These videos were unlike anything I’d seen. They were capturing these epic nights in LA all on this retro VHS cam. They went by the name LifeWithUzi and were posting on Tumblr and YouTube with these ancient camcorders.
If these guys could get these old cameras to work, I wanted to give it a try.
After scouring eBay, I found one that looked like it could work for about $30. I also ordered some VHS tapes that were brand new. As soon as it arrived, I started filming.
I filmed parties, concerts, late-night adventures – anywhere that I could lug the camera around with my buddies, I took it.
I was an incentive to go out and do something. There is only so much you can film at your house.
There is something about the look of VHS and other film media that has this entrancing quality to it. The moments captured on it look authentic. Something that you just can’t easily replicate.
After compiling enough footage I went through and turned some of the better scenes into GIFs and made a blog with them.
In the last few weeks of high school, I edited the footage into a series for YouTube called, Ratsy Boys – the nickname for our friend group.
Since then, I’ve filmed tons more footage than I’ve put online. I’ve run into countless problems turning those old, clunky tapes to digital. Broken cords, broken camcorders, faulty tapes.
Maybe filming memories on 20+ year old tech isn’t the best idea.