Fort Ross California-1938: A Lighthouse On Top Of A Cliff Overlooking The Ocean

$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.

Year1938
Decade1930s
LocationFort Ross, California, United States
Duration6s
Price$149 USD
Collection1938 Fort Ross 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.

A Lighthouse On Top Of A Cliff Overlooking The Ocean — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1938, this vintage home movie captures a dramatic coastal scene at Fort Ross, California. A lighthouse stands atop a rugged cliff overlooking the churning ocean, with waves crashing against dark rocks below. The black-and-white footage shows a grainy texture and natural film imperfections, with a slight camera shake and a dark vignette framing the view. The sky is overcast, and the overall mood is contemplative and nostalgic, evoking early 20th-century Americana. This archival clip offers authentic historical footage for documentaries, editorial content, or nostalgic storytelling.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Black & white
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 6s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 127262867

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 1153 · 8mm · 5″ reel
Original reel label: bucks lake,lake tahoe,emerald bay,martins lodge
Reel-level year note: 1938
Reel-level location note: california
Date: 1938 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: Fort Ross, California, 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: 1930s California coastal home-movie footage suited for documentary inserts about travel, shoreline landmarks, lighthouses, or prewar American leisure views.
Period detail: The footage shows a distant cliff-top lighthouse scene in black-and-white 8mm, with limited visible era clues beyond the 1938 home-movie context supplied in metadata.
Home-movie behavior: The clip has a visitor-shot viewpoint, holding on the lighthouse and rugged coast from a distance rather than staging action or presenting people.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a lighthouse on a cliff, dark rocky shoreline, rough ocean water, pale overcast sky, surf lines, and heavy film-edge vignetting.
Film character: The 8mm scan carries pronounced grain, soft contrast, gate shadows, slight shake, and uneven exposure that read as original physical-film texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a brief coastal cutaway, place-setting insert, travel-memory beat, or transition into lighthouse and Northern California shoreline material.
Historical context: The scene places a landmark-like coastal structure within a rugged Pacific shoreline view, reflecting a private travel record rather than an official survey.
Research note: No people, logos, or audible music are indicated, but users should still assess copyright status and any location or property considerations for their project.
Research search match: Useful search matches include 1938 8mm California coast, Fort Ross lighthouse cliff, vintage home movie ocean rocks, and black-and-white coastal travel footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent shots from the same reel, then with 1938 Fort Ross or California coast footage, then with lighthouse, rocky shoreline, and travel-memory scenes.

Still Frames From This Clip

1938 Fort Ross, California home-movie frame showing a lighthouse on a rugged cliff above surf and rocks under an overcast sky. — A lighthouse stands on the cliff edge above a rocky Pacific shoreline.

Fort Ross coastal view with a small lighthouse on the headland, dark rocks below, and visible 8mm frame shadows. — The camera holds on the lighthouse and headland above churning water.

Black-and-white 8mm frame of the Fort Ross shoreline, with waves, rocks, cliff face, and a distant lighthouse near the horizon. — Surf breaks around rocks below the cliff-top lighthouse.

Final 1938 Fort Ross frame holding on the lighthouse above the rocky Pacific shoreline, with grain and heavy edge shadow from the film scan. — The lighthouse remains distant as the shoreline and surf fill the lower frame.

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