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
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
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 1917 Bolshevik...
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
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
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
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 of...
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 Photography...
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
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
World Cinema Part Two
Explore the rich history of African, Middle Eastern, and South American cinema with a video summary of the most prominent filmmakers from these regions in the 20th and 21st centuries. It discusses Egyptian filmmakers Asmaa El-Bakry and...
Crash Course
Experimental and Documentary Films
Some of the boldest films in history have been documentaries or experimental films. Explore non-narrative cinema and its avant-garde techniques with a short video about a creative faction in film history. Additionally, the video...
Crash Course
Screenplays
The biggest blockbuster of the year, the funniest romantic comedy, and the most emotional independent film all started in the same way: on the page. Young filmmakers learn about the role of the screenplay, as well as important parts of...
Crash Course
Producers
Everyone knows that films have producers, but not everyone knows exactly what a producer does. An informative video explains what an executive producer, line producer, senior producer do, who can end up with an honorary producer credit,...
Crash Course
Grip and Electric
Gorgeous cinematography is the result of painstaking, detail-oriented work by many different departments of a film production. An informative video shines a light on the grip and electric departments, the ways they use filters, gels, and...
Crash Course
Citizen Kane
What's your favorite movie? Citizen Kane (1941) leads off a playlist on film criticism playlist that examines films that hold up due to their historical context and/or quality and deserve a spot on a best films list.
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Aliens
A playlist on film analysis and criticism continues with an analysis of James Cameron's 1986 sci-fi action classic Aliens, as well as why it is deserving of a place on a list of great films.
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Selma
The 2014 film Selma is the focus of a film criticism video. The narrator examines how director Ava DuVernay brought to the screen the story of the voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama and how she uses the tools of...
Crash Course
Where Are My Children
Lois Weber's ground breaking Where Are My Children is the focus of a film criticism video that explores not only Weber's treatment of the subject of abortion but also the techniques she developed to enhance the impact of her tale.
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Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro's beautiful and bloody Pan's Labyrinth, a fantasy adventure/political drama, is the focus of the ninth episode of a film criticism playlist. The narrator looks at the film through two interpretative lenses: as a story...
Crash Course
Lost in Translation
The narrator of a film criticism episode on Sofia Coppola's bittersweet Lost In Translation asks viewers to consider the many aspects of relationships that Coppola suggests are lost in translation.
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Apocalypse Now
A heart attack, threats of suicide, drug-fueled parties, typhoons, over 250 hours of film footage, two years of editing, Academy, Palme d'Or, and Golden Globe awards. It's time to discuss Apocalypse Now! The narrator of this episode in...
Crash Course
The Limey
Steven Soderbergh's The Limey may seem like a strange choice for one of the top ten films in a playlist on film criticism. The narrator makes clear that the story is a simple tale of revenge, but it is Soderbergh's filmmaking techniques...