Amateur film

Amateur Film is the low-budget hobbyist art of film practiced for passion and enjoyment and not for business purposes.

Organizations

The international organization for amateur film makers is UNICA (Union International du Cinema Non Professionel); in the United States the American Motion Picture Society (AMPS), in the UK it is the Film & Video Institute. These organizations arrange annual festivals and conventions. There are several Amateur Film festivals held annually in the United States and in Europe.

Creation

Amateur films were usually shot on 16 mm film or on 8 mm film (Either Double-8 or Super-8) until the advent of cheap video cameras or digital equipment. The advent of digital video and computer based editing programs greatly expanded the technical quality achievable by the amateur and low budget film maker. Amateur video has now become the choice for the low budget film maker and has boomed into a very watched and even produced industry with the usage of VHS and DVD Digital Video camcorders.

In 1987 a United States Patent was put forth on improving the process for transferring film to video or film previously transferred to video for the treatment thereof and the transfer thereof to a master at a real time play rate, the process comprising the steps of: (a) transferring film to video or transferring video carrying the film previously transferred to it to video in a 1:1 frame of film to frame of video ratio where one frame of film, or one frame of film previously transferred to video as the case may be, corresponds to one frame (two sequential fields) of video--(thus each frame of film now occupies only two sequential fields of video). The process has been developed to allow transfer from 8mm and 16mm to VHS and DVD also made creating amateur film footage much more professional wile adding more of a smooth watchability element. The process allows for unwanted footage to be effectively removed and unique brightness to show as well as color correction during the film transfer conversion process.

In March 1989 the ability to transfer motion picture images of 3-D to videotape was patented. More particularly for film to video transfer methods adapted for 3-D television viewing.