Filming Memory

NOSTALGIC STORYTELLING ON SUPER 8 FILM

“Super 8 is a dialect of home and hominess, with all the rough and tumble, and the blurry focus, and the unexpected endings of real life.” 

Andy Smetanka, Filmmaker

If photos are moments, then film is memory. 

What does the memory look like? 



It’s…soft. Warm. Golden. It crackles. Pops. It skips here and there like a well-loved record. There’s a coffee ring on one page, crinkled and delicate like a dried rose petal. It’s faded; it’s seen years of bright sunshine. It cuts unexpectedly, focuses sharply on a pair of tortoiseshell glasses, but who was it again? It’s fuzzy. Grainy. 

This, my dear friends, is the beauty of Super 8 film.

The Look of Memory

For a long time, video cameras were bulky, difficult to use, and prone to accidents. Only a few dedicated filmmakers had the expertise and patience to handle these cameras, so footage was fairly limited to professionals producing Hollywood movies or documenting news reports. 

Then, in the 60s, Kodak introduced Super 8 film at the World’s Fair, replacing the old inefficient cameras and film reels with new, user-friendly technology: a self-loading black plastic cartridge of film (the precursor to the VHS video cameras of the 90s).

Suddenly — anyone could make a movie. Anyone could pick up a Super 8 Camera, take it home, and hit record on whatever life moment captured their fancy — and so they did.

For the first time, everyday moments were transformed into captured memories:

A smiling baby becomes a giggling baby, smearing his cheeks with birthday cake as family and friends clap and cheer. A woman in white kisses her husband and a grin blooms on his face; he whispers to her, she laughs. A whole story unfolds.

Crinkle. Pop. Flickering. Golden. 

The Feeling of Home

Super 8 is the look of the first home videos, the texture of the first widespread documentation of everyday life, the filter of the first regular, average ol’ people holding a movie camera. 

Anyone can record a pretty clear video from their phone, right? But the footage feels…detached. Hollow. A little soulless, even. It’s not tangible, and it doesn’t even feel like it. It’s as neutrally functional as a pair of 50-cent flip-flops.

Now how do you feel about your favorite, worn-through pair of sneakers?

There’s a reason we gravitate to that aged-looking effect, that warm glow. When we think of the moving past, we see it in Super 8 texture. Movies and TV today recreate this look all the time for flashbacks or scenes from the narrative past, and they do this because the grain, the blur, the imperfections feel like the past to us. 

It’s not about documentary accuracy or technical clarity — it’s about magic. Sentiment. Familiarity. Home. Conjuring the experience of the past. Re-feeling it again and again in the future.

In the same way, Super 8 is distinctly of its time and yet timeless. It transports us through layers of now to then and back again, and it connects our humble lives with the shared experiences of those living before and after us. It feels joyfully fleeting, yet infinitely powerful — which is the feeling of being alive.

Your Life on Super 8 Film

Our time here is so special, and every one of our stories is important and unique, but also real, tangible, felt. Life isn’t a security camera; it’s light embossed in paper, rolled up tight with all our heart, passed carefully on for loved ones to play back again and again, and each with each listen signing its own pop, stamp, fade of time. Perfectly imperfectly. 

Whether you’ve written a song or declared your love, whether you’ve launched a business or stretched a fresh canvas, whether you have a great story or aren’t sure if you do, but you’re alive and breathing and seeking a picture to capture that feeling — your life deserves to be recorded with care, inspiration and passion, and I would be thrilled to capture your experience on Super 8 film. It’s such a special, evocative process, and there’s truly nothing like it for remembering and sharing your one wild and precious life. 

Super 8 as a medium itself is special, but I also have an eye for authenticity, and I use a style of shooting, cutting and editing footage that further crafts the nostalgic, timeless feel of a vintage home video. Between my film photography expertise and artistic storytelling, I am so passionate about creating the perfect piece that captures your best moments and shares light, warm memories and homey comfort with the world. I would be honored to tell your story and paint the beautiful picture of human experience that this art form was intended for.

Make your story, your brand or business stand out in a unique and personal way that will speak straight to the heart now and forever. Let’s capture that moment exactly how it felt. It will be yours to treasure forever.

See what your memories could look like at my film portfolio here, or message me here to reserve a Super 8 film session with me now.