Are your students using iPads or iPhones?

If they are, then they won't be able to access a lot of flash movies online. This should be a consideration as you decide which platform/s will host your class's work.

Fortunately, HTML5 is accessible on multiple platforms. And developers are adding functions to it every day. Take Mozilla, for example:

"Video on the web has always been a bit disappointing.

After all, it’s pretty much just like television, only smaller. And unlike the rest of the web, video is just as much a passive experience in your browser as it is anywhere else.

Mozilla would like to change that. Developers at the browser maker’s Drumbeat project — an initiative that advocates new open web technologies — have created Popcorn, a tool intended to make web video every bit as interactive as the rest of the web.

Popcorn is a very new effort and still a bit rough around the edges, but results are already impressive. Popcorn adds metadata to HTML5 native web video, annotating videos with information like location, details about the people and topics in the video, subtitles, and licensing details. The metadata can be used in real time to add to the experience."

More info here at Webmonkey.

The DV Show: Digital Distribution Made Easy

"Now there are dozens of services and specialized software that allows you to save time by uploading your videos to multiple video sharing websites at one time with just one account. Use a multiple video distribution website to drive traffic to your location the quickest way possible: by getting your video to multiple video sharing communities with a click of a button."
The DV Show: Digital Distribution Made Easy

Finessing Final Cut Pro - Filters

Back in the day when I was a film student, I used to attend luncheons at Tiffen. For those who don't know, they are the premiere filter company for still photography and motion pictures. At these informal gatherings I learned all sorts of tricks about in camera color correction (81 EF anyone?), gradation, image enhancement, polarizing, etc.
Unfortunately for teachers/students these filters are expensive and are sometimes not available in the same sizes as prosumer cameras. They also require some in depth experimentation that pre-professionals are not always willing to do.
I recently found out that Tiffen has developed a digital suite of filters for use in Photoshop, Aperture, and Final Cut Pro. Tiffen DFX can be thought of as a toolkit that will encourage students to experiment. I can also see some nice applications in a Physics class - to teach about how filtration can affect light. And for the camera pro's out there, there's even a split diopter option that will allow you to re-create a shallow depth of field.
These filters are available for $100 for the still programs and $600 for FCP and well worth the investment. It's possible that you could even get an educational discount if you sent them a note from your school.
Oh, and if you're program is strapped for cash, here's a link to an article over at Creative Cow with some free Final Cut Pro plugins. Nothing as extensive as Tiffen's DFX, but some fun stuff.

Video Geotagging

I've been doing research for an idea/project I'm putting together and thought I'd share a couple of links. This project won't happen until the fall, so the technology is sure to change somewhat between now and then. This makes for interesting research. Usually I'm looking for the current/future trends, but this time I'm trying to look at what's been done in 'recent' history.

The topic is basically mapping - how are people using mapping to present photos and video? (The deeper question becomes, of course, why would you? I should have more answers once my research is done.) There are some fascinating mashups, some helpful technologies and also some things that have not happened yet, but should. Here's just a few links:
A nice list of geotagging definitions and some lesson plans and other resources to get you started is here.
Flickr shows up on google maps, but Panoramio is another company doing more landscape and beauty shots.
I love this project, which sought funding at donorschoose.org last year. It won't be completed until May.
I went to a presentation earlier this week by FoundSF.org which is using MediaWiki to collect resources and design it's site. Should be even more and more exciting stuff over the next few months. It also looks like an excellent site for a class/after school program to use for research and then add their own contributions. And MediaWiki is an EXCELLENT tool with lots of potential for those willing to do their open source homework.
Actually, I've been quite surprised to see all that Google* is doing and others (like Wikipedia, sadly) are not. A lot of the information I'm finding is from 2008 all the way back to 2006. I wonder why these technologies aren't more widely used? Maybe it's just too much time and research!

* Google geotagged YouTube in 2007, Flickr added video geotagging in 2008, for example.

Learning Film Making Online

Courtesy of Ken Radio
Great site that provide a real-world education of the complex world of motion picture production through a series of easy-to-understand, yet comprehensive videos, workbooks and resources. By partnering with industry leaders in the creative and technological fields, we strive to teach real, cutting edge techniques to filmmakers around the globe. We also seek to build an online community of filmmakers to help forge long-term connection between filmmakers from all disciplines.
http://www.powerfilmmaking.com

Watch the Webisodes | Contest | ACT for me

Watch the Webisodes: "We asked people to tell us their AC Transit stories by creating an ACT for Me webisode. Entrants gave us a quick look at the AC Transit community and showed us how the bus plays a part in that community. The stories didn’t have to be specifically about the bus or take place on the bus, but had to take place in areas accessible by the bus. Documentary, comedy, romance, and above all, originality were encouraged."

Nice work folks. I *love* that the judges gave first prizes in both youth and adult categories.

Why Shoot? Why Capture? Why Edit

Nice post from the always articulate David Pogue about Why We Shoot Home Videos on NYTimes.com: "Two weeks ago, writing about Apple’s new flagship laptop, the MacBook, I noted with dismay that Apple appears intent on eliminating the FireWire jack. FireWire is a connector, originally developed and promoted by Apple itself, that lets you import video from a tape camcorder for easy editing. It was a cornerstone of Apple’s “anyone can edit video” revolution."

A lot of what he writes about would apply to the average A/V club - video yearbook - after school program too. It's a risk we're happy to take: if we make it, someone will watch it.

