Michigan USA-1961: Water Skier Creating Wake on Lake

$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
LocationMichigan, 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.

Water Skier Creating Wake on Lake — Clip Details

Vintage 8mm home movie footage from Michigan USA in 1961 captures a water skier gliding across a calm lake, pulled by a motorboat. The skier, wearing dark swim trunks, cuts through the water, creating a dynamic wake behind them. The scene unfolds under daylight with a dense tree line forming the shoreline in the background. The footage exhibits classic Super 8 film characteristics: soft focus, natural grain, and a slightly faded color palette with muted blues and greens. The shot is framed by dark borders, suggesting it was filmed through a window or viewfinder, enhancing its nostalgic, personal feel. This authentic slice of mid-century American recreation is ideal for documentaries, editorial content, or nostalgic storytelling.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Exterior
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 121081004

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: 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: Supports archival requests for 1960s American lake recreation, home movies of water skiing, and mid-century leisure cutaways for documentary or editorial use.
Period detail: The clip may show early-1960s recreational boating culture through a lone water skier, open lake setting, wooded shoreline, and home-movie framing from Michigan in 1961.
Home-movie behavior: The value is in the unstaged observation of a skier being filmed from shore or a nearby craft as they cross the water and leave a wake behind them.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a water skier, lake surface, white spray, trailing wake, distant tree line, muted sky, and dark film or viewing borders.
Film character: The 8mm footage has soft focus, visible grain, slight color fading, handheld instability, and dark edge framing that reads as physical home-movie texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a brief recreation insert, a lake-life transition, or a memory beat within a sequence about summer leisure or family travel.
Historical context: The scene places water skiing within everyday outdoor leisure, showing a calm inland lake and wooded shoreline without identifiable landmarks or organized event context.
Research note: A person is visible at distance, so likeness review may still be needed even though no logos, music, children, or obvious private property are visible in the frames.
Research search match: Likely matches searches for 1961 Michigan 8mm water skiing, vintage lake recreation, home movie water skier, and mid-century American summer sports footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent shots from the same reel, then other Michigan 1961 lake scenes, then broader 1960s boating, swimming, and outdoor recreation footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

In 1961 Michigan home-movie footage, a distant water skier moves across a lake, throwing spray against a dark tree-lined shore. — A water skier crosses the lake while wake and spray spread behind them.

A distant water skier in the Michigan lake scene stands upright behind a tow line, with rippled water and trees beyond. — The skier remains upright as the wake trails across the lake surface.

The 1961 Michigan home movie shows the skier farther from camera, framed by lake water, white wake, and a wooded shoreline. — The skier recedes across the water, leaving a broken line of white spray.

Near the end of the Michigan lake shot, the skier leans at a distance while spray and wake stretch across the water. — The skier cuts across the far side of the frame with spray trailing behind.

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