Super 8 Movies of a Modern Family Vacation

I dug out some Super 8 movies that I filmed in 2005 while on a road trip with my wife Myah. This was our first trip together before we were married. I borrowed a 15 foot Aloha travel trailer from my neighbor. There's nothing quite like a camping/road trip to find out if you're compatible or not!

We ended up buying the trailer from my friend last year and spending over a month camping in it this past summer.

I found this old Canon autofocus super 8 camera and decided to shoot with it. I think it's interesting to get the old feeling of a classic family vacation from the I Love Lucy television era. I can picture my mother and father making this trip with dad wearing plaid shorts and black socks.

The juxtaposition of the old technology, including an old trailer with a more modern car towing it and using final cut pro to edit it. I couldn't afford a telecine for this so I just projected the movie on a white wall and captured it on my Sony VX 2000 video camera. The movie projector sound is from the actual projector I used when projecting.

I think it's an interesting blend of old and new and my own way of exploring the notion of family films that my parents era used to break out at every family function or party. It was also interesting to have only 12 minutes of film stock for a one week trip. I wasted the first cartridge figuring out how to use the camera. I wish it wasn't so expensive to get film processed these days because I think it's beautiful. Perfect for a fleeting memory...

I decided to add titles without narration to keep with the idea of a silent film. I couldn't resist the music though. There's something about a road trip and George Jones country music as well as a little travel music.

I guess you could call this a mashup of eras, film and video technologies, and music. Just perfect for the Web 2.0 era.