Dear fans of old movie film, we are happy to report that 16mm, 8mm, Super 8 and even 9.5mm movies are alive and well. We are Bob and Toni, Brodsky & Treadway, working together more than 25 years, to train, network and encourage you, whether you are a fledging filmmaker, committed media artist or starting to work on a family geneaology, tribal history or neighborhood archive. We are glad to help with technical information about amateur motion picture film.

YOUR MOVIES ARE IMPORTANT! PRESERVE THOSE GESTURES!

9.5mm	16mm	8mm	Super 8

To help you identify your film, the frames are sized correctly relative to each other. Notice the sprocket holes in the early amateur movie gauge, 9.5mm, are in the center. Note that standard 8mm has sprocket holes the same size as 16mm but twice as many. The Super 8 gauge has a larger picture and tiny sprocket holes located aside the image, not on the frameline like 16mm or 8mm. The links will tell you more and offer a short slide show about the gauges.

Making moving images on film is fun, beautiful and long-lasting. Movie film is still available in all four littlefilm gauges and there are still labs who process film. Filmmakers love handling real film! Used and useful film equipment is not impossible to find, juts harder than 30 years ago. We'll try to keep you up to date on where to find and how to rehabilitate hardware. We recommend that whenever you videotape or digitally record a person or event, you also take a few movies on FILM so some gestures are recorded for the great-grandchildren and posterity. We will help you learn how to preserve home movies, shoot new films, record the culture, show the images, and get the oral histories to help pass on the stories. Please STORE your old film or new film COOL and DRY for your original film is a family heirloom.

WHAT is this concept called "LITTLE FILM" ?
LittleFilm is Toni's word to describe motion pictures made by individuals for the love of it. We love the subject being filmed and the act of filmmaking. LittleFilm contains extraordinary experiments and artistic expressions. LittleFilm also means home movies: people loving what is going on around them in their family or community and filming to honor and preserve the experience. In the Twentieth Century 8mm film gave people access to moving images five decades before camcorders were invented. Today, some people choose 8mm film because they find it more beautiful, flexible, touchable and permanent than electronic moving image media. ( DVD is not a preservation medium; film is.) We love the filmmakers, the subjects, the act of filmmaking and the culture is held on LittleFilm. We believe that the continuity of individuals filming lovingly needs to be showcased and encouraged. We believe that in the motion, in each telling gesture, much cultural detail is revealed.

FAQ and your ideas. We are refining our presentation, writing FAQ and designing little skyTalks about filmmaking, hardware, and preserving home movies. Here are excerpts of our filmmaking book Super 8 in the Video Age. For the family archive or beginner in home movies, please read basic notes on preservation.

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Brodsky & Treadway, the founders of LittleFilm.org, have worked together for 25 years as filmmakers, technicians, writers and advocates. For details on our professional transfers, please read about our work at our sister site Brodsky & Treadway.

Toni Treadway, webmaster.