sue Howard, Yorkshire Film Archive, s.howard@...

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

Dear Melinda,

Has anyone talked to you about the AMIA conference in November 2000 in Los
Angeles?  Do you know of any LA area amateur film clubs?  Are you planning
to attend the conference? And where are you these days?

Karan Sheldon,
Northesat Historic Film
writing as co-chair of AMIA Regional Audiovisual Archives Interest Group


-----Original Message-----
From: melinda stone [mailto:amateurish@...]
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2000 12:12 PM
To: smallgauge@onelist.com
Subject: Re: [smallgauge] Home movie screenings


From: melinda stone <amateurish@...>

Check to see if there are any amateur film clubs in
your area, either contemporary or now defunct.
Generally these film makers would edit their home
movies and create stories.  I have seen amazing
amateur films that defy simple categorization but the
general public continues to view amateurs as home
movie makers.  Good luck.

Check to see if there are any amateur film clubs in
your area, either contemporary or now defunct.
Generally these film makers would edit their home
movies and create stories.  I have seen amazing
amateur films that defy simple categorization but the
general public continues to view amateurs as home
movie makers.  Good luck.

--- Karen Glynn <kglynn@...> wrote:
> Putting out a call for films from the community is a
> great idea. A
> successful screening demonstrates the community's
> appreciation of the
> material, helping to establish the broader value,
> the regional/public
> value, of the home movies to the home movie owners.
>
> Karen
> Southern Media Archive
>
> >From: Scott Stark <sstark@...>
> >
> >Kathy Geritz of the Pacific Film Archive in
> Berkeley programmed a great
> >show a couple of years ago of home movies. She put
> out an open call and
> >then put the show together. It was lots of fun, and
> lots of interesting stuff.
> >
> >Scott
> >
> >At 03:35 PM 01/14/2000 -0800, you wrote:
> >>From: "Dwight Swanson" <dwswan@...>
> >>
> >>I'm thinking of setting up a night of local home
> movies and am looking for
> >>advice from anyone who has screened any home
> movies as part of a film
> >>program--anything more elaborate than in
> somebody's basement. Or attended
> >>one, even.
> >>
> >>Dwight
>
>>______________________________________________________
> >>Get Your Private, Free Email at
> http://www.hotmail.com
> >>
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> >
> >Scott Stark
> >sstark@...      |       fax: 415.642.0270
> >p.o.box 460910 | san francisco | ca | 94146-0910
> >flicker experimental film & video:
> > http://www.sirius.com/~sstark
> >
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Putting out a call for films from the community is a great idea. A
successful screening demonstrates the community's appreciation of the
material, helping to establish the broader value, the regional/public
value, of the home movies to the home movie owners.

Karen
Southern Media Archive

>From: Scott Stark <sstark@...>
>
>Kathy Geritz of the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley programmed a great
>show a couple of years ago of home movies. She put out an open call and
>then put the show together. It was lots of fun, and lots of interesting stuff.
>
>Scott
>
>At 03:35 PM 01/14/2000 -0800, you wrote:
>>From: "Dwight Swanson" <dwswan@...>
>>
>>I'm thinking of setting up a night of local home movies and am looking for
>>advice from anyone who has screened any home movies as part of a film
>>program--anything more elaborate than in somebody's basement. Or attended
>>one, even.
>>
>>Dwight
>>______________________________________________________
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>
>Scott Stark
>sstark@...      |       fax: 415.642.0270
>p.o.box 460910 | san francisco | ca | 94146-0910
>flicker experimental film & video:
> http://www.sirius.com/~sstark
>
>
>--------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ----------------------------
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At 09:09 AM 01/17/2000 +0000, Maryann Gomes wrote:
>When we include home movies in our public screenings we never project
>the original (which would have master status in our collection) but a
>copy (onto 16mm guage) or a telecined version.  I once attended a
>conference dedicated to home movies where some originals were projected
>- and we all watched as one of these burnt in the gate....

