VIDEO ESSAYS

The multiscreen exercise inspired Liz Greene to make the following video, in which she
places the opening sequence of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet next to the one of his The
Elephant Man in split-screen, resulting in a relatively “simple” video that nevertheless
provides a great insight: https://vimeo.com/131802926

Another good one (but far more complex in form) is Liz Greene’s Do It For Van Gogh,
which was published in NECSUS: https://necsus-ejms.org/do-it-for-van-gogh/

See also the introduction of the section by Miklós Kiss, in which he makes an argument
for “autonomous and explanatory argumentative videographic criticism” (and thus not
“explains” Greene’s video): https://necsus-ejms.org/videographic-scene-analyses-part-1/

A great piece about the practice of doing videographic criticism, and particularly on the
use of voiceover, is this one by Ian Garwood:https://necsus-ejms.org/the-place-of-
voiceover-in-audiovisual-film-and-television-criticism/

Kevin B. Lee, “What makes a video essay great?” (2014)

https://vimeopro.com/kevinblee/intro/video/199577445
which gives a great introduction to the importance of academic audiovisual essays

Allison de Fren, “Fembot in a Red Dress” (2016):

http://mediacommons.org/intransition/fembot-red-dress
which is an excellent example of an explanatory audiovisual essay using voice-over

Jordan Schoning, “The Follow Shot: A Tale of Two Elephants” (2018):

http://mediacommons.org/intransition/2018/03/08/chained-camera
which is an excellent example of an audiovisual essay focusing on a specific camera technique,
without a voice-over

Chloé Galibert-Laîné, “My Crush was a Superstar” (2017): https://necsus-ejms.org/my-crush-was-

a-superstar/
which is an excellent example of a desktop-based audiovisual essay (though perhaps needs a trigger
warning because of the topic)

Catherine Grant, “The Haunting of the Headless Woman” (2019):

https://tecmerin.uc3m.es/en/journal-2-1/
which is an excellent example of the work of Catherine Grant, one of the pioneering scholars in
videographic criticism

You might also want to check out the selection curated by Catherine Grant and I that we did in the
latest issue of NECSUS, highlighting audiovisual work focusing on television:
https://necsus-ejms.org/new-ways-of-seeing-and-hearing-the-audiovisual-essay-and-television/
In addition, I would like to ask you to watch my first (and so far only) peer-reviewed published
audiovisual essay, and pay particular attention to the peer reviews:
Jaap Kooijman, “Success” (2016): http://mediacommons.org/intransition/success

I have attached the “In Focus” section of Cinema Journal, looking back at the first years of
[in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies, which also include a very
short piece by myself reflecting upon the open peer review process.

Other readings that might be of interest:

A conversation between participants of the Middlebury videographic criticism workshop (of

different years), including myself, originally published in The Videographic Essay: Criticism in
Sound and Image by Christian Keathley, Jason Mittell, and Catherine Grant (2019):
http://scalar.usc.edu/works/videographic-essay/becoming-videographic-critics-a-roundtable-
conversation?t=1572903657663
Highlighting some experiences of scholars in media studies doing audiovisual essays.

Greer Fyfe and Miriam Ross, “How-To Video Essays” 2015:

https://reframe.sussex.ac.uk/audiovisualessay/resources/how-to-guides/how-to-video-essays-by-
greer-fyfe-and-miriam-ross/
A very practical “how-to-do guide” that can also be used for teaching students.

Thomas van den Berg and Miklós Kiss, Film Studies in Motion: From Audiovisual Essay to
Academic Research Video (2016:
http://scalar.usc.edu/works/film-studies-in-motion/index
an online monograph discussing what defines an academic audiovisual essay (which is a great read,
although I don't share the authors' perspective, as we might discuss during the workshop).