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Best video web sites - Top Ten
Internet Video Magazine staff
Here is our pick of the top ten video web
sites that provide free access to short videos, movies and animations. There are thousands of great video-oriented web sites that
offer a diverse cornucopia of programming.
In this report, we are concentrating on just
free sites that host and stream short videos, animations and movies. We
are not including subscription or pay per view sites, we are not
including sites that sell video movies, clips and cassettes or stock
footage. We are not including sites that stream live video newscasts or
education programming.
We will get to all of those sites another
time.
We looked at sites both big and small, from
large thriving businesses with lots of advertising, sponsorships and
corporate tie-ins to personal web sites that
may only feature a couple of dozen of more films.
Lets start with the two big boys, AtomFilms
and iFilm. In many ways they are very similar – both include a diverse
range of award winning content – including covering a wide range of
subject areas and formats. Because iFilm targets more of the independent
film making community, and AtomFilm’s seems to target more of the
animation community, we gave the nod to iFilm. They have a greater
variety, more films overall, and we just love the Viral Videos section.
Not only do they have lots of great movie trailers and clips, the have a
special section that plays back the first eight minutes of selected
recent videos. Very cool.
However if you like your videos and movies a
bit edgier, then definitely check out AtomFilms. The fare is a bit
wilder and also includes more of bent towards animation. They also have
a good choice of selections and subject areas. Atom films sister site,
“ShockWave.com”, provides a wide choice of cool animated games and
authoring programs that can be downloaded.
.To pick the next eight is much more difficult –
to rank them is impossible. Each has their specific strengths and
target. Here they are alphabetically.
1 - BritShorts – at www.britshorts.com,
features award winning and thoughtful films from the like of the British
Film Institute, London International Film School, St. Lukes and Jameson
Irish Whisky.
2 - From our neighbors in Canada is an
extremely well designed and fun site. Called 120seconds.com, this site
is a partnership with CBC3 Radio, and offers a delightful smorgasboard
of short video and animated clips, as well as other fun stuff.
3 – Plug In Cinema is a wonderful site that
provides an education in film-making as well as direct access to a nice
assortment of different films and videos. There are a number of
“experimental” type productions scattered on this site as well.
4- The Guerilla Filmmakers web site at www.GuerillaFilmmakers.com
is very impressive. In addition to featuring a nice selection of short
films and videos, it is a
great source of information about how to make and distribute independent
films. Their goal is to promote creative digital video, independent
films, shorts, amateur documentary, wild and crazy videos of parties and
student films with attitude. Some are great, some not - but
they all illustrate the cutting edge of independent filmmaking on the
web. This is one of the best.
5 - StudentFilms.com at www.studentfilms.com
is an exceptional web site that spotlights outstanding and
award-winning student films = these include films and videos made by
college students and high school students. The quality of many of these
is truly amazing. Another incredible site.
6 - If you only have a dial up connection,
and need a source for a wide range of short videos and films, you have
to check out The Sync. Almost all of
their films, animations and videos are available in three streaming
formats - 28K, 56K and/or 112K. No matter how slow your net connection,
you can watch these videos! Make sure you visit their Film Festival and
Independent Exposure pages; as well as their great collection of
streaming Web Shows including the infamous Jenni Show
7 - UndergroundFilm is another winner and
features a wide range of excellent short moves and videos encompassing
everything from action, comedy films, documentaries, mockumentaries and
parodies, to romance, student and thriller movies. In addition, it also
provides links to Scripps and MP3 files. What more could you want?
8. FilmWatcher
– this is a very interesting site with a variety of short films. Their
unique angle is that not only can you watch them online, you can also
download them to your computer and watch them later. All for free.
These are our top ten for this month. Next
month would be different. New sites pop up all of the time and old ones
do the Internet bubble thing. There are many other short movie and
streaming video web sites out there that deserve your attention. You can
so a simple search on Google or you can go to our Best Video Web Sites
page.
We also need to conclude with a mention of
the new corporate sponsored short film sites – sites like BMW Films,
Skyy Vodka and Jameson Irish Whiskey that sponsor short films with
extremely high production values with a minimum of annoying commercial
tie-ins. In addition, many of these films are made with the
participation of world famous writers, directors, production experts and
actors.
comments? suggestions? Who did we miss? Contact
us
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