Abstract

This study examines the practices and discourses of small gauge filmmaking and attempts to account for the longevity and persistence of the medium. Emphasis is placed on the perception of the home movie as the primary implementation of amateur filmmaking technology. Some of the issues addressed are: the ideology of the family as perpetuated in the home movie making aesthetics of the 1940s, '50s and '60s, the use of the home movie as a code within narrative commercial feature films, and the artistic and political claims made for small gauge filmmaking. The conclusion examines present-day discourses and the positioning of super 8 filmmaking as a revolutionary or radical practice.