Classroom Filmmaking

I am a big big fan of the work that Amy Erin Borovoy @VideoAmy does on Edutopia.org. I am especially glad when she shares educational tips for the classroom! I teach multimedia production at Fresno State, and I am always open to resources (specifically ones from trustworthy individuals who have an interest in education!).

Amy has a great list of videos for a Video 101 course listed below, as well as further resources. (EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE IS AMY'S WORK. SOURCE AT END OF PAGE).

10 Tips for Beginner Filmmakers (10:37) Young filmmaker Simon Cade's channel, DSLRGuide, is one of the most popular for filmmaking tutorials. He's got hundreds of tips to share and started making videos when he was just 11.
No-Budget Filmmaking Gear - The DIY Filmmaker (05:02) Getting your filmmaking kit together is one of the hardest things to do on a budget, but you can't begin until you have the basics. There are links to some of the DIY projects to build your own gear on the YouTube page for this video.
Adapt Your Script to a Storyboard (09:19) One great resource is the YouTube Creator Academy channel, which has a variety of tip videos made by YouTube's most successful creators. This video by Mary Doodles and Whitney Lee Milam is one of the best intros to storyboarding I've seen.
Telling Your Story Through Video (04:00) It's less glossy than the other tutorials here, but I love that this video uses footage from student work to illustrate camera angles. It's produced by ChildFund Connect, an Australian organization that provides an online space for kids to post videos they've made.
Top 5 Tips to Shoot Incredible Video with a Smartphone! (08:34) Nashville video producer and tech reviewer Danny Winget gives excellent advice for filming with smartphones, which is probably the most accessible way to get started. He covers both gear and technique in this short video.
5 Quick Math Tricks for Filmmakers (06:02) IndyMogul stopped posting new videos two years ago, but their YouTube channel is still a treasure trove of tutorials on every aspect of low-budget filmmaking, from visual effects to lighting. This video shows the math behind some essential filmmaking rules.
Sophia Dagher Offers Tips & Tricks in Filmmaking (02:14) ProjectED was an Amplify program that hosted open video contests for students and teachers. Although they seem to have stopped running these, they still offer some great resources, like this fun advice video from filmmaker Sophia Dagher.
Top 15 Mistakes Beginner Filmmakers Make (02:34) This is long (17 minutes) but fortunately filmmaker Darious Britt is really engaging. His advice is geared towards people trying to break into the film industry, but his tips are sound. Heads up for a little language that may not be appropriate for younger kids.
How I Edit My YouTube Videos (13:23) While there are hundreds of more informative and concise tutorials on video editing basics, I chose this one because it features Jennifer Zhang, a teen YouTube creator, sharing how she taught herself to edit video using free tools. She posted a Part Two here.

More Resources on Student Filmmaking

INFO FROM ORIGINAL SOURCE: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-classroom-filmmaking-resources

There is a fundamental problem with digital media. That problem is file formats! I spend a good amount of time working with videos, photographs, audio, vectors, website development, as well as too much time with presentation software, ebooks, fonts, spreadsheets etc etc. Each of these applications requires multiple programs and various computing platforms, none of which play well together. I don't care if you teach higher education multi-media production or 1st grade english, you have without a doubt seen this message or one like it.

The typical workflow would go something like this: Google both file formats, open the original file in some obscure software that will read it, try to export it into a different file format, upload new exported file into the correct software, hope it works.

Until Cloud Convert (https://www.cloudconvert.com). Cloud Convert allows you to 'convert anything to anything'. It supports over 200 formats, everything from 3fr to vsd. Change ebook formats, PC files to Mac, image formats from brand to brand, and pretty much anything else you can throw at it.

There is a free version, as well as a paid version, however the free version is enough for most small daily tasks.

definitely a tool to keep in your bookmarks!