LAS VEGAS - They are the icons of old Las Vegas - the Stardust, the Silver Slipper and the Dunes.
These images of history spent decades etched on a 16mm film, tucked in a box in the Florida home of Jeff Altman's grandmother.
"The footage is originally my grandfather's. He shot the film," Altman said.
The film chronicles a 1962 trip to Las Vegas by Altman's grandparents.
"She was trying to get rid of all the extra things she didn't need anymore," he said. "Part of that was all of these old films, his old camera and a projector."
From a train ride with friends to a trip down Fremont Street, it's vintage Vegas from a tourist's perspective.
Altman - a professional film colorist - decided to change that and bring this story back to life in vivid color.
Watch the Film
"Raw film is, no matter what form or where it comes from, it's not going to look pretty once it's transferred to video unless you do some tweaks to it," he said.
In doing so, Altman found the kind of special connection he never had with his grandparents as a child.
"I didn't actually see them a lot growing up, so being able to view all of this different stuff was a really interesting way of being able to almost reconnect with them," he said.
Altman says he reconnected with his family's roots and discovered Las Vegas' rich and colorful past.
"It's been a very, very interesting look into who he was and into his life - you know, the things that meant a lot to him," he said. "Just seeing him interact with those environments that are very iconic, historically speaking, all the old neon signs which are just beautiful."
