Many of us have a favorite movie that we keep rewatching. Next time you begin a rewatch of a favorite, watch it in black and white. This “estranges” it, making it feel like you are seeing it for the first time. This hack comes via artist Austin Kleon, who wrote a short bit on how to invoke black and white on your screen (often options in the “Accessibility” menu), and has a list of classic movies that successfully estrange in black and white such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Princess Bride, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I recently tried this on my favorite, The Fifth Element, and it worked great. — KK

Eye Candy is a really cool visual library of camerawork tricks. When you click on a technique a collage of examples pop up. It’s stunning and a source of inspiration, even if you’re not a filmmaker and just an art appreciator like me. — CD

Editing video is the new self-publishing. I’m trying to learn it. The two classic standard programs for video editing are very expensive. However, there are a bunch of really good programs for free. CreativeBloq ran a comparative review of the best free video editing software, which is likely to cover 99% of most uses. I have no excuses now. — KK

I am always on the lookout for the next new thing. I found one in vtubers. Vtubers are virtual characters that are streamed before an audience in real time, puppeted by their master behind the scenes. They have long been predicted in science fiction, such as William Gibson’s Idoru. These virtual characters appear live today on Twitch and YouTube, and interact with fans or guests in real time and use the latest motion capture technology so they appear “realistic”. They are rapidly gaining audiences. Their human host is acting out their role in their home, and voicing them. Their virtuality permits the characters to go in a new thousand directions, creating a new fictional space. Rather than point you to particular streams, I suggest this pretty good article describing one of the most popular vtubers: CodeMiko is the Future of Streaming. — KK

Jumpstory is a royalty-free stock image and video service with millions of photos, videos, and illustrations that you can use for websites, books, presentations, and more. The images have been curated from public domain sources, and they’ve done a great job of tagging and organizing everything. I use Jumpstory images on my website, Boing Boing. A lifetime subscription is $99. — MF

Your phone is probably a better camera for streaming than your laptop or third-party webcam you are now using. To see how you can use your phone as a webcam, check out this technical video from Norm Chan at Tested. You’ll need two free open-source apps on your computer, and an inexpensive app on your phone. Following the instructions I got very high quality streams from my iPhone 8. This is good for YouTube, Facebook, Twitch streams but not for Zoom, Meet and other video conferencing yet.  — KK

I’ve been a guest on a number of live streams that use StreamYard. StreamYard is the emerging tool that enables you to broadcast live streaming video. The host invites up to 10 different guests to join via their incoming video connections. The guests meet off camera in a “green room.” Then like a studio producer, the host can mix which guests appear in the stream, which remain on deck in the green room, which other visuals to show, and overall to control what is streamed out live to YouTube, Facebook, etc., or your own website. Works pretty well. Conceptually this is a mini-broadcasting studio. It costs $25 per month to host, with a free trial option. Guests only require a web browser. — KK