We couldn’t let the news that ‘Japan’s Funai Electric has announced it will end production of home videocassette recorders in July’ go by unnoticed.
Tag: VHS
VHS – Re-appraising Obsolescence
VHS was a hugely successful video format from the late 1970s to early 2000s. It was adopted widely in domestic and professional contexts. Due to its familiarity and apparent ubiquity you might imagine it is easy to preserve VHS. Well, think again. VHS is generally considered to be a low preservation risk because playback equipment… Continue reading VHS – Re-appraising 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
Digitise VHS Tapes – Bristol’s Meet Your Feet
We recently digitised some VHS tapes from when Bristol-based band Meet Your Feet performed on HTV in 1990. Meet Your Feet ‘formed in 1988 as a result of three of the women getting together to start a women’s music workshop, Meet Your Feet played its first gig in June 1988, when asked to get a… Continue reading Digitise VHS Tapes – Bristol’s Meet Your Feet
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 / Hi8 video tapes digitised for The Great Hip Hop Hoax
For a while now we’ve been working with film maker Jeanie Finlay on various projects, digitising archive video footage in varying tape formats and standards. Her latest project, soon to be premiered in the US: …is a film about truth, lies and the legacy of faking everything in the desperate pursuit of fame. The American… Continue reading VHS / Hi8 video tapes digitised for The Great Hip Hop Hoax
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)