I recently had the pleasure of cutting together 78-year-old 8mm footage to create a music video for Leah Barley and her new single "Mountains". Not only is the song an absolute delight to listen to, it features her grandparents, Marion & Alan Barley, on their honeymoon in 1942.
The couple are madly in love, having a great deal of silly fun as they take the train through the mountains on their way from Toronto, Ontario to Tofino, British Columbia (construction on the TransCanada highway wouldn't begin for another 8 years). To see so much joy and love on their faces and to know that at that very moment WWII was tragically taking countless lives--to see Alan in his RCAF uniform--is a reminder that though our times may indeed be strange, there is always room for love.
And it turns out young Alan and Marion were also really very good filmmakers. The shots are beautifully composed and tell a lovely story (they even shot matching coverage!). The film was shot on Standard 8mm in Kodachrome color (which was released for home movie use in 1936). We had the 8mm reels digitized (from approximately 20 minutes of footage in total), then edited and color graded them into the music video you see here.
Enjoy, and remember to love fearlessly.
~Nathanael Vass
Director, Editor - “Mountains”