“Celluloid film captures memory”

While studying film, I have developed a fascination with the relationship between film and the human mind. I have a particular interest in how film imitates or represents the way images are processed in the brain. For this reason, I was intrigued by Wilson’s view on vintage home movies. He argues that celluloid film, due to its richness and tactile nature, has “an ongoing, deeply personal relationship with memory” (Wilson, 2011). It was this concept that led me to the statement: “celluloid film captures memory”, which was the inspiration for this video.

While searching through free video archives online for vintage home movies, I came across an old video that was about half an hour long. It contained what seemed like years’ worth of memories. Looking through the footage, I was struck by the beauty of the images. The film was silent, but the images were rich and vibrant. Surprisingly, I felt a kind of emotional connection to the memories, even though they had nothing to do with me.

I decided to go through the video and cut the parts that elicited an emotional response for me into a short clip. My intention was to curate the images in a succinct format, to evoke a sense of memory, or at least provoke some kind of emotional response. I added music to the footage (also obtained from a free online archive) in an attempt to create a more finished product with a more emotional tone.

I was influenced by Frampton’s view that our current understanding of memory is not yet concrete enough to truly visualise it on screen, but that film is capable of producing “metaphors and illustrations of memory” (Frampton, 2012). I believe that celluloid film in particular has characteristics that are symbolically, culturally, historically linked to memory. For example, the image quality generated by celluloid film is instantly recognisable, and immediately evokes an emotional response that is not present in digital cinematography.

The emotional difference between digital and analogue films has been tested in the past. A study comparing audience perceptions of digital and analogue cinematography found that “the audience remembered visual background details better when watching the digital version” (Loertscher et al., 2016), suggesting that digital film has a stronger presence in memory. However, the same study also noted that “higher levels of emotional reactions were achieved with mechanical projection”. It seems that despite the clarity of digital film, analogue cinematography has a greater emotional impact than digital.

Olsen argues that “it is our obligation as film archives, as true film museums, to keep projecting precious analogue film prints… for as long as we can, for both our generation and the next” (Olsen, 2016). I believe that analogue film formats are important not just for documenting historical events/images, but also for the emotional connection that they have with human memory. It seems to me that it is not just a sense of nostalgia that is recalled by celluloid film, but also an honest emotional response, similar to that experienced when reflecting on a strong emotional memory. That is what I was trying to illustrate, if only fleetingly, in the clip I made.

Works Cited:

Frampton, D. (2012). Filmosophy. 1st ed. London: Columbia University Press.

Loertscher, M., Weibel, D., Spiegel, S., Flueckiger, B., Mennel, P., Mast, F. and Iseli, C. (2016). As film goes byte: The change from analog to digital film perception. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 10(4), pp.458-471.

Olsen, J. (2016). Maintaining Analogue Film Projection in the Digital Age. Journal of Film Preservation; Brussels, 94, pp.53-58.

Wilson, Shaun (2011). ‘Remixing memory through home movies.’ Image & Narrative, 12(2)

Footage:

Home Movie PA 098585. (n.d.). Available at:  www.archive.org/details/HomeMoviePA098585.

Music:

Cascades (of the Feelings). (2017). [online] Available at: www.freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Agrarians/Matthew/Cascades_of_the_Feelings_1