"Preserving our heritage becomes more important as the generations we looked too for guidance pass by and we become the advisor."
Growing Our Heritage
We are at a point in time in the history of society where computers, storage, digital cameras and the Internet are as readily available as the phone and TV in the home. And while we are recording every moment there does not appear to be one moment that we will consider to be as significant or special as those captured on film from years past.
And therein lays the problem. With all the latest technology and gadgetry to capture and record the history that is going on around us, we are tragically forgetting about the history that has already been captured during the past 100-year. And while we may not see it with our naked eye, these media assets are degrading.
That is why we have launched Growing Our Heritage; a program which provides local libraries, heritage preservation organizations and genealogical associations with the perfect mix of technology, skill and experience, at an affordable rate, to digitally convert and repair media assets that are considered at risk.
We understand how pressed non-profit organizations are to keep moving forward while managing within a limited budget. That is why it is so important that thy find a partner who enjoys learing the history of their towns, communities and families, and is willing to contribute back, for those generations to come.
Our contribution to preserving this rich heritage comes in the form of a donation of studio time as well as access to the latest in post-production
technologies that convert, repair and re-package media assets. Under the Growing Our Heritage program, each video tape, audio tape, CD, slide, negative or photo is analyzed for problem areas, converted to a digital format, repaired so as to improve the media and re-packaged on the latest generally available technology, with a master copy provided to the requesting organization for cataloging purposes.
We further help the organization to offset the conversion fees through the design and rollout of a fundraising event, within the community, which allows the organization to recover their original investment, as well as generate new revenues, through a shared revenue model by selling DVDs, AudioCDs and VHS copies to the general public.
“Our post-production technology cannot be found at the local box store and to use it properly requires hundreds of hours of experience in understanding all the tricks to properly converting and repairing media.”
Contact us directly at (506) 849-3381 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (506) 849-3381 end_of_the_skype_highlighting (506) 849-3381 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (506) 849-3381 end_of_the_skype_highlighting to find out more about the Growing our Heritage program or any of our other products and services.
The samples below are the DVD jackets for projects we have recently completed.
Hawkes and McGinley Families - 1997 (VHS)
Dickie Family - 1998 (VHS)
Brogan Family - 2002 (VHS)
Stevenson Family - 2003 (VHS)
Memories of Marilyn - 1994 (VHS)
It's not uncommon for something really unique and special to occur when a visionary and an innovator work together. Marjorie Price, one of the board members for the Chipman Public Library and an advocate for literacy in our communities, had a large vision of taking the family histories that were captured on video during the Irish Night celebrations and making them available to the public, while at the same time raising money for literacy development.
By luck or by fate WhiteFern Studios, a media development and conversion company in Rothesay, NB approached the Chipman Library in November 2008 and offered to take one of the older VHS tapes from the early 90s, convert it into a digital format and re-package it into the popular DVD format. With the innovative technologies used by WhiteFern Studios they were able to show the library how they could take video that was available in a legacy format (VHS), degrading in quality and make it new and exciting again.
The result of the partnership was the launch of the Growing Our Heritage program at the Summer Festival. For the first time ever the Irish Nights and family histories for the McGinleys, Hawkes, Brogan, Dickie and Stevenson families were made available in a professionally packaged DVD format, for purchase by the general public. The community and individual families responded very well throughout the Summer Festival days, to not only buying the DVDs but also requesting other family histories to be converted as well.
With the original video now in a digital format it is now safely archived for years to come and in the future can be made available in the latest media formats.
To view the promotional trailer for the Chipman Public Library Growing Our Heritage program search for WhiteFern Studios on YouTube.
Source: Grand Lake Mirror, August 2009
WhiteFern Studios recognized for historical restoration project
