Image: A film still showing a bride and groom’s car (SPRA 0253.01.01, Fonds 253: Jerry Stojan family fonds)
Movie Monday highlights videos from the Archives’ film collection. Every week, an archival film will be featured on our YouTube channel and here on our blog. The Movie Monday project is made possible with the generous funding support of Swan City Rotary Club of Grande Prairie.
It’s time for Movie Monday! Today we are sharing a film from the Jerry Stojan family fonds, featuring scenes of a wedding, as well as an outdoor expedition. This is one of many 8mm films from the Stojan family fonds that is dated circa 1961.
As we share our film collection with you, we are taking the utmost care to protect the integrity of the films. This means we do minimal (if any) editing, letting the original content speak for itself. Today’s video is an excellent example of the procedure undergone by most of our films.
Upon acquisition, the condition of each reel of film is evaluated by the archivist. Categories on the examination form include smell, general condition, film base, and footage (length). In this case, the film had a musty smell but was deemed in good general condition. The 3” reel of 8mm acetate film contained 50 feet of film, which amounted to approximately three minutes and forty-five seconds of video. This film had no sound track.
The film reels are then sent to an audio-visual media technician and film conservator where they receive a more comprehensive examination and are cleaned and repaired if necessary. The only foreign matter found on this film was a bit of dust and dirt. Film conservators also have the technology needed to digitize archival film. While all possible measures are taken to preserve the original reels, digitization allows the films to be preserved for a much longer period of time and makes them much more accessible for viewing – and that is what Movie Monday is all about!
Finally, as the videos were being prepared for our YouTube channel, the only edits performed were the removal of long portions of blank film reel and the addition of title and credit slides at the beginning and end of each video. In a few cases, sound was muted on YouTube for copyright reasons, but no visual content was removed. What you see in the films on our channel is exactly what the creator intended for you to see!