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Home/Browse/New York City-1958: A Ferry Slowly Moves Through The Water While Silhouettes Of

New York City-1958: A Ferry Slowly Moves Through The Water While Silhouettes Of

$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.

  • Year1958
  • Decade1950s
  • LocationNew York City, New York, United States
  • Duration5s
  • Price$149 USD
  • Collection1958 New York City

$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 Ferry Slowly Moves Through The Water While Silhouettes Of — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1958, this vintage home movie captures a serene evening view from a high vantage point overlooking New York City. Silhouetted figures watch as a ferry glides slowly across the water, its lights reflecting on the dark bay. The city skyline stretches across the horizon under a dusky purple sky, with a prominent lighthouse or beacon visible in the foreground. The footage exhibits classic Super 8 grain and color shifts, evoking a nostalgic, documentary-style memory of mid-century urban life.

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
124558508

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 1256 · 8mm · 7″ reel
Original reel label
#8
Reel-level year note
1957-1958
Reel-level location note
new york
Date
1958 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
New York City, New York, 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 contextOpen Clip Documentation RecordRequest source information

Topics & Keywords

  • lights
  • evening
  • city
  • hill
  • ocean
  • bay
  • ferry
  • slowly
  • moves
  • water
  • silhouettes
  • people
  • watch
  • transportation
  • new york city
  • 1958
  • 1958 New York City footage
  • vintage 8mm film
  • Super 8 home movie
  • ferry moving on water
  • silhouettes watching
  • dusk city view
  • lighthouse beacon
  • archival footage
  • retro 1950s
  • classic film
  • New York harbor
  • evening transportation
  • grainy film
  • nostalgic home movie
  • 1950s Americana
  • city skyline
  • water reflections
  • old film footage
  • documentary style
  • historic 8mm

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit
1950s New York City 8mm footage suited to documentary requests for harbor travel, evening waterfront views, and silhouetted spectators watching a vessel from an overlook.
Period detail
The clip shows mid-century color 8mm home-movie material with distant city buildings, harbor traffic, and a foreground pole or beacon, while the exact vessel type should be verified.
Home-movie behavior
The value is in the visitor-shot perspective, with people standing in silhouette and looking out across the water rather than posing for the camera.
What appears in frame
Visible elements include silhouetted heads and shoulders, a slanted pole or lamp, open water, a distant skyline, a lit shoreline, and a vessel moving across the bay.
Film character
The footage has soft focus, blue-purple color shift, visible grain, gate edges, and slight handheld instability typical of scanned 1950s 8mm home movies.
Edit role
An editor could use this as a quiet establishing insert, harbor transition, travel memory beat, or cutaway between city and waterfront sequences.
Historical context
The scene places everyday spectators against New York harbor and skyline views, offering visual context for leisure travel and urban waterfront observation in the late 1950s.
Research note
People appear only as silhouettes, but likeness review may still be needed; copyright, location, vessel identity, and any property considerations should be assessed separately.
Research search match
Useful search matches include 1958 New York City harbor 8mm, vintage ferry on water, silhouetted people watching bay, and 1950s home movie skyline view.
Archive pairing path
Pair first with adjacent shots from the same reel, then with 1958 New York City waterfront material, and finally with broader harbor transportation or evening city-view footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

1958 New York City 8mm frame with dark spectator silhouettes, a slanted pole or lamp, and a hazy skyline beyond the water.
Spectators look out toward a hazy city skyline from a high waterfront vantage point.
1958 New York City harbor view with silhouetted onlookers in the foreground and a vessel crossing the water near a distant shoreline.
Foreground silhouettes watch a vessel moving across the harbor near the distant city edge.
1958 New York City 8mm harbor frame showing a vessel on blue water, foreground silhouettes, and a lit distant shoreline.
A vessel passes across the bay while silhouetted viewers remain in the foreground.
1958 New York City harbor footage with dark viewer silhouettes, a vessel offshore, and a softly lit skyline along the horizon.
The vessel continues across the harbor beneath a blue-purple evening sky.

Visually Similar Clips

← Previous in archiveNew York City-1958: Soldiers and Civilians Watching River Panoramic CityscapeNext in archive →New York City-1958: Naval Ship at Sea with Silhouetted Observers
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