That sounds like a sensible choice, but I doubt most people can afford the
price of a 16mm upgrade, and a video copy will be considerably degraded.
For me part of the joy of looking at home movies is the beautiful quality
of the original film, the soft clattering of the projector, and the
intimate nature of small gauge projection. Some of those early Kodachromes
with their saturated colors are like nothing else on earth. And even early
black and white film with its soft emulsion can be a beautiful thing to
behold. I'd suggest making sure you have a good projector and professional
projectionist, and make sure people who submit know that this is inherently
a risky situation, though you'll do your best. Otherwise I don't think it's
worth doing.



Scott Stark
sstark@...      |       fax: 415.642.0270
p.o.box 460910 | san francisco | ca | 94146-0910
flicker experimental film & video:
  http://www.sirius.com/~sstark

When we include home movies in our public screenings we never project
the original (which would have master status in our collection) but a
copy (onto 16mm guage) or a telecined version.  I once attended a
conference dedicated to home movies where some originals were projected
- and we all watched as one of these burnt in the gate....



-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Maryann Gomes, Director    (e-mail: M.Gomes@...)
North West Film Archive
Manchester Metropolitan University
Minshull House
47-49 Chorlton Street
Manchester M1 3EU, England

Phone: +44 (0) 161 247 3097    Fax: +44 (0) 161 247 3098
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

An artist co-op did one of these last year, in Toronto. They put out an open
call for home movies, had an afternoon to preview them, and then screened
them that night. it was a lot of fun - quite the varied program, from what I
saw of it.

This same co-op had also found a "mystery" home movie from the 1940s, this
was the highlight of the evening.
Karen.

----------
>From: "Dwight Swanson" <dwswan@...>
>To: smallgauge@onelist.com
>Subject: [smallgauge] Home movie screenings
>Date: Fri, Jan 14, 2000, 6:35 PM
>

> From: "Dwight Swanson" <dwswan@...>
>
> I'm thinking of setting up a night of local home movies and am looking for
> advice from anyone who has screened any home movies as part of a film
> program--anything more elaborate than in somebody's basement. Or attended
> one, even.
>
> Dwight
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
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>
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> Tired of filling out forms and remembering passwords? Gator fills in
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> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Post message: smallgauge@onelist.com
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>
>
>

Kathy Geritz of the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley programmed a great
show a couple of years ago of home movies. She put out an open call and
then put the show together. It was lots of fun, and lots of interesting stuff.

Scott

At 03:35 PM 01/14/2000 -0800, you wrote:
>From: "Dwight Swanson" <dwswan@...>
>
>I'm thinking of setting up a night of local home movies and am looking for
>advice from anyone who has screened any home movies as part of a film
>program--anything more elaborate than in somebody's basement. Or attended
>one, even.
>
>Dwight
>______________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
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>
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Scott Stark
sstark@...      |       fax: 415.642.0270
p.o.box 460910 | san francisco | ca | 94146-0910
flicker experimental film & video:
  http://www.sirius.com/~sstark

I'm thinking of setting up a night of local home movies and am looking for
advice from anyone who has screened any home movies as part of a film
program--anything more elaborate than in somebody's basement. Or attended
one, even.

Dwight
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

The best place (and only one) in Toronto is Exclusive Film. It's a little
place that processes probably all of the super 8 shot in the local area!
They also have a small stock of viewers, and are a network for any super 8
people, with a bulletin board listing cameras and other equipment for sale.

If anyone wants the address, I'll post it.

Karen.
----------
>From: melinda stone <amateurish@...>
>To: smallgauge@onelist.com
>Subject: Re: [smallgauge] Speeds and suppliers
>Date: Mon, Dec 20, 1999, 9:59 PM
>

