Home Movies
Home Movies
History
Home movie (with professional narration) of Bonnie and Clyde death scene (1934).
The development of home movie-making has depended critically on availability of equipment and media formats (film, videotape, etc.) at prices affordable to consumers.
Development of film formats suitable for amateur hobbyists began early in the history of cinematography. For example, the 17.5 mm “Birtac” format was patented by Birt Acres in 1898. This format split the standard 35 mm film into two strips half as wide and was able to be loaded into the camera in daylight. Since the frames were also half the height of 35 mm frames, the Birtac format used only 25% of the amount of film stock used by 35 mm. Since the camera doubled as a printer and projector, equipment costs were also reduced.
Safety film and the 16 mm film
