Find Brilliant free films and programs
Uncover archive TV footage
British Pathé (www.britishpathe.com) is an archive of
news and entertainment programs. The site is a treasure trove of fantastic
clips and full-length TV shows from times gone by. Browse by Program (www.snipca.com/9207). Archives or
Categories or search by subject for anything from fly-fishing to the FA Cup.
Search
documentaries with British Pathé
At www.youtube.com/BFIfilms
you’ll find more than 400 videos, plus TV and film extracts spanning more than
100 years. The British Film Institute’s YouTube channel also offers links to
topics such as London on Film through the ages (www.snipt.com/9074). The BFI’s own website
spotlights particular directors, such as David Lean and Charlie Chaplin (http://chaplin.bfi.org). Internet Archive (www.snipca.com/9226) hosts many free
films, including The 39 Steps, Orson Welles in the “The Stranger”, Lon Chaney in
the 1925 silent film version of The Phantom of the Opera and Vincent Price in
cult classic The Last Man on Earth. The site is made easier to navigate by fan
lists such as ‘40 great films on Internet Archive’, (www.snipea.eom/9093). Internet Archive
posts regular updates at www.snipca.com/9206.
The BBC also maintains a program archive at
www.bbc.com/archive.
Explore independent cinema
Independent film is well-represented online.
Indie Movies Online (www.snipca.com/9205)
has a whole section dedicated to free films covering independent cinema classics
and the best of international cinema.
YouTube hosts free films of variable merit
at www.snipca.com/9063. The intriguing Life in a Day (www.snipca.com/9227), compiled from
80,000 clips from YouTube members, is well worth a watch. Search YouTube by
category (www.youtube.com/channels)
you can unearth some quality programs and films. Sections for comedy, animation,
music, science and technology form a stellar line-up of original content.
Create a Google or YouTube account and subscribe to channels to get updates about
new programs.
The
BFI’s website highlights the work of movie legends such as Charlie Chaplin
Viso Cinema (www.snipca.com/9220) lists films available
on YouTube by genre while at SnagFilms (www.snipca.com/9067)
you can watch dozens of free independent productions.
Fans of Animation and stop-motion film may
prefer Vimeo (www.vimeo.com) where you can
watch users’ own creations for free. Documentary makers often post their videos
on Vimeo. Members can promote particularly well-crafted programs by clicking
the heart icon to ‘like’ them. This helps compensate for the number of
marketing videos on the site. Unfortunately, films that include nudity are
popular with members. There’s also beautiful cinematography on Vimeo such as
Searching for the Yeti (www.snipca.com/9223).
Learn from an expert
There are lots of educational programs at
TED (www.ted.com). The site features more than
1,500 video presentations by the biggest names in business, entertainment and
academia. Try the playlist of recommended talks at www.snipca.com/9078 or enjoy
Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ favorite videos (www.snipca.com/9079). You can search for
TED talks by topic, keyword and much more.
Watch classic conceit footage
Music fans should head to Concert Vault (www.concertvault.com). This fantastic
site contains hundreds of concerts from the 1970s onwards (some are
audio-only). A $6 per month subscription provides unlimited viewing and
two-concert downloads per week.
Use TV subscription services for free
The big-name film rental companies LoveFilm
and Netflix work on a monthly subscription basis. But you can watch many
programs and films for free as long as you’re happy to do so via the web version
of these sites. Vimeo offers on-demand documentary downloads, but also has
plenty of free videos to watch.
If you have a Tesco Clubcard you can watch
of selection of TV programs and films for free. Enter your Clubcard number and
sign up for an account at www.clubcardtv.com.
So far you can only watch shows on your computer, but smartphone and tablet
apps are promised. You could, however, use an HDMI cable to connect your laptop
to your TV.
ClubcardTV
Blinkbox (www.blinkbox.com)
is Tesco’s on-demand film and TV rentals service. It’s priced per-show, so you
can pay to watch without being tied in to a contract. There are weekly 99p
deals on new releases and a 99p downloads section at www.snipca.com/9081.
There’s an incredible amount of quality TV
programming and films for you to watch online and on portable devices. While
territorial restrictions exist, it’s really not difficult to circumvent them.
And with all the options we’ve given you for tuning in for free, you probably
won’t need anything more than a 2Mbps broadband connection to tune in.
