Need video clips

May 9, 2012 9:57 AM

I need to find a resource (or resources) where I can download old black and white clips.

I have an idea for a project that needs about 2 to 3 minutes of old b and w videos depicting scenes that are very wholesome (leave it to beaver style, families, fun, uplifting, etc) and troubling things (police brutality, atomic bomb explosions, negative stuff).

Is there somewhere I can go sift thru clips and download this type of stuff? Public domain type stuff? Thanks peeps.

posted by kenaldo to media & arts (5 answers total)

The Prelinger Archive is your new best friend. The Coronet category will get you all the wholesomeness you want. As far as the negative stuff, you'll definitely be able to find Cold War-era nuclear footage, but less on the police brutality front.
posted by griphus at 9:59 AM on May 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Archive.org hosts videos, including the Prelinger Archives and the Ephemeral Films collection links to the educational videos not in the PA.
posted by cobaltnine at 10:00 AM on May 9, 2012

If your project is a commercial one, Prelinger's collection is repped by Getty. If you need a license, that's where you go.
posted by Ideefixe at 11:22 AM on May 9, 2012

There's some police stuff too -- look at Operation Correction and Integration Report. Oh, and The Great Swindle.
posted by footage at 2:03 PM on May 9, 2012

Not all of these are black and white, but here's some atomic testing.
posted by radwolf76 at 11:08 PM on May 9, 2012