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Frequently Asked Questions
For
Local Hosts
For Participants
Aside from a venue that’s available on Home Movie Day, you’ll
need certain supplies and equipment to do this properly.
It also helps to have support from local archives, libraries,
film societies, or other organizations—they can help you
reach a local audience that already has an interest in regional
history, filmmaking, or preservation. Back
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Sure it’s risky to project shrunken, damaged, and dirty film. That’s why we urge our local venues to
inspect and prep every piece of film before it’s projected. We feel that the risk of damage to films
in good condition, when projected with clean, well-maintained equipment, is far smaller than the risk
that those films will be discarded or destroyed through neglect if they’re never seen. Back to top
Any big room where you can pull down the shades and put up a screen will do, so think creatively and
keep your eyes peeled. Libraries, community centers, colleges, bookstores, museums, independent movie
theaters, and even bars have hosted Home Movie Day events in the past. Don’t be afraid to ask to speak
to managers or owners of places where you think it’d be nice to have your event; Home Movie Day is a
community-oriented activity that can help bring in local business, so there’s a benefit to them, too! Back to top
We fielded this one to Ken Fountain at the Echo Park Film Center: "There are very few projectors that I have not
run film through, but it is very hard to recommend a selected few...Elmo projectors would be at the top of the
food chain, but they also fetch top dollar. There are a small handful of projectors that will harm film, but for
the most part, a well maintained projector with a knowledgeable projectionist is usually what is needed to keep
films from being damaged. I would advise anyone looking for a projector to look at what type of bulb the projector
uses (some are extinct or very expensive), and how well cared for the projector was."
That good care should continue with you. Once you've found your viewers and projectors, you'll want to give them some
extra attention before putting them to use. Toni Treadway offers expert advice on restoring film hardware at:
http://www.littlefilm.org/RehabLeaves/TechTips.html
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Sure they do, otherwise Home Movie Day wouldn’t
be happening. Lots of people are interested in home movies—of
completely normal people, doing completely normal things—for
lots of really good reasons. Home movies from just a few years
ago show a world that looks pretty different from the one
we live in now: kids rode their bikes without helmets on;
men wore hats and spats, and women wore gloves and girdles;
public beaches and facilities in the South were segregated—these
are just a few examples! Seeing this world in home movies
is useful for historians, writers, documentary filmmakers,
costume designers, and even the ordinary people who live in
those same (but somehow different) places today. If your home
movies depict the everyday life of people of color, the differently
abled, or others who continue to be under-represented in commercial
films and on TV, we think it is especially important that
they be shown.
Also, you may be surprised to find that your “dumb old
home movies” aren’t like you remember them at all—they
might have pictures of family members, friends, or places
you haven’t seen or thought about in a long time. We think
they’re definitely worth a look! Back
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Home Movie Day is a family and community event, and we encourage
families to come and watch their films together. We have never yet
had a problem with explicit material being shown to mixed audiences
at Home Movie Day. However, most HMD events are BYOF (bring-your-own-film)
open screenings, and many people will bring films they have never seen
themselves. For this reason, the organizers of HMD events cannot predict
in advance what will be shown, nor can we absolutely guarantee that all
material shown will be appropriate for young children or sensitive viewers.
If this is a concern for you, please consider taking an aisle seat so you
can leave the room quietly if something icky shows up onscreen.
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Check your local venue listing for times and locations.
Most HMD events are free and open to the public. Most will
also offer a BYOF open screening, in which participants
can bring in one or more reels of film from their own family
collections, have them inspected, and (if they’re in good
condition) see them projected on a screen. Some local venues
may accept submissions of films in the weeks leading up
to Home Movie Day and prepare them in advance
so they can begin screening films right away on the morning
of the event; again, see the local event listings for details.
In most cases, though, the screenings will be first-come,
first-shown, and coordinators may need to enforce a one-reel-per-person/family
limit if there’s a big crowd. Back to
top
Start by contacting your local historical society, public
library, university special collections department, or other
cultural heritage institutions and asking them if they know
about Home Movie Day. Let them know about our web site and
ask them to consider hosting an event next year—Home Movie
Day is held on the second Saturday in August annually. You
can also contact us at film@homemovieday.com
and let us know there’s public interest in your area—our
organizers can add your town to the list of sites where
we’d like to start a Home Movie Day in the future, and we’ll
try to recruit local archivists and film lovers to get it
off the ground. Back to top
The ideal archive home for your materials will be able to
provide proper storage conditions, adequate regional/historical
context, and public access to researchers. Try sending a
description of the home movies you have (provide as much
detail as possible as to format, condition, origin, and
contents) to archives and historical societies in your region
first. There’s a list of motion picture archives organized
by region on the National Film Preservation Foundation web
site at www.filmpreservation.org (click on “Community of Archives”).
The more an archive knows about your materials,
the more interest they may have in providing a new home
for them. If the archives you contact initially do not collect
amateur film, ask them for help in finding a repository
that does take the sort of material you have. And keep trying!
Many archives have only begun to collect amateur film in
recent years, and new ones are collecting in this area every
year. Back to top
It’s easy to confuse historic value with cash value when it comes to home movies. It’s true that some reels of amateur
footage have been sold for surprisingly high sums—usually to collectors who want specific kinds of material, like World’s
Fair footage or shots of famous people. Sadly, these films are sometimes chunks of larger reels that are cut down into
segments because the seller thinks they’ll be able to make more money selling four 100-foot reels of, say, 1960s protest
footage than one 400-foot reel—even though that means butchering material that’s much more meaningful as a continuous piece.
There’s no easy way to tell if your home movies are worth a bundle of money. Holding onto them in the hopes that they’ll be
worth more later is not a good idea—just like good wine, film becomes more complex and nuanced with age, but if it’s not
stored properly it can literally turn into vinegar! At Home Movie Day (and in the archive world in general), we feel that
some amateur film materials may fetch more on Ebay, but that all amateur films are priceless from a cultural and historical standpoint.
Selling films in the collector’s market often means that no one (at least, no one who isn’t paying a licensing fee) ever sees the footage
again. And archives almost never have the funding available to buy even the most important films that come up in online auctions. Materials
donated to an archive, on the other hand, may be tax-deductible gifts. They also stand a better chance of being preserved for future
audiences; of being publicly accessible; of being used in future productions like documentary films; and of becoming part of a larger,
richer picture of our past. If your home movies have been important enough for you to keep all this time, aren’t they important enough
to preserve and share with future generations?
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