Video essays: probably in my top 10 all-time favourite things to watch. I’m probably in agreement with the majority of what was said in today’s lectorial (week #10, for future reference) about the ‘new essay’ age. These wonders provide a much richer experience than the traditional essay, a given considering all its visual and aural material, but a well needed richness that demands the viewer’s precise attention (There is something so satisfying in the act of viewing something where someone has taken to the time to delve into the rabbit hole of cinema and pick out even a few little bits and pieces, rearrange them, and then put them back together).

The academic pushes towards this medium are deserved, and the creativity that such a platform opens up is both inspiring, given a newfound creative freedom, and terrifying; sometimes limits aren’t always detrimental. Making a good video essay as opposed to a good traditional essay is indeed a difficult task. It requires greater patience (a ginormous amount of extra time), an compositional adequacy both with the essay’s visual and narrative elements, and demands greater confidence in its presentation. But in turn comes a much more rewarding experience–if everything works out in the end, you have in your hands the sweetest result of a century+ of video evolution: insight.

Some YouTubers in the area I’m keeping (relatively) up to date with: