Video

What inspires you?

With the end of school, graduations, and the world opening up again, now seems like a good time to think about what inspires us. When coming up with stories for film, I have always found artistic creativity to be the most inspiring because it is the least defined. When you are creating a story and trying to imagine how you are going to tell it with images, it’s not always clear how it’s going to turn out. That can be scary but also exciting – kind of like life.  

Now that life is starting to go back to some kind of normal, I’m finding I am thinking more about what’s ahead. For the past year or so, we’ve been in survival mode – just trying to get from one day to the next. Many of our worlds got very small and we were only interacting with one person at a time and maybe no one for long periods of time.  

I revisited this short film I wrote and produced with Rebecca Robb Benne and Erin Palmquist, and this main character’s uncertainty about her future but inner calmness about it was a good reminder of how we can just accept where we are now and just see where the future leads us. The film asks questions like “What’s in your future?” – something we all struggled to answer this year.  

Take a look and see how this young woman’s journey with her design skills can inspire you to be happy with the present and what you have accomplished so far this year, no matter how small.  Her serenity might inspire you to be fearless about what’s ahead. 

We would love to hear from you!

What’s a mini-documentary?

In the world of ELT, a mini-documentary is a short three to five minute video which features a topic and visually describes its main elements with an accompanying narrative appropriate for that particular language level. ELT ImageMakers’ owner, Anna Whitcher, and fellow script writer, Nora Hennick, wrote and developed the video content for seven levels of the English language secondary course, Prepare, for Cambridge Assessment. You can see an example of the videos here.

The work involved aligning the topic with the course syllabus, writing the voice over from scratch, carefully selecting all of the images, timing them all with the narrative, and applying appropriate music tracks. It’s a lot of work but very satisfying when you achieve the final product.  

If this kind of task interests you, ELT ImageMakers will be launching some online discussions this spring with teachers and others in the ELT industry to explore how these videos are made and how you can get involved.

Situational videos with useful phrases for your online English classes

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Feeling like your online classes need a mid-week boost? Take a look at these three videos from the adult English language course Jetstream from Helbling, co-produced with ELT ImageMakers’ owner, Anna Whitcher, and People’s TV. Your students can learn some useful phrases for managing wrong orders, talking about art they like and don’t like, and comforting a friend who is stressed. With samples from the three different levels, you'll have a little something to show all of your classes. Get in touch with us here at ELT ImageMakers if you want to learn more about this course or any of the other videos we've produced.

NEW Teacher Resources page!

ELT ImageMakers is getting ready to launch their new Teacher Resources page. This page will contain links to various videos created in collaboration with other publishers. They will be giving you a taste of the types of ideas and activities you can expect to find there. The current taster includes a sample of videos with accompanying video activities suitable for A2 and above. Get ready to liven up your English language classes on our way out of 2020!

Videos to spark discussion in your ELT classes

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Looking for some videos to engage your online classes? Take a look at some of the mini-documentaries and vox pops ELT ImageMaker owner, Anna Whitcher, helped to produce for Cambridge University Press. In this four-level secondary course, students get to experience everything from a Kung Fu school in China to a lifeguard’s race of her life in Australia. And if you’re just looking to get some interesting discussion going, have them talk about what makes a good friend. Eyes Open / Uncover was nominated for an ELTon in 2016.

Nomination for an ELTon in Course Innovation

ELT ImageMakers' owner, Anna Whitcher, and fellow script writers, Nora Hennick and Lynne Robertson, are excited to hear the results of tomorrow's ELTons' ceremony. Their work on Evolve by Cambridge University Press has gotten nominated as a finalist for its Excellence in Course Innovation. Anna wrote the 36 episodes of scripted drama for four levels of this course and led co-writers, Nora and Lynne, on the mini-documentaries. This was a great experience for us as a writing team. If you'd like to see some of the videos from this course, please visit our Video Samples. Winners will be announced tomorrow, 15th October.

What's your mood today?

The current state of the world has made all of our moods more fragile than before. ELT ImageMakers have gone into the archives and found another good video to show to your English language classes to spark some conversation about how your students are feeling today. See what these California teenagers have to say about their moods and get some ideas about how to talk about your students' moods in uncertain times.

Calling all English language teachers!

"Can you roll your tongue?" "Can you wiggle your ears?" These are just some of the quirky questions you can ask your students as they watch this ESL classroom in California act out some of these genetic abilities. So if you're looking for something fun and different to do with your classes during these long days at home, check out Brookemead ELT's video "Genetics." Which abilities do you share?

Stay tuned as we develop our new Teacher Resources page. Video activities to accompany this short film will be available soon.

An example of one of the 24 original videos created with Erin Palmquist for Brookemead ELT. Nominated for an ELTon in 2013.

Slowing down and being more deliberate

When Kieran Donaghy and I first showed this short film at the Image Conference in 2014 in Cordoba, Spain, we had a lot of people scratching their heads, wondering what we were talking about. Now with what's transpired in 2020, it seems that this idea of slowing down and being deliberate has never been more relevant. Thanks to Erin Palmquist and Eliot Freed for their inspiration and collaboration on this film. View it for the first time or take a look again!

Jason Sterling makes debut as background actor

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Our own Jason Sterling (Technology) has jumped out of his comfort zone and tried something completely different, by being a background actor for the first time in a feature film. When he discovered that a movie was filming in his own backyard (the San Francisco financial district), he took a chance and applied to be a background actor. Who knows for sure how visible he’ll be, just a shadow in the background, or on the cutting room floor…, but it was a great experience and gave him a taste of the world of video production!