THIS film, “The Silent Majority,” was born out of a larger project. We are making a feature-length documentary using the Super 8 home movies of some of Richard M. Nixon’s aides. As we combed through the home movies, we fell in love with these long shots of crowds out to meet the president. Filming over Nixon’s shoulder, the cameramen lingered on the faces of these ordinary, anonymous Americans. We began referring to this footage in edit-room shorthand as the “Silent Majority” footage.