The History of 8mm Film

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.