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The  National Archives (NARA) is the primary source for our public domain material. We follow the NARA nomenclature. Our files are derived from:

The 5000+ 160 x 120 QuickTime preview files are now being shipped on the Passport to History - a portable external 250 GB hard drive loaded with the timecoded files from the Collection. Click on the Passport above to find out how you can purchase the set of preview clips.

Would you like to see what titles
are on the Passport? Search the PDF:

Hard drive Delivery of high resolution files:

Reminder: This  form is ONLY for titles in the FilmFileShop Passport Collection (listed in the Passport PFF).

If you identify titles in the National Archives ARC database that we do not have in the webstore or in the Passport PDF you will need to request the moving image material directly from the National Archives.

• Each category in the store identifies the overall nomenclature for its particular record group from it archival source. Currently, all the items in the store correspond to material available from the National Archives. For example, "200 UN" corresponds to the Universal News series; 111 ADC designates US Army/World War II;  428 NPC stands for US Navy Department films. Because the New Deal films span several record groups, the New Deal films are grouped separately in the webstore.

• Browse the webstore by record group (product categories) or put in keywords in the search box to help identify potential titles. 

• If you notice an "sd" after the title in the webstore that designates that the clip was derived from a standard definition source. Titles without the "sd" were derived from high definition telecine transfers. EX: 111adc6834-sd is a 10-bit uncompressed 720x486 standard definition file. 111adc6835 is a 10-bit uncompressed 1920x1080/24p (23.98sf) high definition file.

• Previews of many of the titles are available to view directly online. The QuickTime streaming files are 160x120 with visible timecode. NOTE: the QuickTime streaming files DO NOT work in the Firefox web browser yet.

• If you see a price displayed for the item, it is available for purchase and download.  When you identify a title you want, just add it to the cart. You can buy as few as one title or as many as you wish. We recommend buying one title first to test your download connection, since there is a time limit on the download.

• When you are ready to check out, you will need to register or sign in. Once you have registered, you will be saved some of the basic input on future orders.

• After purchase through our secure socket, you will receive a confirmation email that will include the download link for your clip(s).

• Please note that you will have 60 minutes to download your order so please purchase clips when you will be available to complete the download process.

• For a fuller explanation visit the Tech Notes page.

And we are particularly fond of the motion pictures and video that have captured the history of the 20th century. The eyewitnesses may be gone but the records they produced live on in places like the United States National Archives and Records Administration. Access to these public domain records has been a daunting and often expensive ordeal for students, educators, museum curators, history buffs, and independent producers. However, in this new era of iPods and highspeed, we asked, why couldn't historical moving images be available via download or shipped out on ready-to-edit files via hard drive? And why couldn't the prices be fair and reasonable? And why couldn't the quality be consistently high?

Help us grow!
We invite your feedback and hope that you will contribute ideas and comments. We are particularly interested to find out how we can help students and teachers utilize our clips in their learning environments.