Links of Interest

Here are some links we’ve stumbled upon this week that we think might interest you. Click away, you might learn something cool! Slashdot asks: How to best record remote video interviews: Ask.slashdot.org Get ready for another season of stiff drinks and sharp suits with a Mad Men Choose Your Own Adventure game: BuzzFeed Netflix and … Continue reading “Links of Interest”

Here are some links we’ve stumbled upon this week that we think might interest you. Click away, you might learn something cool!

Slashdot asks: How to best record remote video interviews: Ask.slashdot.org

Get ready for another season of stiff drinks and sharp suits with a Mad Men Choose Your Own Adventure game: BuzzFeed

Netflix and co. are outpacing physical media… but that’s bad news for movie studios: LA Times Blog

The top-rented DVDs of the year aren’t what you’d expect: LA Times Blog

Hands-on with the Photoshop CS6 beta: PC World

The first ever film based on a Dickens story has been found — after 111 years! BuzzFeed

Why were old-timey movie posters so cool? BuzzFeed
https://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif
“Learn to Code: The Full Beginner’s Guide”
Always wanted to learn how to code but not sure how to get started? Lifehacker has four great step-by-step lessons that will teach you the basics: LifeHacker

“Learn the Basics of Photoshop in Under 25 Minutes”

This quick and dirty Photoshop tutorial will have you doing basic photo editing in no time: LifeHacker

“What to Watch”

Unsure what to watch tonight? Check out this great resource for daily tips on what’s worth watching on television: i09

“Trumping The Industry with Kickstarter: Women Support Women To Get Movies Made And Seen”

Traditionally, the male dominance at the top of the film industry has meant that few movies are made about women, by women or for women, but Kickstarter, a website where projects are funded by the masses, is making waves. Truly Free Film

Need that certain shot to improve your video project? Try Stockfootageforfree.com

Stock Footage for Free is a decent site that delivers exactly what it sounds like. Everything is royalty free and monetarily free (you do have to register, however). They have some stuff in HD, as well as a lot in SD. While the selection isn’t perfect, hey, it’s free. It’s great for certain cityscape or … Continue reading “Need that certain shot to improve your video project? Try Stockfootageforfree.com”

Stock Footage for Free is a decent site that delivers exactly what it sounds like. Everything is royalty free and monetarily free (you do have to register, however). They have some stuff in HD, as well as a lot in SD. While the selection isn’t perfect, hey, it’s free. It’s great for certain cityscape or wilderness shots, and they even have some time lapses and stuff. It can be great for the starving student who needs that establishing shot, but can’t shoot or pay for it.

Are you working in After Effects? Check out Video Copilot

Video Copilot is an After Effects haven with lots of great ideas and plenty of free tutorials for both special effects and motion graphics. You can download the source files and follow along, or use them as stock footage and make your own changes. They also have a lot of great products for sale, such … Continue reading “Are you working in After Effects? Check out Video Copilot”


Video Copilot is an After Effects haven with lots of great ideas and plenty of free tutorials for both special effects and motion graphics. You can download the source files and follow along, or use them as stock footage and make your own changes. They also have a lot of great products for sale, such as pre-matted explosions that you can just drop on top of your existing footage. Overall it’s a comprehensive site advanced enough for the seasoned pro, but accessible enough for the novice.

Check out WeVideo, the collaborative online video editor in the cloud

WeVideoA free video editing and hosting site. Allows for social editing – a project can have content submitted by and be edited by multiple users. Simply shoot videos and photos with your mobile phone or camera. Then upload them to your personal or shared WeVideo media library. You can shape your story alone or together … Continue reading “Check out WeVideo, the collaborative online video editor in the cloud”

WeVideo
A free video editing and hosting site. Allows for social editing – a project can have content submitted by and be edited by multiple users.

Simply shoot videos and photos with your mobile phone or camera. Then upload them to your personal or shared WeVideo media library.


You can shape your story alone or together with others on the WeVideo canvas. You can add titles, effects, animation, music, narration and more to create your own video story.


We make it easy to share your video story in the WeVideo studio. Or publish your finished video to your favorite social-networking or video-sharing website, from basic to high-definition broadcast quality.