>From: melinda stone <amateurish@...>
>
>Dwight,
>
>You should order a copy of the Flicker Guide to Super
>8.  It is a wonderful little guide to supply houses,
>dealers, labs, etc. that still cater to the needs of
>super 8 and regular 8 mm film makers.  Send five
>dollars to:
>
>Flicker Guide
>Norwood Cheek
>6310 1/2 Primrose Ave.
>Hollywood, CA 90068
>
>E-bay is also an excellent resource for procurring
>splicers, viewers, cameras, and projectors.  Be
>patient for good deals.
>
>good luck,
>
>Melinda Stone
>--- Dwight Swanson <dwswan@...> wrote:
>> Today I was doing a video transfer of a collection
>> of 16mm home movies from
>> the 1940s to the 1960s, and in the reels from the
>> early ‘50s the speed
>> switches somewhat arbitrarily between 24fps to
>> 18fps. This was apparently
>> just at the whim of the cameraman, but it got me to
>> thinking if there are
>> any general historical rules about when each speed
>> was used by amateurs,
>> both for 16mm and 8mm, and when variable speed
>> cameras became available.
>>
>> Secondly, what recommendations do people have for
>> where to purchase supplies
>> and equipment for 8mm and Super8?
>>
>>
>> Dwight
>>
>>
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>> Unsubscribe:  smallgauge-unsubscribe@onelist.com
>> Questions:   smallgauge@...
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><HR>
><html>
>>
>
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>Unsubscribe:  smallgauge-unsubscribe@onelist.com
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>
>
>

Dwight,

You should order a copy of the Flicker Guide to Super
8.  It is a wonderful little guide to supply houses,
dealers, labs, etc. that still cater to the needs of
super 8 and regular 8 mm film makers.  Send five
dollars to:

Flicker Guide
Norwood Cheek
6310 1/2 Primrose Ave.
Hollywood, CA 90068

E-bay is also an excellent resource for procurring
splicers, viewers, cameras, and projectors.  Be
patient for good deals.

good luck,

Melinda Stone
--- Dwight Swanson <dwswan@...> wrote:
> Today I was doing a video transfer of a collection
> of 16mm home movies from
> the 1940s to the 1960s, and in the reels from the
> early ‘50s the speed
> switches somewhat arbitrarily between 24fps to
> 18fps. This was apparently
> just at the whim of the cameraman, but it got me to
> thinking if there are
> any general historical rules about when each speed
> was used by amateurs,
> both for 16mm and 8mm, and when variable speed
> cameras became available.
>
> Secondly, what recommendations do people have for
> where to purchase supplies
> and equipment for 8mm and Super8?
>
>
> Dwight
>
>
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> Unsubscribe:  smallgauge-unsubscribe@onelist.com
> Questions:   smallgauge@...
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<HR>
<html>
>

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Thousands of Stores.  Millions of Products.  All in one place.
Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com

Today I was doing a video transfer of a collection of 16mm home movies from
the 1940s to the 1960s, and in the reels from the early ‘50s the speed
switches somewhat arbitrarily between 24fps to 18fps. This was apparently
just at the whim of the cameraman, but it got me to thinking if there are
any general historical rules about when each speed was used by amateurs,
both for 16mm and 8mm, and when variable speed cameras became available.

Secondly, what recommendations do people have for where to purchase supplies
and equipment for 8mm and Super8?


Dwight

I discovered this at http://www.hugo.ch/super8/jan2000/entry.htm
--------------------------------------------------
Super 8.1.2000: With Super 8 into the new millenium!
Watch out: January the 8th in the year 2000 is not going to be just another
saturday, no, it'll be the first worldwide Super 8-day! Our vision: There
will be 2000 Super 8-films screened on the very same day in over 50 cities
all over the globe to show that the Super 8-film format is not dead! We
carry Super 8 into the new millenium!
The idea of such a worldwide Super 8-day grew one night at the "Formula
Super 8"-film festival in Zurich in late 1998. It is a co-production of the
Hamburg based Super 8-group ALL NIZO and the Zurich Super 8-syndikat
BILDSTRICH. This website is a invitation to all Super 8-friends everywhere
in the world to participate in our event and to also organize a Super
8-evening on january the 8th 2000. So far there are Super 8-groups from
Zurich, Basel, Freiburg, Munich, Hamburg, Seattle and New York, that are
interested in the project and who will be organizing a screening. Many more
a still to come...
And this is how simple it works: You organize anything to do with Super 8 on
the 8th jan.2000 (a screening/an installation/an artshow, whatever) and you
send an email to the following address (saro.pepe@...) until november
30th 1999, to tell what and where your event will be. The participating
cities with venues and events will be posted here on this site by us, so
everyone can see, who else is in it.
Such an event will surely create a huge media echo, so start working on
those newspaper and radio journalists and have them make a thing about your
event. We for our parts will of course send an overview of all events and
places that took place to the Kodak company, so they can see, that Super 8
still has many, many friends all around the world and that, no, it is not
dead at all! Tune in, organize a local screening and spread the word about
this event to Super 8-friends of yours, so that there will be as many events
as possible taking place for the SUPER8.1.2000!
For questions and remarks you are welcome to contact us under:
saro.pepe@...

