Your Home Movies

Home movies represent the most personal kind of filmmaking and they are all valuable to the families they feature and the people they document. However, film archives have their own policies about what kinds of home movies they will collect.

The BFI National Archive collects home movies, and other amateur film and video production, on a selective basis. We acquire amateur films and videos whose content is of national significance, or which are exceptional examples of the styles, forms or subjects to be found in amateur filmmmaking.

The national film archives of Scotland and Wales and the English regional film archives collect films about the people and places of their respective areas. If you strongly feel that your home movies should be considered for inclusion in an archive, it is best to approach an archive whose mandate fits the subject matter of your films. Before considering donation do some research into which archive may want to acquire your films. See Researching Home Movies for a full list of UK film archives, including contact details.

Transferring Home Movies to DVD

Please also note that the BFI National Archive, in common with most film archives, does not provide transfer services for home movies. If you want to transfer your home movies to DVD there are many professional services available. If you do have your films transferred for home viewing, it is always advisable to hold on to the original films as well. Your home movies have been around a lot longer than DVDs and there is a good chance they will outlast them! See below for information on storing your films and useful links to other resources.

Looking After Your Home Movies

If you're storing old film material at home, or considering it, you might be worried about the risks. In fact, the 16mm, 9.5mm or 8mm film used by amateur and independent filmmakers has always - except, perhaps, in some very rare cases - been 'safety' film with an acetate or polyester base. Most home movies were shot on these gauges and so are quite safe to store in the house. Cellulose nitrate stock - chemically unstable and very combustible - was essentially a commercial 35mm format, and was phased out after 1951.

But safety stock is no protection from deterioration or decay. Acetate film is also prone to decomposition, giving off a distinctive vinegary smell. This is the result of acetate base beginning to break down in reaction to moisture and heat, one of the products being acetic acid. Not surprisingly, this condition, has become known as 'vinegar syndrome', and its effects can be devastating.

The right storage conditions, then, are crucial when keeping films in the home. The most important conditions are low temperature and low relative humidity: in other words, films should be kept cool and dry. At least as critical a consideration is stability: even quite small fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity can have serious effects, including shrinking and colour fading. For this reason, lofts are not the best place to keep family films, as they can reach very high temperatures, particularly in hot weather. A (non-damp) cupboard in the main area of the house is more appropriate.

Black and white film is more stable; the image is made of silver metal particles and unless it was poorly processed at the outset, the silver image will remain stable when not exposed to high humidity or contaminants. Most colour processes are more volatile, so if your film is colour, store it separately from black and white film, but make sure both are kept cool and dry. Try to keep any films affected by vinegar syndrome away from films that have not yet begun to deteriorate - the condition is contagious.

The majority of home movies will have been made on 'reversal' film stock, meaning that the camera films onto a negative, which is then processed to become the film print. This was a cheaper method of making films, which suited amateur filmmakers. As a consequence, though, there is only one version of the film - no separate negatives or prints - so the long-term preservation of the material will depend on proper care. Handle the films as little as possible and project them only if necessary, as each projection can cause scratches or other damage.

A guide to common film gauges

8mm, aka Standard 8: Most commonly used as a medium for home movies and other amateur filmmaking, from 1932. Has small square perforations on one edge of the film.

Super 8: Most commonly used as a medium for home movies and other amateur filmmaking, from 1965. Has smaller rectangular holes than Standard 8, enabling a larger picture area.

9.5mm: Most commonly used as a medium for home movies and other amateur filmmaking, and also commonly used after 1922 for distributing 'printed down' versions of commercially produced films for home use. Has rectangular perforations in the middle of the film, between frames.

16mm: Used for various professional (non-theatrical, including television) production, for distributing 'printed down' versions of commercially produced films, and as a medium for home movies and other amateur filmmaking, from 1923.

35mm: Various professional uses, including all theatrical, production and distribution, from 1895.

Useful links

Film Archive Forum
A general introduction to film archiving

Film Forever
Guidelines for the proper storage and care of film outside of specialist film archives

Home Movie Day
An annual international celebration of home movies, with free advice from film archivists on how to look after your film collections. See the website for a list of locations, including those in the UK.