Big Sur California-1975: White Surf Swirling Around a Dark Rock in an Enclosed Rocky Cove

Catalog date: estimated · Catalog location: estimated. Review source evidence · Request a source quality check

$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.

Year1975
Decade1970s
LocationBig Sur, California, United States
Duration8s
Price$149 USD
Collection1975 · Big Sur, California, United States
StatusStockfilm Exclusive

$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.

From the same film reel

1975 · Big Sur & Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park · Reel 5649e9a5 contains 17 published Stockfilm-exclusive clips. Watch them in reel order and review the available reel documentation.

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Same year and place1975 · Big Sur, California, United StatesExplore footage →Across the archiveFilmed in 1975Explore the year →Across the yearsBig Sur, California, United StatesExplore the place →

What is in this clip

coastal landscape
ocean surf
Big Sur scenery
1970s travel
family vacation
nature
California coast

Shot type: wide
Camera: static · handheld · pan
Setting: outdoor · rocky ocean cove below steep forested sea cliffs
Time and weather: day · sunny
Lighting: bright daylight with hard shadows on the cliffs
People: 0 · No people visible.
Objects: dark sea rock · tree-topped headland · thin waterfall · boulders · coastal brush
Colors: deep blue · white · charcoal grey · dark green
Master dimensions: 3840 × 2160
Audio: Silent
Date confidence: Low
Location confidence: Medium

Moments in the footage

Select a time to watch that moment in the preview.

High view of white foam swirling around a dark rock in the cove.
The frame drifts left and a thin waterfall appears on the far cliff.
Waves wash along the near shore while the foam keeps circling the rock.
The shot holds on the cove and the tree-topped headland.

White Surf Swirling Around a Dark Rock in an Enclosed... — Clip Details

Big Sur coast, California, circa 1975 home movie footage. From a high clifftop, the camera looks down into an enclosed cove where white foam swirls around a single dark rock in deep blue water. A tree-topped headland closes the back of the cove, and a thin waterfall comes into view on the left wall as the frame drifts slightly. It is filmed as one steady, gently handheld shot, with a cool blue colour cast and visible film grain.

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: 8s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 800002441

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: 1975 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: Big Sur, 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: Suits briefs that need 1970s amateur film of the rugged Big Sur coastline, for travel history, California nature or family-vacation documentaries.
Period detail: No dated objects are in the frame, but the blue-shifted reversal colour and grain may show a 1970s film stock, consistent with the reel's dated camping section.
Home-movie behavior: A visitor's lingering look down from a cliff edge, holding on the moving water instead of panning away, captures a traveller's pause at a scenic spot.
What appears in frame: A lone dark rock ringed by white foam, deep blue cove water, a conifer-topped headland, a thin waterfall on the left cliff, breaking surf on near boulders and green brush in the corner.
Film character: Strong cool blue cast, bright clipped foam highlights, deep cliff shadows, fine grain, gentle handheld drift and a faint scratch give it a clear projected-film texture.
Edit role: Works as an establishing shot for the Big Sur coast, a calm cutaway between people scenes, or a nostalgic transition in a road-trip sequence.
Historical context: The reel ties this coast to camping at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, a park the CCC developed in the 1930s and that families still visited by car decades later.
Research note: No people, logos or artwork are visible; copyright in the home movie is separate from any property or location considerations, and clearance is not guaranteed.
Research search match: Big Sur coast 1970s home movie, rocky cove surf vintage film, California clifftop ocean view archival footage, Pacific waves amateur film.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with this reel's 'Surf crashing against a dark sea cliff', 'Coastal waterfall onto a beach' and 'Rocky Big Sur coastline from clifftop', then with the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park sign, then with other 1970s coastal travel footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

Surf swirling around a dark rock in a rocky cove on the Big Sur coast, California, circa 1975 home movie — White foam rings a lone rock in an enclosed cove, seen from a clifftop on the Big Sur coast, circa 1975.
License this still · $49

Thin waterfall on a cove wall above swirling surf, Big Sur coast of California, circa 1975 film — As the view drifts left, a thin waterfall appears on the cove wall above the swirling surf.
License this still · $49

Breakers on boulders and foam circling a rock in a Big Sur cove, California, circa 1975 home movie — Breakers wash over the near boulders while foam keeps circling the rock in the middle of the cove.
License this still · $49

Blue-cast reversal film view of a Big Sur cove with a foam-ringed rock, California, circa 1975 — The shot holds on the cove and its tree-topped headland, with a strong blue film cast.
License this still · $49

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