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Baltimore fires up the projectors for Home Movie Day

Brew Editors 10 months ago, October 14, 2009 View Comments

"Disneyland Dream" (1956) by Robbins Barstow

"Disneyland Dream" (1956) by Robbins Barstow

by ALEXANDRA STEVENS

     Back before there were “videos” — before moving images could be captured with one flick of a cellphone user’s thumb — there were “home movies.”

Why do these productions, made by amateurs using celluloid film and bulky equipment, seem so much more powerful?

Ponder that question at the Strand Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 17 when Baltimore celebrates Home Movie Day.

And enjoy a voyeuristic glimpse of your fellow Baltimoreans’ actual home movies.

barstow_disneyland_dream_1956_000360

     Today, everyone’s a filmmaker. it’s hard to recall a time when you couldn’t simply pull out a digital camera, camcorder, or cellphone to spontaneously record a moment. Thanks to digital video, celluloid film has long been in the technology graveyard, along with cassettes, videotapes and vinyl records

     But newer isn’t always better. Film, its proponents argue, provides a different experience than digital video, one with richer colors and elucidated details. Home movies made on Super 8 and 8-millimeter cameras just feel different from today’s digital videos, partly because of the uniqueness of celluloid film, and partly because of the allure of peeking into another era.

     That’s the idea behind Home Movie Day, a worldwide celebration of amateur film started seven years ago by film archivists, now an organization known as the Center for Home Movies, which recently relocated to Baltimore, committed to preserving and enhancing appreciation of amateur celluloid films.

     This year’s Home Movie Day falls on Saturday, October 17 and Baltimore is celebrating at the Strand Theatre from 1pm to 4pm. Community members are invited to bring their 8-millimeter or 16-millimeter films for archivists to inspect and, if conditions suffice, project. The open screening allows for surprises and region-specific eccentricities. 

     Baltimore’s Home Movie Day takes place at the Strand Theatre (1823 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21201) from 1pm to 4pm. Admission is free.

To get you in the mood, some home movies posted on the website of the Center for Home Movies, including “Disneyland Dream.”

Disneyland Dream

The Sheep

Tarzan and the Rocky Gorge

Decomposed Carnival

Colette’s Placenta

Mandelberg/Elrauch Seder

All Personal Sound Movies (Excerpt)

 

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