Grand Rapids Michigan USA-1961: A Person Pulled Across Lake On Water Skis

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Year1961
Decade1960s
LocationGrand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1961 Michigan

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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Stockfilm licenses the rights identified in the applicable agreement. Additional use-specific review may be required. See the Licensing Guide and Archive Integrity.

A Person Pulled Across Lake On Water Skis — Clip Details

A vintage 8mm home movie clip from 1961 showing a person water skiing on a calm lake in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The skier, wearing a bright orange life vest and light-colored swimwear, is pulled across the water on skis, creating a white wake. The footage has a classic Super 8 film look with natural color saturation, visible grain, and a slightly soft focus. The scene is framed by dark borders, suggesting it was shot through a projector or viewed on an old screen. The background features a tree-lined shore under bright daylight, capturing a nostalgic moment of 1960s summer recreation.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 121076309

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Commercial Direct license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Editorial use is the safest path. For commercial use, a clearance review is recommended for the flags below.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: No
Logos / trademarks: No
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel 2015 · 8mm · 3″ reel
Original reel label: xmas,linda communion,,d danielar
Reel-level year note: 1961-1962
Reel-level location note: detroit michigan,
Date: 1961 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level note shows the same year, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level location note is linked, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

View source reel context Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1960s recreation requests needing real home-movie footage of water skiing, lake vacations, or summer leisure in Michigan.
Period detail: The clip may show early 1960s lake recreation through the skier's bright life vest, simple swimwear, tow rope, and soft 8mm color rendering.
Home-movie behavior: The value is an unstaged family-film view of a skier being pulled across calm water, recorded from a distance as a summer activity unfolds.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a water skier, orange life vest, tow rope, white spray, calm lake surface, reflected figure, dark frame borders, and wooded shoreline.
Film character: The 8mm scan has soft focus, visible grain, uneven exposure, saturated color, and dark projection-like borders that add archival home-movie texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a brief insert, recreational cutaway, summer transition, or memory beat within a sequence about vacations or lake sports.
Historical context: The footage gives visual context for mid-century recreational boating culture without identifying the skier, boat, lake property, or specific event.
Research note: A person is visible at a distance, so likeness review may still be needed; no logos, music, or private property are apparent from these frames.
Research search match: Relevant searches include 1961 8mm water skiing, Michigan lake home movie, Grand Rapids summer recreation, and vintage family vacation footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with the same reel, then other 1961 Grand Rapids or Michigan lake footage, then broader 1960s boating and vacation recreation clips.

Still Frames From This Clip

1961 home-movie frame from Grand Rapids, Michigan showing a distant water skier crossing a calm lake near a wooded shore. — A skier in an orange life vest is pulled across the lake, leaving a low white wake behind.

A distant skier in light swimwear and an orange life vest rides over the lake surface in this 1961 Michigan home-movie frame. — The skier holds the tow rope as spray rises around the skis on the calm water.

A 1961 8mm frame shows the skier low over the water, with a tow rope extending across a wooded Michigan lake scene. — The skier drops lower on the water as the tow rope stretches across the frame.

The final frame shows a distant skier continuing across the lake in 1961 Grand Rapids, with heavy spray and a tree-lined shore behind. — A wide burst of spray follows the skier as the run continues across the lake.

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