Sponsored by Duke University, this site includes thousands of television commercials created or collected by the D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) advertising agency from the 1950s to the 1980s.
American Film Institute
(YouTube One Channel)
Featured playlists of video clips include AFI Conservatory Thesis Films, AFI Festival video highlights, clips from thirty-nine years of AFI Life Achievement Awards, and interviews and lectures with film directors.
Archive of American Television
This site includes more than 700 oral history interviews (over 3,000 hours) with the legends of television. The site says it is “capturing television history, one voice at a time.” Oral history interviews provide insights about the birth and development of American television. Material can be found under the categories of People, Shows (including Genres), Topics, and Professions. Resources at the site provide a newsletter, copyright policy, information about licensing clips, transcripts, and DVDs available for purchase.
Associated Press
(YouTube One Channel)
The Associated Press channel includes hundreds of playlists related to brief video clips of current news stories: biographies, natural disasters (seventy-four clips on Hurricane Isaac, for example), and politics, including exhaustive videos of 2012 election stories, scandals, crime stories, and world crises.
BIO
(YouTube One Channel)
BIO includes short biographies, from television’s Biography Channel, of key influential historical, political, or literary figures.
Europa Film Treasures
This site offers a selection of European film “treasures” in all genres from the end of the nineteenth century to the 1970s. All films on the site are accompanied by explanatory materials that can provide context and better understanding to site visitors. Users can choose subtitles for films in English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish.
Hulu is a gateway site for free and premium television content featuring mostly NBC, ABC, and FOX programs and movies. Shows from other networks (Comedy Central, PBS, USA Network, Bravo, FX, Syfy, Sundance, and E!) are also available. The site has free episodes of shows, but offers them mainly as teasers to get fee-based subscribers.
This site is a showcase for short documentary films of all types, including music videos, animations, and video experimental works that “spark debate and action in 12 minutes or less.”
This comprehensive video site from the Internet Archive includes more than 1.2 million movies as of this writing. Collections of animations, cartoons, arts, music, cultural and academic films, feature films, and sports films are just some of the collections indexed at this site, which is searchable and browsable.
On this very slick-looking website, users can watch documentaries, animations, alternative dramas, and interactive productions on the web, a personalized home page, or an iPhone. The site is free for personal use and offers subscriptions for schools and institutions. Viewers can search or browse channels for arts, kids’ movies, biography, hot topics, history, aboriginal peoples, classics, and animation. The Education tab includes a variety of educational tools such as playlists, teaching guides, and web-based learning materials.
NPR Radio Pictures: Videos and Photos
(YouTube One Channel)
This channel hosts NPR-produced videos and audio slideshows on technology, science, movies, and newsworthy topics.
Open Vault—WGBH Media Library and Archives
The site offers online access to unique and historically important content produced by the public television and radio station WGBH. The site, currently housing nearly one million files, includes video, audio, images, and transcripts, some of which date back to 1947.
Frontline is a PBS series that has offered documentary shows for over thirty seasons since 1983. The web archive includes 136 full documentaries. One can search the archive by date or by program topics that include specific subjects such as Afghanistan/Pakistan and more general headings such as education, business, economy, environment, and family/children.
USC School of Cinematic Arts
(YouTube One Channel)
This collection includes overviews of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, highlights from the First Look film festival, clips from distinguished speakers, and short films about producing, cinematography, sound set-ups, lighting, and other aspects of filmmaking.