Amateur film


Amateur film is a genre of filmmaking done primarily for personal enjoyment, passion, or hobby, without commercial intent or substantial funding. It encompasses a wide range of activities, from recording family events and local news to creating experimental works or dramatic productions.
It later overlapped with fan film, a filmmaking genre used for amateur films created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators.

Organizations

The international organization for amateur film makers is UNICA ; in the United States the American Motion Picture Society, in Canada the Society of Canadian Cine Amateurs, in the UK it is the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers. These organizations arrange annual festivals and conventions. There are several amateur film festivals held annually in the United States, Canada and Europe.
The Cinema Museum in London holds a large collection of amateur films whose details can be accessed on-line.

Creation

Amateur films were usually shot on 16 mm film or on 8 mm film 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 filmmaker. Amateur video has become the choice for the low-budget filmmaker and has boomed into a very watched and even produced industry with the use of VHS and digital video camcorders.

Notable films

National Film Registry

A number of amateur films have been added to the National Film Preservation Board's National Film Registry including:The Augustas Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse Disneyland Dream

Later works

Firelight The Valley Bad Taste It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books
  • ''Herman's Cure-All Tonic''

Publications