Dear Dwight,

I agree that there is a danger in archivists and media collectors getting
swamped by home video in this day and age, but I think that one can avoid
collecting a lot of unnecessary footage if you've got some selection
criteria in place. I feel the point can be made that the nature and costs of
film (Super 8 or regular 8) tended to make people "think" before they shot
but there certainly can be some gems in a home video collection if you know
what you are looking for, or have a set of criteria or a mandate to help you
in the selection.  I guess in large collections the idea of sampling might
work, but it would mean sitting down and viewing it all.  Who knows, you
might find something really stunning.  I guess the concern in this media
crazy world is that we can be guilty of over-documenting things, but one
person's dull videotape of Junior taking his first steps could in thirty
years time be an excellent representation of clothing and design styles,
family dynamics, child care and responsibilities, etc.  I say this of course
while blithely ignoring the all important concerns about format turnover,
life span of the tape, storage conditions and the intricacies of
reformatting and preservation.  All of these can be real factors in consumer
home video formats.

Here at the Provincial Archives of Manitoba we don't have a lot of personal
home video yet, but we are collecting Super 8 and 8mm home footage and there
is some really great stuff on it.  We also have a lot of VHS produced by
government bodies and private organizations and they all come with their own
challenges, let me tell you.

I doubt if this helps much, but I'm at work on a Saturday and I don't get
much time to contribute otherwise.

Sincerely

Scott Reid
Archivist Moving Images and Sound
Provincial Archives of Manitoba

"It can only be attributed to human error." (HAL, "2001, A Space Odyssey")

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dwight Swanson [SMTP:dwswan@...]
> Sent: Saturday, December 11, 1999 11:33 AM
> To: smallgauge@onelist.com
> Subject: [smallgauge] film->video
>
> From: "Dwight Swanson" <dwswan@...>
>
> Has anyone brought in any sizable home video collections yet? (I haven't).
>
> What I'm especially curious about is a collection of a filmmaker who has
> made the transition from super8 to video. Just how important is the
> medium?
> My assumption has always been that the cost of film necesssitates brevity,
>
> whereas give people video cameras and they'll just shoot everything
> interminably. I don't know that this is actually the case, though.
>
> Dwight
>
> > Post message: smallgauge@onelist.com
> Unsubscribe:  smallgauge-unsubscribe@onelist.com
> Questions:   smallgauge@...

Has anyone brought in any sizable home video collections yet? (I haven't).
What I'm especially curious about is a collection of a filmmaker who has
made the transition from super8 to video. Just how important is the medium?
My assumption has always been that the cost of film necesssitates brevity,
whereas give people video cameras and they'll just shoot everything
interminably. I don't know that this is actually the case, though.

Dwight

I guess I'll start out the discussion with some comments and questions about
terminology. I couldn't figure out how best to describe this list, so in the
end I just threw every possible term out just to get everybody's attenion.
By the way, "smallgauge" wasn't my first choice, but "amateurfilm" was
already taken by another ONElist group (it was in German and didn't seem to
have many members anyway). Small gauge isn't technically correct, since of
course there were many home movies shot on 35mm early on. Also, I couldn't
decide if a distinction should be made between birthday party films shot in
somebody's backyard in 1965 and an underground filmmaker shooting on Super8
in 1999. The format is the same, but that's about all.

Then there's the difference between amateur films and home movies (I'm
leaving out Inedits, which is a perfectly good term, but doesn't seem to
have caught on much, even among AMIA members). I personally use home movies
as kind of a subset of amateur films in describing films which specifically
document the life of a family. It gets vague at times, though, since one of
my favorite collections in our archive is by a woman who primarily shot
footage of her family, but also then re-edited her footage into more
professional style travelogues and even an industrial film.

How are you all using the terms, both in your cataloging as well as in
everyday speech?

Dwight Swanson