family movie time!
Thankfully my father has always enjoyed taking pictures and movies. I have feared for some time, however, that many of the old movies might be damaged or lost. So.... I have been using some of my spare time to try and preserve a bit of our family history.
I started with the old 8mm films. My dad started filming these silent films back when he was just a teenager, and kept filming with it up until the 1980's. He and I set the old projector up and started watching and converting the films... I was quickly shocked and moved by all that he had recorded on these old films. He had movies of my grandparents... and movies of my great grandparents... my sisters coming home from the hospital.... my first Christmas... family trips to Florida... trips to the zoo... and many many Christmases. Watching these movies were so much fun... and thankfully just about all of them were still in perfect condition.
After my father stopped using the 8mm, he invested in a state of the art Beta VCR and camera. We no longer had a working Beta VCR, but Thankfully... my father had recently seen an old Beta VCR that had been left out on the curb as rubbish. Dad picked it up... and it still worked!!! All of our old tapes still worked - with the exception of one tape.
It has taken me several months... but all of our old 8mm films, Beta tapes, and VHS tapes are now on DVD! WAHOO!!! To celebrate this - I have put together a small video of some of the later 8mm films (mainly because I am in them! HA!). So... turn up your computer's sound volume and enjoy.... oh... I am the little boy in the movies... and I know that my socks rocked!
.
I started with the old 8mm films. My dad started filming these silent films back when he was just a teenager, and kept filming with it up until the 1980's. He and I set the old projector up and started watching and converting the films... I was quickly shocked and moved by all that he had recorded on these old films. He had movies of my grandparents... and movies of my great grandparents... my sisters coming home from the hospital.... my first Christmas... family trips to Florida... trips to the zoo... and many many Christmases. Watching these movies were so much fun... and thankfully just about all of them were still in perfect condition.
After my father stopped using the 8mm, he invested in a state of the art Beta VCR and camera. We no longer had a working Beta VCR, but Thankfully... my father had recently seen an old Beta VCR that had been left out on the curb as rubbish. Dad picked it up... and it still worked!!! All of our old tapes still worked - with the exception of one tape.
It has taken me several months... but all of our old 8mm films, Beta tapes, and VHS tapes are now on DVD! WAHOO!!! To celebrate this - I have put together a small video of some of the later 8mm films (mainly because I am in them! HA!). So... turn up your computer's sound volume and enjoy.... oh... I am the little boy in the movies... and I know that my socks rocked!
.
Labels: America, family story, old pictures
7 Comments:
What a treasure! I love to do family history and geneology research, so I know that future generations will also appreciate all your work. Thanks for sharing a little with us - you were too cute :)! Babs
how did you convert them to dvd? my mom in law has been trying to figure out a good way of converting some of the home movies she has without spending so much money...
Thanks for all of your hard work. We love having the old movies on dvd!
adam - thanks for the question. I'll write a quick post about it in the next day or so.
Wallace, I too need to know how to convert film to DVD. However, I have 16mm. Will that make a difference? I sent 1 roll back with Melissa, she found a company in Louisville that says they can do it, but of course at a cost. I found other companies but I don;t want to trust sending them through the mail, Fed Ex, etc.
w - I just visited your site - love the pics of Mom/Dad! Can I have a copy???? I also viewed the old 8mm video - brought tears to my eyes AGAIN!!! If I haven't already, a thousand thanks for all yours and Dads hard work into movie/book project! mae
great job! I know that was a lot of work.
Post a Comment
<< Home