Crash Course
Home Video
Home movies have come a long way from projecting 8mm film onto a wrinkled sheet on the living room wall. Learn about the ways home movie technology has evolved alongside the film industry with a video that covers techniques such as the...
Crash Course
The Cinematographer
Cranes, dollies, steadicams, and special lenses. Viewers focus on the world of the cinematographer with the eighth episode of a playlist on film production. The video details the various responsibilities of the Directory of...
Crash Course
Designing the World of Film
Some jobs in film production are more obvious than others. The director directs, the cinematographer films, and the special effects people create those tricky effects. But who designs the mise-en-scene, who structures the set, and who...
Crash Course
The Editor
The job of the editor is surely one of the most demanding in film production. Viewers of an episode from a film production playlist are introduced to the editor's many responsibilities, the history of editing, and the various types...
Crash Course
Special Effects
Special effects have come along way since the spectacular illusions of Georges Melies. Young filmmakers learn about the three major types of special effects: mechanical or practical effects, optical effects, and computer-generated imagery.
Crash Course
Television Production
The final episode in a film production playlist looks at the way television has influenced and changed the film industry. The narrator contrasts broadcast and cable channels, scripted and non-scripted shows, streaming services and...
Crash Course
To Film School or Not To Film School
Conservatory approach or liberal arts film approach? Or self-taught? That is the question prospective filmmakers must decide when considering a film school. A helpful video ponders whether it's better to study a single craft within the...
Crash Course
Independent Cinema
The formulaic films that once thrilled audiences in the early part of the 20th century now seemed stale after the stark reality of World War II. Foreign films and American independent cinema answered the call for authenticity, leading to...
Crash Course
The Golden Age of Hollywood
Did movies save America during the Great Depression? Or did the Great Depression save movies? Learn more about the Golden Age of Hollywood with a video that covers the five major film studios, the colorization of big budget movies, and...
Crash Course
Soviet Montage
Why are film montages in movies so compelling? Learn about the origins and effectiveness of the Soviet montage, as well as discontinuity editing and other filmmaking techniques—and political statements—that arose from the...
Crash Course
Breaking the Silence
The most impressive movie you've ever seen can't compare to the astonishment audiences felt when feature films began to synchronize sound with the picture. Learn about the complex path to the talkie, including the invention of the...
Crash Course
The Birth of the Feature Film
A film history video examines how Thomas Edison, George Eastman, and the major film companies formed the Motion Picture Patents company (MPPC) and created a monopoly that controlled the production, distribution, exhibition of films. In...
Crash Course
Sound Production
Movies have come a long way since the first talkies. The credits that roll at the end of a movie lists a bewildering number of titles for those involved in sound production. Learn everything you want to know about what these roles entail...
Crash Course
Dissecting The Camera
An episode of a film history playlist looks at camera technology and the roles of the various operators. The narrator presents an overview of different types of film camera lenses, apertures, shutter speed, frame rates, ISO, and codex....
Crash Course
The Silent Era
Young filmmakers watch a short overview of the major studios, players, and political events of the period between 1894 and 1929. In addition, the video narrator briefly outlines the Hollywood scandals that lead to the development of the...
Crash Course
The Language of Film
New ventures and new technologies require new ways of referring to things. In stepped Edwin S. Porter, whose films Life of an American Fireman and The Great Train Robbery used parallel action and cross-cutting to develop his...
Crash Course
Georges Melies—Master of Illusion
The focus of a playlist on the history of film shifts from the development of early film technology to techniques used by filmmakers like Georges Melies. Melies, a former magician, used dazzling illusions and tricky editing to create...
Crash Course
The Lumière Brothers
Light up your film history instruction with an examination of the contributions of the Lumière brothers. Their cinématograph, as well as the devices of other inventors, are the focus of the third episode from a playlist on film history.
Crash Course
The First Movie Camera
The second episode in a playlist on the history of film focuses on the role the Kinetograph and the Kinetoscope played in film history. The video also includes information about the contributions of scientists, Vaudeville performers, and...
Crash Course
Movies are Magic
Persistence of Vision? The Phi Phenomenon? Zoetropes? Camera Obscura? Kinetograph? What part do these concepts and inventions play in the history of movies? Find out with a short video that launches an informative playlist on film history.
The School of Life
Art/Architecture - Andy Warhol
Images of soup cans and of Marilyn Monroe connect to represent commerce and celebrity: the pillars of pop art and the source of inspiration for Andy Warhol. A brief video explores the four big ideas behind Warhol's work.
The School of Life
Art/Architecture - Dieter Rams
Calculators, chairs, bookcases as art? Sure. The "Art/Architecture" playlist welcomes viewers to the world and work of Dieter Rams, designer of everyday things.
The School of Life
Art/Architecture - Cy Twombly
"What does this work feel like?" Ah, that according to the narrator of The School of Life episode is the question viewers should ask themselves when observing Twombly's paintings and other works of abstract art.
The School of Life
Art/Architecture - Henri Matisse
The paintings of Henri Matisse are the focus of an episode from The School of Life "Art/Architecture" playlist that discusses the life and works of the famous French painter. The narrator points out how Matisse uses...