Download YouTube Videos

In the ongoing saga that is trying to get Youtube vids onto your desktop/into iMovie/into FCP...here's the newest update courtesy of Lifehacker. And I quote, from Tip #1 "If you want to stash a YouTube clip away for editing or watching without the net, you've definitely got options. Internet Explorer users might appreciate YouTube File Hack, which grabs FLV files for you. The Better YouTube Firefox extension, crafted by our own site editor, adds a simple 'Download this video' link to any YouTube page, and the All-In-One Video Bookmarklet is a nice cross-browser conversion tool. If you're away from your own setup, Vixy.net and Viddownloader are your go-to sites for downloading clips. As for watching FLV files, we like and use the cross-platform VLC player."
Click here for Lifehackers: Top 10 YouTube Hacks

People Ask Me All the Time - How Do I Save My YouTube Favs?

The Best Web Video Download Tools � NewTeeVee: "Streaming web video is great and all, but every once in a while you find something that you just want to save and cherish for always. If your home Internet connection is as unreliable as mine you’ll understand what I mean. There are a bunch of web sites and little apps to help you save hard copies of web videos, but perhaps due to their teetering on the edge of violating video hosts’ TOS, they are less than user-friendly. So yesterday I decided to go through them all and figure out which ones are the best."

Flickr Adds Video

From the official Blog:
Video! Video! Video! The rumours are true and “soon” is now. We’re thrilled to introduce video on Flickr. If you’re a pro member, you can now share videos up to 90 glorious seconds in your photostream.

90 seconds? While this might seem like an arbitrary limit, we thought long and hard about how video would complement the flickrverse. If you’ve memorized the Community Guidelines, you know that Flickr is all about sharing photos that you yourself have taken. Video will be no different and so what quickly bubbled up was the idea of “long photos,” of capturing slices of life to share.

Hopefully this doesn't mean that schools will all close down Flickr access like they've done with YouTube (hassle) and Myspace (helpful - although anyone can get around blocks).

My New Playground

We have a student who needs their own, individual project. So I'm building a series of exercises that will allow him to explore some of the issues going on in his life - inspired by the film Tarnation. Part of the plan is to have him use the built-in camera on one of our iMacs to make a self-portrait using stop motion. So I went hunting to find an example and found this instead...Boinx Software - iStopMotion 2 - Examples

Fun stuff. Now I have lots of ideas for projects for all ages!

Recently Expanded - Great Source for Youth Made Media

Uth TV
has been expanding its' website and now offers even more clips from youth media producers nationwide. The quality of work by todays' students is just amazing. If you already spend waaaaay to much time on You Tube, be sure to peek here as well.

What if you only had 1 day to make a movie?

By the way, the gallery for the Insomnia Film Festival is up. The top 9 films are currently being viewed and scored by celebrity judges. Winners to be announced shortly.

Just in Time for Halloween

How-To Create a Cheap and Cheesy Horror Movie- MacLife: "This Halloween you could throw a boring old party or hand out the same old candy. Or you could gather your friends and family and create a cinematic masterpiece. Follow us as we lead you to the summer camp that is The Mac|Life Guide to Creating a Cheap and Cheesy Horror Film. "

How To Make Student Films Better...the Basics

In his article, Adding Impact to Digitally-Filmed Stories
Jon Orech gives some basic definitions and strategies to make student film & video projects better. For example
"Movement (panning and zooming) can add a dynamic feel to still shots and can aid in developing plot, revealing character, or creating a dramatic effect."
and
"Transitions can be a real trap. Remember those Powerpoints with a different transition for each slide? The truth is, most transitions are distracting. The key is teaching the purpose of the "Big Three" and show students how to choose. I tell students to think of transitions as punctuation marks."
There's some good advice here and the language he uses is helpful for classroom application.

DonorsChoose.org: Fred Wilson's Challenge

If you haven't heard of donorschoose.org it's a fascinating project. The idea is that teachers write up a small pitch for whatever they need. Then, potential donors get to read throught the ideas and choose which one(s) to donate to.

People can also make a list of pitches - called a challenge - then send it out to others. Kind of a cool Web 2.0 philanthropy. So here's a cool challenge from a Venture Capitalist in NYC, Fred Wilson. The coolest thing about it is not that people are asking and getting what they need for technology projects in the classroom. The coolest part is what those projects are. It's a neat snapshot of iTeachers at work.

Hands Free Logging and More

This handy tool came up at a conference I attended last week.
DV Log-X FireWire Videologger for Macintosh OSX
is a set of software tools that can come in very handy when working with students. (As we all know, they don't always take the best notes while shooting.)
The most basic version of the software: DV Log detects when your camera starts/stops and uses that information to make a very basic log that you can import (with some difficulty) into Final Cut Pro or many other software titles.
The most advanced version: HD Log Gold lets you save your logs in a Final Cut Pro format (XML) and also adds features like spell check and search functions.
Which version is best for you depends on the complexity of your projects and your budget. But I recommend you download the Demo and give it a try. In my experience, even the most basic version can be a handy tool for quickly scanning tapes and noting which clips are where.

Apple takes an old idea and makes it their own...

You may have heard of the 24 hour film festival. Well, now Apple brings us the Insomnia Film Festival, another instant movie contest. Unfortunately it's only for High School and College students. But it should be a lot of fun. A lot of tiring fun!

Another List - This One From Self-Reliant Filmmaking

A lovely low cost list of helpful software. Consider it a buffet for the fall semester - what will you take back to your table?
21 Mac Shareware Applications for Filmmakers

The Documentary Project

The Documentary Project
was a beautiful program for refugee youth in New York. They have put together this website to document their process