How many words is your video worth? According to folklore, a good picture is worth a thousand words. So let’s say in a good video, each shot is worth a thousand words. As an extreme example, you might have sixty shots in a fast-paced :30 commercial. Pull out the calculator. 60 shots x 1,000 words

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  WHEN TO USE NARRATION Narration is the lifeblood for many videos stories. It’s almost always used for documentaries and news; most information-oriented videos work well with voice-over narration. Voice-over narration is also a common element in how-to videos and commercials.  Occasionally, it is used in movies.  The Christmas Story and Forrest Gump both come

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Transitions are an important part of the visual communication language, or the language of film.  In the language of film, transitions can have meanings unto themselves. The word transition can be used as a noun or a verb and although there are shades of meaning, generally to transition means to go from one thing to

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Generaly speaking, the best videos use live motion video taken with a video camera. However, you can also use still pictures to make a video. Using still pictures can be much easier, faster, and cheaper than using live motion video. Stills also have a different effect on the audience than moving pictures do. Using still

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How do you feel about television commercials? Like them or hate them, commercials have traditionally been the largest economic driver of the television broadcasting business.  As the business model evolves, subscription fees can replace advertising revenue, but the need for businesses to communicate with customers means advertising will always be part of our world in

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This website is dedicated to providing a quality educational experience for secondary school students by creating and developing engaging lessons on all aspects of video production. To achieve that goal, our curriculum adheres to the professional educational and instructional design standards developed and established by leading orgaizations for film and video education, plus the states

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Animation allows filmmakers to tell stories in any fantastical realm they wish, no matter how unreal.  This can be fabulous fun for both audiences and filmmakers. How many of these popular animated movies have you seen? Grave of the Fireflies, 1988 The Lion King, 1994 How to Train Your Dragon, 2010 Spirited Away, 2001 Toy

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Movie making is all about creating a unique world of make believe. With stop-motion animation, you can bring any of these dolls to life as a living character in your movie. Sound fun?  Read on! Stop-motion animation is a style of film animation you have no doubt seen before, but might not have known what

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Have you ever heard films or TV shows referred to as “moving pictures, or motion pictures?”  Probably, but it helps to know the true meaning behind the term if you want to learn how to make videos yourself. When film was first invented, people were absolutely enthralled with the magic new technology, so “moving picture”

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Any author of a written novel will undoubtably use analogies and metaphors in order to add style and color to their writing.   Analogies and metaphors are well-loved literary techniques that involve making comparisons between two seemingly unrelated objects.  The difference between an analogy and a metaphor lies in whether the phrase uses the words “like”

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