The Archives of our Lives

How Super 8 brought filmmaking to the masses 

In partnership with Kodak

Think about your favorite home video. A time capsule of slightly grainy, time-stamped memories that transports us back to simpler times, usually viewed over shared laughs with the people we love most. The carefree days of birthday parties, Christmas mornings, soccer games and dance recitals, graduations, vacations, and family reunions. The feeling of nostalgia. And you might not know it, but this is all thanks to Kodak for continuously inventing and making cameras more and more accessible for the average Joe. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the release of Super 8 mm film — the film that revolutionized amateur filmmaking and gave us all those now-sacred-feeling home videos. Happy birthday, dear Super 8, happy birthday to you.

The History of Super 8

For most of us, we likely can’t remember a time without home video. Kodak released the Super 8 film camera in 1965, changing the game and making film and photography accessible to a much wider variety of people. Sixty years later, just think of all the core-memory moments captured by all the humans out there all across the world. 

It all started in 1923, when 35 mm film was the standard. And it wasn’t super convenient, considering you had to use the 16 mm Ciné-Kodak Camera, and it weighed upward of 7 pounds and had to be hand-cranked twice per second during filming. Not to mention how expensive it was to get your hands on a roll of film along with said camera. 

Then 1932 brought the Ciné-Kodak Eight, which still used 16 mm film that had to be reloaded after one side of the film was used. This resulted in 50 feet of 8 mm movie film once developed. 

Flash forward a few years to the 1950s, and we start to see 8 mm home movie cameras more and more. Think birthdays, vacations, graduations. That kind of thing. 

And then came 1965, when the Super 8 mm format was introduced. More convenient and a whole lot cheaper, this format offered film, cameras, and projectors to the masses. Plus, the cartridge idea made filming pretty much foolproof. No jamming, no interruptions. Simply home video for anyone and everyone. Less than 10 years later, Kodak added the ability to record sound with the image, changing the game for good. 

And not too long ago, Kodak did it again by releasing the new KODAK Super 8 Camera, updating analog filmmaking with modern convenience. 

How it’s made

Good trivia facts to know: All Super 8 film (since the very beginning) is manufactured in the United States. And if you really want to show off and get even more granular, it's specifically made at the Eastman Kodak film factory in Rochester, New York. Which just so happens to be the old stomping grounds of the good fellow we must thank for Kodak. We love you, George. 

All motion picture film — Super 8, 16 mm, 35 mm, 65 mm — starts as a big, wide roll and is then slit to each format size. In preparation to be cut to size, the wide rolls are kept in wooden coffins to shut out the light. Kind of like vampires.

So, the same wide-roll film that produces Super 8 also produces the 65 mm film used to capture none other than Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. Even in Super 8, you’re shooting the same film formulations these filmmakers shoot. 

After film has been exposed through the camera, be it for a seven-time Oscar-winning blockbuster or your niece’s 8th birthday party, it needs to be processed and scanned. There are film labs worldwide, including in The Big Apple, where Kodak’s Film Lab NY treats all your film, including Super 8, with special care. 

What it brought us

Not sure about you, but for us, not a lot beats gathering around and watching old videos. Getting a glimpse into your childhood and uncovering memories you might have otherwise forgotten. Like a living scrapbook of the times before camera phones — the motion picture archives of our childhoods. 

And if we take a step back and look beyond just our memories, Super 8 film paved the way to bring footage from around the world to those who might not have ever witnessed it. Thanks to Super 8, we have footage from Woodstock. We have all of the Grateful Dead concerts recorded by fans, keeping the legacy alive. We have raw footage from wars and news reports, shedding light and educating the masses. It allowed humans to share moments with one another, regardless of whether they were present or not, which built a sense of interconnectedness throughout the globe. 

And you can’t think of film without thinking of cinema. Super 8 might not often be what’s shown on the silver screen, but it did encourage some of the bigger Hollywood names to pick up a camera in the first place. If it weren’t for Super 8, James Cameron might never have gotten into film. Steven Soderbergh, Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, Wes Anderson, J.J. Abrams: These cinematic geniuses got their start by running around with a video camera and experimenting when they were younger. And look at them now — record-breaking blockbuster after blockbuster, all because of an accessible camera, curiosity, and a little creativity. 

Why it’s making such a comeback

Well, first things first: Gen Z loves the ’90s and early 2000s and everything retro. And Super 8 captures that essence of home-style videos and photos that feel more authentic. Nostalgic, to say the least. And the real thing is way cooler than using a Super 8 effect on your video footage. 

Not only that, there’s something special these days about footage that’s not from your smartphone. It makes it matter more. It’s not just a saved video from your Instagram story with stickers on it or one of 35 images of the same thing, but raw, unfiltered, unprocessed footage that hasn’t been warped for social media. A true glimpse at life through the lens. Something that we feel more people are trying to get back to, and something we can get behind. 

As it's making its resurgence, you’ll see artists using Super 8 for music videos, including Katy Perry, Drake, Z Berg, Lana Del Ray, Kacey Musgraves, and more. This gives their music an authentic visual that helps tell a story through video. 

You’ll also see behind-the-scenes footage and principal photography of big blockbuster movies captured on Super 8. Like Twisters, Maria, and I’m Still Here. For that raw, nostalgic home-video type feel that makes people pay attention — even more than 4K HD. It allows viewers to feel they are getting a true glimpse of the set, the actors, the lifestyle, as opposed to footage cleaned up for a press tour; it makes viewers feel included and more connected to the movie-making process. And with this comes more excitement for the final film, helping with the resurgence of movie theaters and cinemas. Butterfly effect, if you will. 

Interested in getting into Super 8?

Here are a few tips from our friends at Kodak. 

1. Hold that camera steady. Tripods encouraged.
2. Batteries are important. Vital actually. Keep ’em charged, and have a backup. 
3. Don’t get crazy with the zoom feature. It’s all about the lighting, and you can lose that with zooming. Medium and close-range shots come out the best. 
4. Process your film asap. 
5. Remember to take the lens cap off. Otherwise your film will come back black. No picture whatsoever. Not that we’re speaking from experience. 
6. If you’re making a movie, think about continuity. Keep in mind you’re telling a story. Recall your grade school English class: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. Look at you using what you learned in 6th grade.
7. Add variety — switch up your shot styles, length, and angles, and try the five different Super 8 film stocks that Kodak offers. 
8. Keep your camera clean. A soft brush will do. 
9. Store your camera in a safe place. Specifically out of direct sunlight, and if you’re storing it for a long time, release the shutter every few months. 
10. Be creative, have fun. 

To explore more of the world of film, head to kodak.com/go/super8.