16mm Film

Posts Tagged ‘1950′s’

Reels of 16mm home movie film, transferred and captured in digital formats

This is a 16MM home movie of a kid’s tallent contest from (I believe) Atlantic City. This is one of the craziest things I have ever seen! The drama of it is just palpable because the film is shot in a slower than normal speed moving through the camera. And since most modern 16MM projectors do not have variable speed, including my telecine projector that transfers film to video. Thus these kids are moving at an abnormally fast rate. I enjoy listening to The Beastie Boys song, Body Movin’ from the Hello Nasty album with this clip. What is your favorite soundtrack to go with this one?

When the late Ralph O. Mortensen was superintendent of the Rolfe Community School District in Rolfe, Iowa, he shot 16mm movies of several activities. In the 1990′s, through the encouragement and facilitation of Helen Gunderson, who attended the Rolfe school from 1945 to 1963 and is now a video producer living in Ames, Mr. Mortensen gave his films and photographic slides to the Iowa State University Special Collections Department in the Parks Library. Ms. Gunderson originally edited the films for the Rolfe High School all-class reunion held in 2000 and added music that was custom-created by Emily Anderson, a former Rolfe teacher and school board member who now lives in Story City, Iowa. For further information: www.rolfealumni.com www.gunderfriend.com

The keepers of our past… [film Footage captured of Trinidad Carnival by a American visitor in 1956-57 ] The still of the masquerader sitting on the back of a donkey during Trinidad and Tobago’s carnival was filmed by an American visitor from 1956-7 according to Ray Funk. It shows the track to the Queen’s Park Savannah’s stage, and how masqueraders played their mas as they marched across the stage recorded with a 16mm home movie camera. Recently, a discussion on the preservation of Trinidad carnival stressed that footage such as the sample may have been taken by members of the society who were wealthy enough to own recording devices, and there is the likelihood the spools of film may be tossed in some cardboard box gathering dust from the grandchildren of people who filmed the festival over fifty years ago. Thanks to Ray Funk, the archivist of Trinidad and Tobago’s Steelband, Calypso and Carnival, he is preserving a collection by seeking out finds as with this footage. The youtube is a commentary by Ray Funk, Allyson Hennessy and Holly Betaudier on local television. thebookmann.blogspot.com

When the late Ralph O. Mortensen was superintendent of the Rolfe Community School District in Rolfe, Iowa, he shot 16mm movies of several activities. In the 1990′s, through the encouragement and facilitation of Helen Gunderson, who attended the Rolfe school from 1945 to 1963 and is now a video producer living in Ames, Mr. Mortensen gave his films and photographic slides to the Iowa State University Special Collections Department in the Parks Library. Ms. Gunderson originally edited the films for the Rolfe High School all-class reunion held in 2000 and added music that was custom-created by Emily Anderson, a former Rolfe teacher and school board member who now lives in Story City, Iowa. For further information: www.rolfealumni.com www.gunderfriend.com

This is a pretty standard 16MM home movie shot by parents who loved dogs and their kids. I can’t forget the comment a friend made last week after seeing some home movies that she always feels for the pets in the shots, since they are surely dead by now. Of course many of the people are too.

When the late Ralph O. Mortensen was superintendent of the Rolfe Community School District in Rolfe, Iowa, he shot 16mm movies of several activities. In the 1990′s, through the encouragement and facilitation of Helen Gunderson, who attended the Rolfe school from 1945 to 1963 and is now a video producer living in Ames, Mr. Mortensen gave his films and photographic slides to the Iowa State University Special Collections Department in the Parks Library. Ms. Gunderson originally edited the films for the Rolfe High School all-class reunion held in 2000 and added music that was custom-created by Emily Anderson, a former Rolfe teacher and school board member who now lives in Story City, Iowa. For further information: www.rolfealumni.com or www.gunderfriend.com