Yesterday was International Home Movie Day, and being in the midst of a massive home movie preservation effort, I made the trek from Roanoke to Richmond, VA to attend the nearest Home Movie Day celebration. In addition to the synopsis below of the days events, you can also download a PDF of the handouts I received from Home Movie Day, which include a listing of transfer houses, information about determining whether a film is damaged or safe to project, and a short directory of websites for home movie info.
On the ground floor of the Richmond library, Jere Kittle and James Parrish of the Richmond Moving Image Co-Op set-up a film drop-off and inspection table and home movie screening as part of the day’s festivities. The Co-Op offered to inspect and clean one reel per person who came to the event and to project that film in the early afternoon if it was determined to be safe.
About a dozen or so individuals came by between 10am and 1pm with their home movies in tow. One individual had films from the 1940s that she had inherited but never seen, another had several “found” 8mm reels with no idea what was on them. Yet another brought in a 16mm film she had completed in art school, but couldn’t remember what she had shot. Jere and James meticulously inspected a reel from each person in order to detect any damage, repair splices, add leader and prepare for projecting that afternoon in the library auditorium.
While I was there, I had James inspect a reel of the film I recently had transferred by Home Movie Depot to give me feedback on their cleaning. While the cleaning of the film was “ok” in James’s opinion, the Depot did not put enough leader at the beginning of each reel. James advises placing an arm’s length (demonstrated below) or at least 3 ft of leader at the beginning of your reel. (A big thanks goes out to Paul for taking photos of me at the event!)
By leaving lots of leader at the head of the film, you create a sort of safe guard: if there is a problem with the projection you use, hopefully only the leader will be damaged. James also advises putting leader on the end of each reel. This prevents the tail of the film from getting stuck the to reel in the instance it is exposed to excessive heat. Finally, he also noted that a small amount of film tape should have been used to secure the film from unraveling off the 400ft film reel and to avoid excessive rubbing of the film (shame on you Home Movie Depot!)
(Damaged film fragment courtesy of Sara Ferguson)
In addition to my film, over the course of the day we saw films in varying states of preservation and decay. One film, which appeared fine upon initial inspection for shrinkage, was discovered to have severe stripping damage from a previous projection detected while cleaning the film with a soft film cloth and light solvent/cleaner. If you look closely at the image of this film above, you will see the sprocket holes of film have been visibly stripped, or made bigger, by the claw of a projector. Films in this condition are not suitable for projection and must be repaired before they can be digitally transferred.
Another participant’s home movies presented tell-tale signs of vinegar syndrome, formally known as acetate film base degradation: a white, powdery dust was on the sides and emulsion of the film and the film smelled of vinegar or acetic acid. Vinegar syndrome is often caused when films are exposed to excessive moisture or humidity. Film found in rusted metal cans is typically victim to this decay. If you suspect any of your film has developed vinegar syndrome, you should immediately separate that reel from all other film. This “disease” is contagious and can spread to other films. (Hint: Do not project this film!) There are things you can do to slow the decomposition, but you will want to have this film transferred as soon as possible to avoid loss as there is no way to completely stop vinegar syndrome once it has begun.
Though we didn’t see any examples at Home Movie Day, film can also develop mold. Like vinegar syndrome, mold is contagious. You should not project this film and should separate it from other films until it is properly cleaned. Thankfully, most forms of mold can be cured with a thorough cleaning, though some image quality might be lost.
If you would like to find out more about film damage and restoration for using small formats, check out these wonderful resources:
The Home Film Preservation Guide sponsored by AMIA - An all-you-need-to-know guide to preserving your films. Free for download and printing from online.
Northeast Historic Film - a resource for professional film preservation and storage. They provided a handout on how to identify film and film damage to Home Movie Day. Unfortunately, it is copywritted and I cannot post it here.
Keep Moving Images - An informative site with preservation information for artists working with the moving image.
National Film Preservation Foundation -A site for film preservation info geared more towards libraries but usable for anyone. You can download their extensive and very informative Film Preservation Guide free from online, which was compiled thanks to a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. A great place to learn more about film damage, storage, etc.
Small Format Magazine - A pricey (about $80/year) quarterly magazine from Europe devoted to small formats, including 8mm, 9.5mm, and 16mm. On first look, it seemed to be worth every penny.
Super 8 Today Magazine - A more affordable magazine devoted to Super 8.
The Reel Image - Though this website looks a little messy (it’s being renovated), James recommends them for film collectors and makers who would like copies of films in Super 8 format. Write to: Steve Osborne, editor, 2520 Blackhawk Rd. Kettering, OH 45420 Tel: 937.296.9036. FAX: 937.296.1084 for more info.
As the cleaning and repairing came to an end, James gathered everyone around to talk a little bit about the purpose of Home Movie Day. As he put it, unlike Hollywood films, mainstream documentaries, and even independent films, home movies are a record of community history and therein lies their value. Home Movie Day was founded by a group of film archivists on this premise. They feared these precious records of community history of the 20th century were being lost, whether the result of improper care or being seen as “obsolete” by those who owned them or transferred them to video.
Unlike, say, fiction films, home movies are not fabrications or “representations” of reality but are rather documentations of reality, of the way people have lived their lives. They instill in us a sense of nostalgia, allow us to see time and people that no longer exist, and can serve as a cultural (and even perhaps an ethnographic) record of everything from birthday parties to parades and places to the idiosyncrasies of simple, everyday human living.
If you missed out on the Home Movie Day experience, mark you calendar for next year (it’s held on the second Saturday of August each year). Or better yet, if there’s not a Home Movie Day near you, start making plans to organize your own.
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!
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.