As I write, just before 17.00 GMT / 12.00 EST, 24th January 2025, Anamorph.com are about to go live with the 24hour global streaming premiere of creative film maker Gary Hustwit’s unique documentary feature ‘Eno’. Echoing Brian Eno’s long-running explorations of generative technology in composition, Hustwit and digital artist Brendan Hawes have created Brain One… Continue reading Brian Eno Archive Video
Tag: documentary
Video Art & Machine Obsolescence
At Greatbear we have many, many machines. A small selection of our analogue video players, CRT monitors, cameras, cables and tapes recently found work as props (both functional and decorative) in the BBC documentary “Kill Your TV: Jim Moir’s Weird World of Video Art”, on BBC iPlayer here. From the BBC website: “Jim Moir, aka Vic… Continue reading Video Art & Machine Obsolescence
Phil Johnson’s the Wild Bunch VHS video
As a business situated in the heart of Bristol, Greatbear is often called upon by Bristol’s artists to re-format their magnetic tape collections. Previously we have transferred documentaries about the St. Paul’s Carnival and films from the Bristol-based Women in Moving Pictures archive. We also regularly digitise tapes for Bristol Archive Records. We were recently approached by author… Continue reading Phil Johnson’s the Wild Bunch VHS video
Re-animating archives: Action Space’s V30H / V60H EIAJ 1/2″ video tapes
One of the most interesting aspects of digitising magnetic tapes is what happens to them after they leave the Greatbear studio. Often transfers are done for private or personal interest, such as listening to the recording of loved ones, or for straightforward archival reasons. Yet in some cases material is re-used in a new creative project, thereby translating… Continue reading Re-animating archives: Action Space’s V30H / V60H EIAJ 1/2″ video tapes
Digitise VHS Tape – Martin Smith’s Life Can Be Wonderful
In February 2013 we digitised a VHS tape from Martin Smith, the 1994 documentary Life Can Be Wonderful. The VHS tape was the only copy of the film Smith owned, and it is quite common for Great Bear to digitise projects where the film maker does not have the master copy. This is because original copies… Continue reading Digitise VHS Tape – Martin Smith’s Life Can Be Wonderful
VHS-C and full size VHS (NTSC and PAL)
‘We’re not sure what on here’ is a common phrase used by customers who send tape to the Greatbear. Spurred on by curiosity or creative necessity, they contact us to help them solve the mystery. This is exactly what documentary film maker Jeanie Finlay did when she sent us VHS-C and full size VHS tapes… Continue reading VHS-C and full size VHS (NTSC and PAL)
Digitising Betacam SP video tapes
We have recently been digitising Betacam SP (‘superior performance’) video recordings, a cassette based component analogue format that is used extensively in the broadcast world. Betacam SP offered fantastic video and audio quality from its introduction in 1986, and a very similar digital cassette, Digital Betacam, is still used now. Betacam SP was commonly used throughout… Continue reading Digitising Betacam SP video tapes
St. Pauls Carnival 1968, Bristol
Celebrate What? is a documentary we transferred and created DVD access copies for its director recently. He only had a VHS copy of the 8mm original unfortunately but it’s still a great piece of history about St Pauls, the St Pauls Carnival and Bristol. If anyone can recognise themselves or anyone else, please contact the… Continue reading St. Pauls Carnival 1968, Bristol