IntelliBerries - Fruit for the Mind.

Part three of my four-part series on photos, takes us back in time a little. I actually thought that going back to the early 1900’s would give us a good start to look at the beginning of the motion picture industry. But did you know that the concept for “persistence of vision” dates back to 1824 with the invention of the Thaumatrope? This was an optical illusion toy that gave the illusion of movement. What about the Fantascope or “spindle viewer”? This device allowed spectators to look through the slots of a spinning disk, which simulated motion or a moving picture. There’s plenty more inventions like the Daedalum and the Zoetrope that appeared as inventors, scientists and manufacturers played with various ways to take a series of individual still pictures, and set them into motion, creating the illusion of movement.

Although many inventors experimented with taking multiple exposures on single glass plates, true motion pictures, rather than eye-fooling animations, could only occur after the development of film that could record split-second pictures. In 1889, American inventor George Eastman was able to produce a stable type of celluloid film with a photographic emulsion. And, of course, Thomas Edison had a hand in the introduction of cinema, as he helped to work on constructing a device for recording movement on film, and another device for viewing the film. You can read more fascinating facts about the early days of cinema by visiting Filmsite.Org.

Today let’s take another look at our infatuation of capturing family memories, but this time, instead of moving (pardon the pun) forward and concentrating on digital photos, we’ll go back to the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s when families were able to start taking their own “home” movies. I know when I was a kid, my Dad always had the Super 8 Movie Camera out there. There was no sound yet, but he was able to capture a lot of my childhood memories. Then, when my kids were young, we added a Camcorder to the family outings that not only recorded video… but audio too. While the devices used back then have changed a lot, we still don’t want to lose those cherished keepsakes. So today let’s look at what one company is doing about it.

Enter iMemories.com
Have you ever wondered how to convert pre-1990s home movies such as 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm reels, or old VHS and 8mm camcorder videotapes? What if some of your user-generated content isn’t digital yet? Where can you store all of your family memories, no matter how new or old? To solve this problem, one of the web-based services available is iMemories Online.

Film and videotapes are rapidly degrading due to factors of time, wear, heat, and moisture. Unless these priceless family assets are re-mastered and preserved digitally, they will eventually degrade until they are no longer watchable or salvageable. The services you’ll find at iMemories allows you to use their FedEx SafeShip kit to send in your film and video safely, then go online to edit, label and organize, and order a DVD and/or store the digital footage.

You can combine your transferred footage with any new digital video you’ve taken, as well as transfer old photos and slides so you have them all in one place. With natural disasters like Katrina wiping out families’ entire family collections, digital might be the best way to go in the future.

Note from KC: Being a Mom, Gramma and all-out nostalgia aficionado, I’ll be trying this service out right away. What a nice Christmas gift this would make for young and old? So dig those old reels and VHS tapes out, dust ‘em off and give it a try. Tell iMemories that KC sent you!

We’ll wrap up our photo series tomorrow with Part Four.

Treasure wisdom…
For wisdom finds treasure - KC

Quote for the day: Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment, towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood. Walt Disney