The majority of 16mm, Regular 8, Super 8 film home movies are silent. The latest format, Super 8 film was originally a silent system only, but in 1973 a sound on film version was released. The sound film had a magnetic soundtrack which is visible as a thin copper strip on one edge of the film (see diagram below).
The reason there’s not a lot of Super 8 SOUND film out there is because not very long after Sound-On-Film became available, the VHS came out. The VHS (trivia: VHS: Video Home System) recording and playing standard was launched in the US in June of 1977. If you weren’t an early adopter of Super 8 Sound, you would skip the new sound-on-film recording and move straight to the VHS.
So, if you are transferring 16mm, 8mm, or Super 8 film to DVD, chances are your home movies will be silent. Which is charming in itself. We do, however, offer the option of adding background music to your silent movies at no extra charge. You have a choice of 4 music genres: Easy Listening, Light Classical, 50’s/60’s Rock ‘n Roll, and Big Band. The most popular choice is Easy Listening. When I have some time, I will post a few samples here. If you are transferring the film to DVD for your parents, ask them what kind of music they associate with the period, that’s how we end up adding Big Band music to many film transfer projects.
Whichever genre you decide, do choose something, if you hate it, you can always mute it and you are back where you start. But there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy watching your silent home movies with a soothing, emotion-evoking light music in the background.
If you are converting your film to digital files on a hard drive, we will not add background music because most customers who transfer their home movies – VHS, miniDV, 8mm, Super 8 film to a hard drive (as opposed to a DVD) have the intention of editing the movies – trimming out unwanted sections, putting titles, transitions, and adding your own background music before burning the final edited movie into a DVD.
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