Home Movie Preservation: Part I

Last Christmas (2005), my grandmother dug out all her home movies after repeated requests and handed them over to me. I was dying to get a hold of her films for a project I am working on (which will be discussed in subsequent posts) and to get the films into a workable state. A total of 79 3-inch cores, a hodge-podge of 8mm and Super 8 films, came in a musty, brown paper bag in a disorderly array. Over the holidays, I tried to decipher the labels on each reel, if any, and put them in chronological order. Some had years or seasons or brief descriptions of people or images that appear on the film. Others just had grocery store produce labels or faded writing that is now indecipherable. (I’ll explain the barcodes I added momentarily.)

Thanks to my OCD organizational skills and the help of my trusty Brother Home and Hobby Label-Maker, I created labels for each and every of the 79 reels, denoting the month and year (if known) of each canister. I appreciate the authenticity of handmade labels; however, I wanted to use something that will last a little longer than the labels my grandmother left for me, to make labels that will be legible for the someone who might come after me.

Though the old labels gave me a rough idea of what was on each reel, I was hesitant to put the films through a projector to see what material was actually there. I feared that (a) I might further damage the film, or (b) that if mold had begun to grow on any of the film I might spread the contamination to the other reels and my Super 8 projector. Also, many of the reels were 8mm, and I did not have projector that would screen them. So, I began investigating a number of telecine machines and transfer houses that would be able to digitize my home movie collection.

The first option was to buy (or make) a telecine machine. I considered a few different ones, including the Video Cine-Mate-15 (approx. $1095 plus S&H for 8mm film) and the related Video Cine-Mate- 20 (approx. $1095 plus S&H for Super 8 film) but they both require the addition of a video camera.
I also looked some Elmo-like telecines that can be hooked up to a dub-rack, like the TVT-R8 Type G or the TVT-S8 Type G, which will run you $3600 plus S&H for EITHER standard-8mm film or Super 8 film. Since I needed to transfer both 8mm and Super 8 film, I would have to purchase two machines to cover both gauges.

Without several thousand dollars to spend just to see what was on these films, I considered an alternate route: having the films transferred by a post house. I looked online (thanks to the wonderful resources and listings on www.onsuper8.org) and called about a dozen places to see how best to spend my money. Here is a summary of some of my findings:

Bono Film

Though I can’t comment on the quality of their transfer, I found Bono’s pricing system a bit tedious–especially considering the sheer amount of film I needed to transfer.
Cost: $.08 per foot for prep, leadering, compilation and cleaning; $35 lab labor for splice replacement & repair as needed; $2.00 slug for leadering between each individual roll; $3.00 per minute of runtime; $75 transfer minimum. Plus cost of master tape stock, film cans, reels, shipping and handling.

Brodsky and Treadway

Brodsky and Treadway exclusively perform detailed scene-by-scene transfers and film restoration. By far the best transfer house in terms of reputation, I was surprised by how helpful and friendly they were about offering their services–they even recommended cheaper houses for more basic transfer work! After giving me an estimate, they suggested that I first have someone else do a cheaper one-light or “off-the-wall” transfer and then work with them for key footage and optimizing important scenes.
Cost: $280/hour of supervised, scene-by-scene transfer time, plus tape stock and travel (they prefer you to supervise the transfer in person).

CinePost House

I sent in a sample reel to be transferred at CinePost in an unsupervised transfer. (Scroll to the end of this post for stills). Though the quality of the transfer was very good, the transfer took far longer than the promised turnover time and my film was returned to me on the wrong transfer format. (I requested a miniDV digital master and received a DVcam master). The price, however, was very reasonable for the quality of the work.
Cost: $0. 29 per foot, plus $50/hour of transfer time, plus tapestock and shipping.

Home Movie Depot

By far the cheapest place I found, I worried that the quality would be terrible. I sent off a sample reel (which they will transfer to DVD and ship back to you for free in just 3 days turnaround), and was surprised to see that the quality, while lower than that of CinePost, was decent enough for an offline edit. Compare for yourself at the end of this post.
Cost: Use their online calculator (which factors in tapestock, shipping, and all the bells and whistles you choose).

Movie Stuff : If you have a lot of DIY spirit, this may be the transfer house for you. They make all of their equipment from refurbished 1970s projectors, and they also make and sell Super 8 and 8mm DIY telecines (see Cine-Mate 15/20 above). Be sure to read this site carefully: they note that “normal” turnaround is 30 days.
Cost: $20 per 50ft (silent only), plus tapestock and shipping.

Pro 8mm: Similar to Brodsky and Treadway, this transfer house will perform scene-by-scene or one-light transfers with the same rate either type of transfer. Though I think their transfer rates are on the high end, I do recommend using them to purchase your Super 8 film stock. They include processing in the price, offer student discounts, and provide an array of “sampler” and larger film packages that include discounts on processing and transfer.
Cost: $255/hour of transfer time, $138 labor charge for set-up of 8mm transfer, plus tapestock and shipping.

Spectra Film and Video
Spectra claims to use “V3 film gate technology” that renders a superior 8mm transfer. Though I can’t comment on the quality of the transfer, Spectra’s prices seemed insanely steep for unsupervised transfers. Through their “rank-a-roll” offer, an unsupervised test transfer of one 50 ft roll will cost you a whopping $79.95.
Cost: $235/hour for transfer to miniDV master, $95 set-up charge for 8mm, plus tapestock and shipping.

Yale Film and Video

A disclaimer on the Yale site reads, “We realize that the artist has full and total choice of expression. However, we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. As a policy, we do not and will not process, print, repair, or transfer any film containing: nudity, pornography, sexual acts (either real or simulated), lewdness, satanic, occultic, religiously blasphemous, exploitative of children, debasement of women, containing S & M, anything illegal, or in any way extremely offensive to us. Nor will we participate in the desensitization of or the glorification of killing, rape, violence, gore, suicide, torture, profanity, etc.… whether in visual or audio form.“

Though I highly doubt my grandmother’s home movies have any satanic or lewd content, I’m not comfortable with having my material deemed “offensive” or not by a transfer house. If you don’t mind, they do have a nice telecine.

Cost: $250/hour of transfer time for a Rank Cintel transfer, plus tapestock and shipping.

To find out which transfer house I used and why, please stay tuned for Part II of this post.

Still Comparison Chart:

Home Movie Depot
CinePost House
Home Movie Depot
CinePost House

Home Movie Depot
CinePost House
Home Movie Depot
CinePost House

Stay tuned for Part II where I discuss which transfer house I used and why. Forthcoming entries will also detail the process of forming a home movie database and other information for small format filmmakers and preservationists.