Home movies have been around since the early years of America’s Great
Depression (McKenna Video has seen a number of film from this area come to our studio for transfer to DVD). The great leap forward that made it possible to capture
the best moments of family vacations, weddings and special events on
film came in 1932 when the Eastman Kodak company created the 8mm film
format. Until that time, home movies were only available to the very well off. When Kodak launched 8mm film, however, recording special events for
posterity made a sudden and irreversible move into middle class America,
Europe and the world.
By taking what was then the standard 16mm film spool and adding
twice as may perforations along each edge, Kodak was able to design a
far less expensive option than the 16mm format. The secret came in
designing the spool holes so that only half the film was exposed on the
first pass through the camera. Kodak’s revolutionary design allowed the
camera to be opened and the spools flipped, so that the unexposed half
of the film could be used on the second pass.
After both sides of the 16mm film were exposed, the film would be
split down the middle, thus yielding two lengths of film, both of which
were 8mm in width. Because each of the new rows of film had just one
row of perforations, the new process effectively yielded four times as
many frames as the single-pass, double-perforated 16 mm film. This
allowed for exceptional cost savings, with no loss of quality, making
the new 8mm format an instant success. The newest star in
cinematography not only appeared on the horizon, it became accessible to
the just about everyone.
For almost 60 years, Kodak continued to manufacture 8mm film, albeit
with some modifications. In 1965, Super 8 film was introduced and
became an instant hit with home movie makers. Easier to use because it
didn’t require reloading halfway through the film making process, Super 8
gave better quality and rapidly took over from its aging
contemporary. Soon after, Kodak introduced Super 8 with sound. Although the sound is of very poor quality, it did give one the opportunity to record audio right alongside the image.
By the early 90’s, 8mm film in all its formats
was facing extinction, though it survived for a number of years in
independent film stores and eastern European countries, particularly in
the black and white format. Once videotape and digital technology arrived on the
scene, 8mm film format was forever doomed. Camcorders have now been all the rage for almost 20 years,
and 8mm film has now been consigned to the history books, although some wedding videographers are resurrecting the format for use in their niche story telling.
For more information on having your family's 8mm film, Super 8 film, or 16mm film transferred to DVD, visit our website www.mckennavideo.com or call us at (253) 539-3438.
Blessings,
Chris.
