5, 4, 3, 2, 2, 1

5 great tools. 4 are free. 3 are production based. 2 are audio. 2 are video. 1 is not like the others.

I teach multi-media production at CSU Fresno, and while many of the tools we use at CSU Fresno are based in Adobe, when it comes to doing my own video production work, these are many of the tools I use.  While they may not be the most full featured or most polished, they are reliable and always get the job done right.  Audacity is a fantastic audio editor that comes with features that many of the expensive 'pro' software lacks.  Soundcloud is best summed up as YouTube for audio.  It is a fantastic source for original music and audio hosting (many podcasters use it as a hosting platform).  Final Cut Pro X!  While many in the professional video industry ditched Final Cut when Apple completely re-wrote the program, I was one of the few who held on and continued to use and learn through the many (and honestly, frustrating changes).  A few years in and Final Cut X is the most polished, simple, and full featured post production video programs available.  Every good video needs pre-production and a story board is usually a must!  Storyboard generator has been put together by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, and is an amazing tool to teach storyboarding techniques.  Last but not least is Flipboard.  What may be called an advanced RSS reader, Flipboard is much more!  The magazine sharing feature is a great way to share info with fellow educators and students.

Links to all these tools and more can be found HERE

Mr. Microchip Dishes on VR: A Guest Post by @mrmicrochip90

Virtual Reality has finally hit the mainstream market, this tech that once only occupied the realms of science fiction is finally cheap enough to be accessible to consumers. One of the least expensive VR solutions is Google Cardboard, which is literally a piece of cardboard with some lenses attached to it. There is plenty of content to explore on the Cardboard platform, but the equipment needed for the creation of VR content has largely been cost prohibitive to the average VR Connoisseur. Maxwell I know you touched on both the cardboard and the Theta 360 Cam but LG just came out with their own recently and it’s pretty sweet!

The LG 360 camera is priced at 200 bucks, its capable of capturing 2k 360 video that can be uploaded to YouTube and then viewed through Cardboard. The camera works with both android and iOS and couldn’t be easier to operate! Just hit record and the software handles the rest stitching the images captured by the dual lenses into an interactive 360 video.

What use does an educator have for such a device in the classroom?  Teachers can record their lectures and then upload it for a virtual classroom experience. Another use case for a 360 camera is capturing school plays and productions, so that family members that can’t be there physically can still watch the magic of a child’s first performance.

Have some of your own ideas for what VR in the classroom looks like? Book a flight over to Kansas City and check out the Virtual Reality Hackathon that is being put on by Oculus, the Pulse Design Group, and Google. This event is challenging developers to create Virtual/ Augmented Reality experiences that can benefit educators and students.

Below are the links for the LG 360 Cam and the event being held in Kansas

http://www.lg.com/us/lg-friends/lg-LGR105.AVRZTS-360-cam

https://youtu.be/9tvg3_BydDs?list=PLsIdAtesSJZ4IduY2Vn9lct05sS9nKsEG

http://www.startlandnews.com/2016/07/virtual-reality-hackathon-visualize-next-generation-ed-tech-tools/

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Make sure check out @mrmicrochip90 HERE and on his blog Teaching with Microchips

Classroom Filmmaking

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).

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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

• "Filmmaking for Kids: Rough, Raw, and Real" via The Atlantic
• Teaching Film Resources via MediaEd
• Film in the Classroom Lesson Plans via The New York Times Learning Network
• "A Case for Filmmaking in the Classroom" via NWP Digital Is
• 3-2-1 Vocabulary: Learning Filmmaking Vocabulary by Making Films viaReadWriteThink
• " The Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in The Moving Image" via NYC Department of Education
• Teaching Tools from FilmEd. via FilmEd.
• "16 Websites and Apps for Making Videos and Animation" via Graphite

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

CREDIT TO: AMY ERIN BOROVOY (AKA VIDEOAMY)'S PROFILE