Oakland California-1937: Swans Swimming on a Blue Lake with Birds on Shore

$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.

Year1937
Decade1930s
LocationOakland, California, United States
Duration6s
Price$149 USD
Collection1937 Oakland California

$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.

Swans Swimming on a Blue Lake with Birds on Shore — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1937, this vintage home movie captures a serene lakeside scene in Oakland, California. White swans glide gracefully across the water's surface, their forms contrasting against the deep blue, slightly purplish hue of the lake. The shoreline is dotted with smaller birds, possibly ducks or geese, scattered along the edge. The footage exhibits classic Super 8 film characteristics—soft focus, grain, and a distinct color cast—evoking a nostalgic, archival feel. The camera remains mostly static, offering a peaceful, observational view of wildlife in a natural setting.

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: 6s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 127255003

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.

No recognizable people, logos, or music are flagged. Lower-risk for commercial use, subject to your own review.

People 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 record not linked for this clip
Date: 1937 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no reel-level note is linked.
Location: Oakland, California, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no reel-level note is linked.
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.

Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1930s Oakland home-movie wildlife coverage, especially documentary inserts needing calm lake birds and shoreline activity.
Period detail: The frames show an outdoor lake scene with no clear clothing, vehicles, signage, or architecture, so the 1937 Oakland context rests on supplied clip metadata.
Home-movie behavior: The static, distant view feels like an amateur observer pausing on swans and shore birds rather than staging action for the camera.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include swans on blue water, clusters of smaller shore birds, a sandy or pale shoreline, rippling reflections, trees or dark bank shapes, and film-frame borders.
Film character: The 8mm scan has soft focus, visible grain, a blue-purple color cast, exposure variation, and contact-sheet framing that reinforce its physical home-movie origin.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a quiet wildlife cutaway, memory beat, or transitional insert for Oakland, lakeside recreation, or archival nature sequences.
Historical context: The scene suggests public or open-air lakeside bird watching in the late 1930s, but the frames do not identify the exact lake or any named landmark.
Research note: No people, faces, brands, or private interiors are visible, though copyright, location, and any property or wildlife-use considerations still require separate review.
Research search match: Searches such as 1937 Oakland lake swans, 8mm home movie shore birds, vintage California wildlife footage, and blue lake birds may match this clip.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent reel shots, then other 1937 Oakland material, then broader 1930s California lake, park, bird, and home-movie wildlife footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

1937 Oakland home-movie frame showing white swans on blue water with smaller birds near the shore. — Swans glide across a blue lake while smaller birds gather near the shoreline.

1937 Oakland lakeside frame with swans visible across the blue-purple water and a dark bank in the distance. — White swans appear as bright shapes on the tinted lake surface.

1937 Oakland home-movie frame showing a dense group of shore birds at the lake edge, with swans and reflections in the water. — A crowded shoreline of birds fills the lower part of the lake scene.

1937 Oakland frame with birds clustered along the pale shore and white swans standing out against the blue lake water. — Swans and smaller birds gather along the lake edge in a static home-movie view.

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