The Video Essay: Writing with Video about Media and Culture

In this seminar, we explore what it means to 'write with video,' and we learn to make effective and engaging video essays. Specifically, we examine strategies for communicating through video, and we conduct hands-on exercises using digital video editing software to construct arguments, analyses, and interpretations of film, television, video games, online media, art, and culture. Compared with traditional text-based arguments, the video essay offers a remarkably direct mode of communicating critical and analytical ideas. Video essayists can simply show their viewers what they want them to see. This does not mean, however, that it is any easier than an essay composed with ink and paper. Like the written essay, the new technology introduces its own challenges and choices, including decisions about organization of space and time, audiovisual materials, onscreen text, voiceover commentary, and visual effects. By taking a hands-on approach, we develop our skills with editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple's Final Cut Pro while also cultivating our awareness of the formal and narrative techniques employed in cinema and other moving-image media. Through weekly assignments and group critique sessions, we learn to express ourselves more effectively and creatively in audiovisual media. As a culmination of our efforts, we assemble a group exhibition of our best video essays for public display on campus.No previous experience is required, but a willingness to learn new technologies (in particular, video editing software) is important.