Go to the article!


Here's the article just in case the link were to ever go bad.

August 10, 2006

Home Movie Day Plans

By Tom Adams

TOOLS
Email this story to a friend
Printer-friendly Version
Eugene -

If you have old cans of home movies laying around and collecting dust, the University of Oregon wants to see you this weekend.

That dusty film is a treasure trove to local video experts,

We know you have them, tucked away in the corner of the closet somewhere.

Those old 16 or 8 millimeter films are very much wanted for Saturday's "Home Movie Day."

The Eugene Airport....1964.

The UO campus..... 1929.

These are the types of images University film curators hope to glean from many of you, and we're not talking about those cheesy instructional movies we used to see in school. University Records Manager, Erin O"Meara, explains, "We're asking really not so much for that, but more of the amateur films and home movies that really have that personal connection."

The event was launched in 2002 by a group of national film archivists concerned about the fate of countless home movies shot on good old-fasioned film.

This will be the first such film day at the Eugene campus. Stacy DeHart of the UO Media Services Department will help put the films on projectors this weekend and tells KVAL, "It's really interesting to see the different conditions that these pieces of film come in. And what time and the environment can do, but just the notion that this is history."

History in Kodachrome, the documentaries of our lives.

Like this flim clip shot by a missionary in Japan. Erin O'Meara looked on as the short clip was shown today (Thursday) and said, "I think this is documenting May Day as well as a few fire drills that were in the area he was staying."

Experts will be offering all kinds of help this weekend on how to transfer the film images onto video tape or DVD format, but one piece of advice; don't get ride of that film. O'Meara says, "Even if you do get it transfered to DVD or VHS, the film still is a very long lasting format and that you really want to keep that film as an heirloom."

Experts on Saturday will assess the condition of your film before projecting movies for viewing. They'll also offer advice on how to best preserve these film treasures from damage, so that those lost stories of the past, aren't lost forever.

The main event is Saturday, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., at the Knight Library, followed by a talk on the phenomenon of home movie making.

It's reported that just two percent of home movies have survived on film.