Old Super8 home movies

[Ken Finch]

I totally agree with you on this Graham. I have transferred a lot of home movie footage to dvd and have always advised the owners to keep their original films. Alternatively if they do not wish to keep them, donate them to an archive. There are commercial archives where footage may be hired to professional film makers and area archives who specialise in preserving amateur films made by individuals and clubs. They should never be sold on eBay etc as you never know how images of your loved ones will re appear on the internet in this day and age. Ken Finch.

[Graham Ritchie]

Came across Standard 8mm footage taken by a person from a nearby camp site, It was taken early one morning when the "Taupo Hotel" went on fire on the 15th July 1965. Thankfully no one was injured, but to my knowledge this is the only film account of that disaster. When you look back at history though, its people like this person who ever he was, in this case, just happened to be on camp with his family with a 8mm camera, captured these tragic events.

[Ken Finch]

This is an example of what would be of value to an area archive, if the owner did not want to keep it. Ken Finch😊

[Graham Ritchie]

The main thing with such films for me is to keep money out of it, there is the odd person out there, who might think its worth $$$$$ and that's a no no for me. I remember not so long ago, being approached to see if we had photos of a fire in Christchurch from years ago. I said I would check with the person at our Heritage society who at the time was really running it. He got some photos, put them on a disc and I gave it to the fire brigade crowd at the park. They were really pleased, but told me to keep it quiet, as they had a member, would you believe, that would get old photos and put a copyright claim on them, and then charge for there use.

My reply to being told this, was this guy must be popular with other members. It does however show, that when it comes to making a few $$$ certain people could be in boots an all. This type of thing is something I want to avoid completely, and it can happen. For me at the moment, I will have to put my thinking cap on and would really like to get some films back to the original owners. At the moment I am looking into ways to make contact, through Facebook being one, but will have to tread carefully as I don't know the circumstances behind the films being donated without any details in the first place.

The thing is to, is that in the example below, is the fact that many years have passed since the films were taken. Thinking that myself have been in NZ for now 50 years so the young kids in this example below from the 1960s would be now well into the 60s age group, me being now 71 so they are not far behind, that's if they are still around.

Anyway as said, I will tread carefully and see what comes of it, from just a street name on this film, and thinking, that it must be from somewhere in the North Island, I managed to connect the place to the film thanks to Google. One thing shown is how much a place can change in fifty odd years, big money to live there now. My thoughts though, are how did this film land up in a box of films from all over land up here in the South Island? what happened ?

My guess is this particular 8mm film footage is from the mid to late 1960s



I managed to confirm the location with this Google image showing the land marks at the back.




As the street looks now..

[Graham Ritchie]

Now this made me smile, Steve being a camper might have used one years ago and I do mean years ago we had one and it was brilliant for heating water, anyway its been around a long long time. Known as a Thermette Kettle it heats the water real quick, don't see it much these days most people would use gas. The stills from the Standard 8mm film, shows them filling it with water, then use small twigs fed down the middle, then start the fire. The heat runs up the center and bingo a cup of tea .

I found this picture of one, from a museum of all places.

I wonder where ours went to

from 8mm film

[Graham Ritchie]

Well folks just when I thought I was at the end, at a meeting at the Heritage Park this week, they told me we have some more film to sort out...nooooooo...not more well thankfully not much, quickly checked on the editor and carefully boxed away now at the park

In saying that in the coming weeks I will try to get in contact through the towns local community Facebook page, and see what happens. One thing that stands out for me is how good Standard 8mm was. Its interesting to note that I have as yet to come across an emulsion scratch, not one so far. As far as scratches in general, those old films are in really good condition. I put this down to excellent silent projectors like the M8. In some ways I think the move to Super 8 was not always the best. With Std 8mm cameras the lens were non -zoom much better to focus, projectors were mainly manual threading with none of the late cheap auto threading that came on many later Super 8 projectors.

My conclusion is that, after going through and sorting out thousands of feet of Kodachrome Standard 8mm film, was that it really was a excellent home movie format and much better than I ever thought it would ever be.

One of the highlights for me, was the modifying those old Standard 8mm projectors, they really are a pleasure to use.

To finish, for me the most important thing about Super 8 or Standard 8mm are the home movies people took with there cameras and still do. I started myself with taking film and to this day our children now grown up still say, can we watch our home movies?, which we will do every so often. Its really a perfect window to the past and with Kodak film stock, it often looks like they were just taken yesterday, projected onto a screen in a dark room its really something.

Included are a couple of Kodachrome Std 8mm stills from the 1960s films I was fixing and sorting out a few weeks ago.

[Rodney Bourke]

1940 Cruise Aboard SS ORIENTE, NYC to Havana, Cuba, 8mm Home Movie on Kodachrome.
200' film receives over $260 Aust


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8mm-Home...p2047675.l2557

[Graham Ritchie]

Well Rodney there is is know way I would ever allow any home movies to be ever sold on e-bay, not a single frame.

Just a bit of an update at the same time, I have this week contacted a Community Noticeboard of that area, in the hope that a contact will be made, only time will tell.

[John Burgess]

You are so right Graham , I had a BOLEX K1 cine camera back in the day and shot miles of film, all the usual family stuff, hols etc. The results were always superb using K2 film , I have since digitised them but occasionally put them through the projector with HID lamp, the projected image is still as good as the day they came back from processing. Long live St 8!!
John

[Rodney Bourke]

Yes you would think Families would hang onto there past, and Transfer the Film to Digital, but still keep the the original master on Film, because Video changes every 10 years from VHS to DVD to Bluray and now 4K.

Some times on ebay you can pick up some real Rare footage, from the past in Kodachrome Colour, like Travel films, War films, Cars, Trains, Trams and Equipment, and even people on different styles of Dress Code.

Today it costs Around $60 US for Ektachrome 100D Super 8 from Kodak, and $12 US for Processing with Dwayne's Photos, plus Postage, so for 50' of Super 8 your looking at around $80 for Reversal / Positive Film to Project at Home.

The above film on ebay is still cheaper today, than making the film yourself.

[Graham Ritchie]

Just got a reply from the administrator from the Community Notice board, they have been doing a bit of checking with locals, but so far unable to find anyone who knows of this family, however I have now sent them some stills, so will see if anything comes of it, but at the moment I am getting that horrible feeling, that to many years have now past.

[Joerg Polzfusz]

Maybe you should contact some local newspapers or TV channels?! The „quest for an owner/heir“ is interesting enough, especially when you also show some old cars, ships, … and the burning hotel. And it’s easy to „research“ as the journalists only have to interview you and someone from the Community Board.

[Lincoln Thorn]

I've got a lot of reading to do to catch up on the chat history for this subject, but I did want to say that I think this is very cool that you're doing this! I really enjoy watching old S8 Home Videos people post on YT all the time. Less to invade in their privacy of family moments, but more so just to see what life back then was like and all the things people capture on film that aren't around anymore! They're all little time capsules.

[Graham Ritchie]

Thanks Lincoln Unlike the films of parades and the like I feel I have to go careful with any attempt by me to make contact anything to do family wise, as I don't know the circumstances of the films being dropped of at the Heritage Park in the first place. I am hoping that just going through the administrator of the community noticeboard, of a small township like Paihia where "everyone most likely knows everyone", someone might pop up with more details. Its that low key approach I think is the best for now. I was thinking the other day, that the kids in the films, would have been only a few years behind me age wise. I am now 71 so roughly taken around the late 1960s I think they would most likely be in there mid to late 60s now.

The best out come would be a family member getting in contact with me and see what they want they want us to do with them. I would like to get them back. The quality of the image of many of those Kodachrome Standard 8mm films has really impressed me. I was thinking, also what it would have been like had got involved in Standard 8mm back then, but money wise we could never have afford it.

At present I think I have sorted out at least six or seven boxes now carefully stored away at the park, with the last one just about getting boxed away. The dual editor a has been the best way to quickly go through them, some of the films like a couple of quick screen shots below I find amusing, of what looks like a workers picnic while the dams were being built during I think the 1950s, of taking the kids for a run in one of there machines, health and safety would go nuts if you did anything like that these days.

[Graham Ritchie]

Although I have spent quite a bit of time sorting out films taken by others, the best part is watching our own, Both April and Steven are now in there 30s and still enjoy watching them every so often. April used to give Steven a hard time "girls do that" but claims she didn't. To remind her that the camera never lies, I caught her on film hitting Steven with a piece of wood. April goes quiet at that part anyway here a couple of stills from our own films, how time flies but the images captured are that moment in time, that can never be repeated, that's what home movies are all about.

The camera I used was a Canon 512XL I always liked Canon cameras in both still and movie. The camera still goes, I just cant afford the film these days