Die Videoaufnahme zeigt das Kennzeichen.

Because German nouns have grammatical gender.

• die Videoaufnahme is feminine
• das Kennzeichen is neuter

The article has to match the noun’s gender, so you learn the noun together with its article:

• die Videoaufnahme
• das Kennzeichen

This gender is grammatical, not biological.

• Die Videoaufnahme is the subject, so it is in the nominative case.
• das Kennzeichen is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case.

So the structure is:

• Die Videoaufnahme = the video recording
• zeigt = shows
• das Kennzeichen = the license plate / registration plate

A useful thing to notice: in this sentence, the articles do not visibly change much:

• feminine nominative singular: die
• neuter accusative singular: das

So you have to understand the role mainly from word order and the verb, not from dramatic case endings.

German main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule.

That means the finite verb goes in position 2:

• Die Videoaufnahme | zeigt | das Kennzeichen

Here:

1. Die Videoaufnahme is in the first position
2. zeigt is in the second position
3. das Kennzeichen comes after it

This is one of the most important word order rules in German.

Because German often combines nouns into a single compound noun.

Here:

• Video = video
• Aufnahme = recording

Together:

• Videoaufnahme = video recording

This is very normal in German. English often uses separate words where German uses one compound word.

Other examples:

• Haus + Tür → Haustür
• Auto + Schlüssel → Autoschlüssel

In everyday German, das Kennzeichen usually means a vehicle license plate or registration plate.

In other contexts, Kennzeichen can also mean:

• distinguishing mark
• identifying feature
• sign/indicator

But in a sentence like this, the most natural meaning is the license plate of a car or other vehicle.

Yes, often you can.

• das Kennzeichen is very common and often a bit more official or standard
• das Nummernschild is also very common in everyday speech

Both can refer to a vehicle’s plate. Depending on region and context, one may sound more natural than the other.

Because the subject is singular:

• die Videoaufnahme = one video recording

So the verb is third person singular:

• sie zeigt = it shows

If the subject were plural, the verb would change:

• Die Videoaufnahmen zeigen das Kennzeichen. = The video recordings show the license plate.

Not always exactly.

• das Video often means the video as a file, clip, or general video
• die Videoaufnahme emphasizes the recording

In many situations they overlap, but Videoaufnahme can sound a bit more precise or formal.

A rough guide is:

• Kennzeichen ≈ KENN-tsai-khen

Helpful points:

• z in German is pronounced like ts
• ei is pronounced like English eye
• ch here is the softer German sound, not like English k

So:

• Kenn sounds a bit like ken
• zei sounds like tsai
• chen here is closer to khen than to English chen

Yes, but the meaning or emphasis can change.

Normal order:

• Die Videoaufnahme zeigt das Kennzeichen.

You could also say:

• Das Kennzeichen zeigt die Videoaufnahme.

But that now means:

• The license plate shows the video recording.

So you cannot freely swap the two nouns unless you also want to change the meaning.

You can, however, move other elements for emphasis in longer sentences, while keeping the verb in second position.