Home Video Day is an event which aims to bring a high level of preservation, valuation, and exhibition culture specifically to videotape in an effort to connect people with the increasingly obsolete technology needed to view their home movies. Some of the earliest conversations I had when I was hired at Whammy! in June 2023 were about the dream for a day in Los Angeles dedicated to videotape preservation. Many are discouraged by the high costs of digitization services and the difficulty in accessing playback equipment. In my work as an audio-visual archivist, I encounter these barriers regularly, presenting most people with few resources to digitize and preserve their tapes. As a past volunteer for Home Movie Day, I was inspired by the effervescent joy that comes from accessing such precious memories.
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| Paper-cut animation made by artist T Marsh |
For those unfamiliar with Home Movie Day, it is a 22-year event started in Los Angeles and spread across the globe, celebrating the beauty and value of home movies. The organization, Center for Home Movies, arose out of archivists' recognition of the limited avenues for home movie preservation and exhibition. Home Movie Day brings about magic by re-introducing home movies in circulation within family, friends, and community networks. The goal is to connect people with the technology and expertise to view their home movies, especially for amateur film gauges that must be viewed via projection or digitization.
Short film by Gabz Norte, with footage shot by Gabz and D
Through a series of planning meetings, Home Video Day took shape, formed by the passion and care of dozens of archivists across Los Angeles institutions. With volunteers from T.A.P.E., Whammy! Analog Media, UCLA's MLIS program, CSUN's Digital Services, The UCLA Film and Television Archive, The Academy Museum, The Academy Film Archive, and UCLA Library's AV Preservation Department, the group came together in donating their time and experience towards this important goal. We broke out into documentation and outreach committees, while others assisted with vital equipment loans. Particular thanks to equipment loans coordinated by Gabz Norte of UCLA Library's AV Preservation Department and Alohie Tadisse of CSUN's Digital Services. So many brilliant planners helped to shape the day into a joyful celebration.
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| Rhana and Franny at Check-In, Jason & Ian at Mold Cleaning Special thank you to the Academy Museum's Film Education Department for button-making at check in! |
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| UCLA MLIS Students Blaise, Sydney, & Olivia at the Inspection Table |
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| Olivia, Lee, Alohie, and Diana at the Inspection Table |
A real treat was the VCR Maintenance Station, where people could bring in dirty VCRs for cleaning and learn how to perform essential maintenance on their playback devices. T.A.P.E. is so grateful to Joe Iverson (Analog Mechanic) for his commitment to making this knowledge accessible through ongoing workshops at Whammy! One of my highlights was helping someone with a broken deck bring it back to life through simply cleaning the video drum, an easy and accessible practice.
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| Juliet at the VCR Maintenance Station |
Michael Edelson & I collaborated on a VCR (Videocassette Recorder) Maintenance Zine in preparation for Home Video Day, with resources on cleaning standard VHS decks, identifying problems, and other best practices.
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| A page from the VCR Maintenance Zine by Jackie Forsyte and Michael Edelson |
Once inside Whammy!, there were a number of viewing stations so people could watch their videotapes, sometimes for the first time in decades. Playback equipment included Umatic, VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, Video8, MiniDV, and DVCam. The variety of playback devices needed was key to the event, underscoring the myriad ways people recorded home movies and the precarity of so many obsolete formats.
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| Taylor at one of the viewing stations |
T.A.P.E Volunteers collaborated on our first-ever publication, a format Zine that covered the dozens of magnetic media formats that start as early as the late 1800s. With publications, we aim to foster access to preservation information and demonstrate the beauty of these audio-visual formats.
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| Portapack (1/2" Open Reel Video) by Lee |
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| DV (Digital Video) Formats by Alohie |
After viewing home movies privately, participants had the chance to show their videos on Whammy's big 4:3 screen, designed especially for analog video projection. Guided by the MC, Adrianne, participants could share memories in a joyous and powerful conversation. For me, the talk-back serves to enrich the records of peoples' lives, celebrating and mourning all at once.
And, of course, it wouldn't be home video day without home video day-themed Bingo with prizes! Special thanks to the donors of such fantastic prizes!
- Vidiots tickets
- Whammy! Merch
- Merch and film tickets from Mezzanine
- DVDs of film restorations from the UCLA Film and Television Archive
- Free TAPE mold cleaning from Jason Flood
- 10 Free items digitized from T.A.P.E
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| Adrianne MC'ing |
We are delighted at the success of Home Video Day and can't wait to help host more!
Special Thanks to D D'Acquisto for Hi8 footage and to Gabz Norte for wonderful photos, VHS footage, and editing a short film about the day.
T.A.P.E. is a 501(c) 3 non-profit dedicated to faciliating access to analog media making, preservation, and exhibition. To support our work and access great benefits, join our patreon at just $5/month. You'll get access to exclusive rates for our rental equipment library, access to our digital and physical videotape library, and other member benefits like free workshops.
We've launched a $6,000 goal for GoFundMe to buy essential digitization equipment to provide more archival transfer services for more tape formats. A donation will advance the work of people-oriented digitization services!
info@tapeanalog.org
Blog written by Jackie Forsyte, T.A.P.E.'s Techinical Director and an audio-visual archivist.
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| Spanish flyer translated by Diana |
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| Ahmaric flyer made by Alohie |
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