Everything Old Is New Again

This is a project I've been meaning to 'git goin' with for years. However, the colossal immensity of what the project entails has always placed it in the 'someday but not now' category. I'd begun to think it was something for my retirement years; so skyscraper-ish the task seemed.

I refer to the act of transferring my old super 8 films (and I made a TON of them in the 1970s) from the curiously quaint world of darkened rooms and glowing projector bulbs (ah, but they were simpler times) into the modern and convenient era of digital discs and 40-inch LCD TVs. Only a small portion of my library has had the transfer process attempted, and a few of those results are currently riding the trendy Youtube wave.

I used to enlist all my friends as actors for an endless parade of hairbrained big budget cinematic productions (under the name: Sanguine Films). And now with mostly positive feedback from those same people, I'm determined to rescue ALL my sleeping films from their decades of hibernation - a rescue I've estimated will take about 14 years to complete.

There's two ways of getting something like this done. I could hire someone to do all the work at a rather steep price (and presumably receive a satisfying result) or I could try to do it all on me own using the most basic of set-ups: projecting the films onto the wall, and mounting a video camera on a tripod to aim and shoot the displayed images and HOPE to achieve a satisfying result.

There's pros and cons for each decision. I could be ultra selective with my OWN transferring, capturing only those scenes I wanted and not paying for miles of poor footage that should probably never be viewed again anyway. However, the DIY style is a risk and product quality might suffer. Plus, I'd also have peace of mind knowing that my priceless memories were in my possession at all times and not being tossed around by uninterested employees at the 'Film Transfer & Adult Book Store'. But again... DIY style is a risk and product quality might suffer.

In the end, I've decided on both proposals. I'll go ahead and make a full archiving record here on my own as best I can, and then pass the films off to the supposed 'professionals' to see just how well their bread is buttered. (I dunno what that means.) At least with this approach, if the masterworks are lost or destroyed (or used in commercials without my consent) while in the hands of some uncaring workerbee at 'Super-8-Transfers-R-Us', I won't be left holding an empty bag.