Grant MacLaren, circa 1939, tows his sister Sandra on a sidewalk in
Lansdowne, Pa.
Grant MacLaren's 8mm Movies
(as of 5/1/17)
8mm Movies
Some time around my third birthday, my parents acquired a "movie camera." It was a "CINE-KODAK EIGHT -- MODEL 20." Here are a few photos of the camera -- not "our" camera, but one offered fo sale on ebay in 2017:
You may know that the film used in this camera was actually 16mm wide with perforations on both edges of the film. It was 25 ft long and run through the camera, first in one direction, and than the opposite direction. Exposed film was mailed off to Kodak for processing, which entailed "developing" the images, slitting the film lengthwise and fastening the ends together. This resulted in 50 ft. of processed film to be projected adn enjoyed.
35mm Slides
This year (2017) we decided to have many of our 35mm slides digitized. You can read more about that project here. As we were looking through the many boxes of slides, we ran across some reels of 8mm movie film. Although satisfied with the work done by Scan Cafe, I did a web search for a company that could digitize movies and found
digmypics
and sent them one 50 ft. roll of film as a trial run.
8mm "Movies"
I was amazed at the excellent results and promptly sent digmypics another 500 ft. After digitizing, the original film was returned to me -- cleaned and "connected" together and loaded on new reels.) The digital files, in .MOV format, were loaded on a thumb drive and sent also. The files were also available on digmypics' website.
Here's one of the 50 ft. movies, edited a bit in "iMovie," with some "youtube music" added.
A better version (more refined edits and transitions, and better music) of this movie exists on my iMac, but youtube won't permit me to show it -- because of copyright violations. However, it can be seen on my facebook timeline, but only by "friends." Maybe I can figure out how to embed it on a page on my own server.
To see more of our "home movies," check out my youtube channel. (There is one movie, made in 1949 showing our cross-country trip on the the Burlington Zephyr -- when we moved from Philadelphia suburbs to Arcadia, California.)
(1/21/18) There are 10 reels of 8mm movie film in the package Peter sent recently.
One of the reels was so brittle, I could not view, nor handle it. Another is
a reel of 16mm film.
How to view the 8mm film?
I found a viewer on ebay. It required some work to make it function, but probably never
worked very well.
I had to disassemble the viewer, clean its front-surface mirror, rewire the projection lamp, clean and lubricate the drive mechanism. The viewer has a toothed drive belt that looks like it's about ready to break.
I've now viewed three reels (of recent reels), my favorite being one made 9/26/48 at
Valley Forge, PA -- the wedding of Howard and Jean Drew. The film I was, and still am, looking for is
not here. (Pa Ramsden, Jim Meehan, Dad and me in Pa's boat off Point Judith, RI.)
Dad sliced many of the 50' films together and put the larger reels in metal cans.
The last two photos below were made today from a movie, much of which was shot at a Christening (of ???)
That's Shiela on the right, Iona in red, Aunt Claire in back? Sandra with the crown of flowers.
I'm not sure what I'll be doing with this movie footage. Best would be to edit the good clips
together, and send it off as I did the earlier batch of 8mm, i.e.,
youtube.com/watch?v=s7IMIWUXv6U&t=94s
(12/21/18) Bethany,
I've been through the films you sent.
I've not looked at any of the slides.
It will be awhile before I get to them, but I will.
One film of great interest was made at Lake Geneva on the Doreen in 1954.
( See grantmaclaren.com/doreen )
Mother and Dad were there, as was Uncle Billy and Aunt Ethel.
I've seen stills of that day, but did not know there was a movie.
I've sent the film off to be digitized and will post it on youtube.
Another film to be digitized was made in 1940 of Shiela and Iona MacLaren.
I am sure it was made by Dad to show Uncle Jim and Aunt Claire a bit of
the girls' life in Drexel Hill. The box displays the address in England where
Jim and Claire resided during the war. I'm guessing the film was probably not
shown much in England and it was probably returned to Dad many years later
when Claire lived in the States after Jim's death. As you know, the viewer I
have is rather crude. The digitized file will not have the "dirt" you see here.
(Caused by a worn first-service mirror in the Kalart viewer.)
I will be sure Iona's daughter, Heather Soucie Balestriere, gets a copy
of the digitized file. I'll post it, too.