Here’s how it works:
With WeVideo, you simply upload your video clips, create your storylines, and edit them in the cloud. There’s no software to download. All video-story creation takes place in the Internet browser on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. And with WeVideo, you can collaborate on video stories by inviting others to upload their clips to your cloud-based video library. You can co-create a video with others or come up with your own separate versions. Once created, you can share your video in internet or high-definition broadcast quality on the WeVideo site or publish it to your favorite video-sharing, social-network, or other online site.

Multimedia Resources @ AU

Whether you are putting together a slide presentation, creating a video assignment, or working on your film thesis, there are a host of resources available at AU to both students and faculty. Unfortunately these are scattered all over campus – in the Library, in the New Media Center, in the School of Communication. Until now … Continue reading “Multimedia Resources @ AU”

Whether you are putting together a slide presentation, creating a video assignment, or working on your film thesis, there are a host of resources available at AU to both students and faculty. Unfortunately these are scattered all over campus – in the Library, in the New Media Center, in the School of Communication. Until now it has been difficult to find information about what resources are where. There is now a webpage which is one location for information about multimedia production resources all over campus-
http://www.american.edu/training/multimedia/index.cfm
• Looking for a Mac lab? The webpage has information about the main multimedia labs on campus, their hours, facilities, and restrictions.
• Tracking down the specific software application you need can be difficult. The webpage has a matrix of what software is in each of the major labs. It also lists which version of each application is available so you don’t get caught by incompatibility problems.
• Where can you borrow a tripod to shoot your video assignment? A list of circulating hardware is included as well as user manuals for cameras, audio recorders and, yes, tripods.
• Getting started. The webpage has information about software specific training sessions held in the multimedia labs. There are also links to comprehensive online training sites like Lynda.com and AdobeTV. Before you begin a video project, you might want to look at “Getting Pro Results from a Compact Camera”.

You can find the Multimedia Resources @ AU webpage linked from the www.american.edu/training pages and from the www.american.edu/library/mediaservices pages.

Soviet Communist Party saved 194 lost Hollywood silent films…

Pretty amazing stuff: In a large mahogany box embellished with silk pockets and Cyrillic lettering, 10 lost pieces of America’s cultural heritage recently landed in Culpeper, Va. – thanks, in a roundabout way, to the Soviet Union and a bureaucratic penchant for filing. The box, a gift from the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library to the … Continue reading “Soviet Communist Party saved 194 lost Hollywood silent films…”

Pretty amazing stuff:
In a large mahogany box embellished with silk pockets and Cyrillic lettering, 10 lost pieces of America’s cultural heritage recently landed in Culpeper, Va. – thanks, in a roundabout way, to the Soviet Union and a bureaucratic penchant for filing.

The box, a gift from the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library to the Library of Congress, contained digital copies of 10 silent films that had been thought to be lost to history. The titles, such as “Valley of the Giants,” produced in 1919, and “The Call of the Canyon,” produced in 1923, may seem unfamiliar, but the movies were made by some of the era’s biggest names.

Watch full length episodes of the PBS series, “P.O.V.” for free.

“POV (a cinema term for “point of view”) is television’s longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. POV premieres 14-16 of the best, boldest and most innovative programs every year on PBS. Since 1988, POV has presented over 275 films to public television audiences across the country. POV films are known for their intimacy, their unforgettable … Continue reading “Watch full length episodes of the PBS series, “P.O.V.” for free.”

“POV (a cinema term for “point of view”) is television’s longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. POV premieres 14-16 of the best, boldest and most innovative programs every year on PBS. Since 1988, POV has presented over 275 films to public television audiences across the country. POV films are known for their intimacy, their unforgettable storytelling and their timeliness, putting a human face on contemporary social issues.” —taken from the POV website.

Watch episodes of NOW, now.

“Hosted by veteran journalist David Brancaccio, NOW on PBS goes beyond the noisy churn of the news cycle to probe the most important issues facing democracy and give viewers the context to explore their relationship with the larger world.” –PBS website. First started by Bill Moyers back in 2002, this news program gave issues more … Continue reading “Watch episodes of NOW, now.”

“Hosted by veteran journalist David Brancaccio, NOW on PBS goes beyond the noisy churn of the news cycle to probe the most important issues facing democracy and give viewers the context to explore their relationship with the larger world.” –PBS website.

First started by Bill Moyers back in 2002, this news program gave issues more of a chance to breathe due to its hour length. A couple years ago, PBS cut the program back to a half hour, but the format focuses in on a current issue that most media outlets designate a soundbyte to.