Aaron Williams gives some great advice on translating writing composition skills to video composition here.
Here’s some analysis and editing advice from Tony Zho. You can read the full Mentorless article here and the Reddit AMA here.
On editing
1) Try editing standing up. I cut like this. Walter Murch cuts like this. We’re gonna start a club. You may not end up doing it, but you’d be surprised how different your body feels. Just remember that you need to take care of your body because editing is very stationary. Even if you end up sitting, take breaks.
2) Always sleep 8 hours. Nobody edits well on lack of sleep, and it is a stupid belief in this industry that editors want to lose rest. No, we don’t.
3) Trust your emotional instincts. If you watch a piece of footage and it gives you an emotional reaction (whether a laugh, a feeling of disgust, happiness), save that clip and mark it down.
4) Get to the rough edit as quickly as possible. The assembly is always brutal. Get to rough so that you have something passable to show people.
5) Show it to people. Do not trust what they tell you to change. People are extremely good at feeling when something is wrong, but not always at articulating it. Your best guide is to watch their reaction during the film. Wherever you see attention flag, or a laugh, mark it down. If they write up their notes afterwards, you can read em, but never trust those notes more than their actual reactions while watching.
6) Editing is largely mental and mostly about patience. Basically, there’s you and there’s the footage, and you’re going to wrestle. You will eventually come out on top, but the footage will not make it easy for you. Subdue it. Kill it. Drink its blood. Mentally, of course.
7) Every once in a while, test yourself by doing a speed edit. Basically, knock out something in 8 hours. You will fly on instinct and get to the end and realize that hey, your instincts aren’t half bad. Now go back and overthink everything.
On analysis
Take a class on script analysis. Learn how a director breaks down a script. Then get your hands on a movie script, pick a scene, guess how the director would shoot it, then watch the actual way he/she shot it.
Bring a film into Final Cut or Premiere or Avid, and just watch it backwards and forwards, muted and unmuted, B&W, color.Watch for camera placement, movement, everything. After you do this for a while, you won’t need to bring the movie into Premiere, you can just do it on the fly.
If you’ve seen the film before, watch it with an audience and kinda watch them. Their “on-the-fly” reaction to the film will teach you more than many critics. When do they lean in? When do they cross their arms? When do they laugh? Is it at the same place you laughed?
You can find a lot of movie scripts here, by the way. See if Tony’s suggestions help your scene analysis!
Said argued that the concept of the Orient as other serves to establish Europe and the West as the norm.
In regards to the quote above, can the same be said in reverse? Who establishes what the “norm” is?
It can be said that the West as the norm serves to establish the the orient as the other, since Western culture in a way subconsciously established itself as the norm through various aspects. This idea of binary opposition where we identify as something being a certain way therefore we must be this, or the opposite of that concerning this particular topic traces back to the era of colonialism. Instead of these countries traveling and identifying the West, the West went and “discovered” them. That already puts these lands and people which just so happens to be parts of the Middle East, Asia and Africa in a state of inferiority or being uncivilized, whether that be the case or not. Since these lands were subject to colonization and then became partners in trade with the West, we have looked to these areas as foreign and mysterious. Thus creating the cultural construction Orientalism that establishes the East as the Orient and the west as the Occident or the norm. This construction is then maintained by familiar cultural representations, especially stereotypes though culture and the arts. This reinforcement is made by artists painting seductive women which started movements such as the Neoclassical, or pictures that can reinforce common false assumptions of how Egypt is mostly made up of sand dunes and camels. These examples support how many of these stereotypes are still prominent today and can be easily identified through visual media. Cinema is full of cultural stereotypes and can be traced back to binary opposition such as in the movie The Mummy Returns where the plot is based on an Egyptian curse. Or Aladdin where the antagonist is tall dark, mysterious, a sorcerer and wears a turban. Not all of the Middle East is Muslim speaks Arabic and wears hijabs or turbans, yet that is how Western culture tends to associate those people. For a more recent example, not all Hawaiian men have tribal tattoos, wear straw skirts, and participate in luaus, yet that is the first thing that comes to mind when people of Western civilized culture think when they see the word Hawaii . A land that we took over not too long ago. Therefore, The West or the Occident has established the norm by the events and practices throughout history such as colonization and control of other countries that have identified foreign land as unfamiliar and the Orient which unfortunately makes it subject to discrimination.
It is difficult to say if the West would have some sort of cultural construction if colonization didn’t occur, I’m sure some sort of stereotype would still be present just based on the advancement of Western civilization at the height of the era of colonization even if control wasn’t in place, just maybe not the certain extent of how associate Orientalism to the East like we do today. There would still be some sort of feeling towards foreign land due to trade. It would be interesting to theorize what would’ve happened if the situation was flipped. Would the West be the Orient and subject to similar discrimination?
A moving camera operates in a dynamic manner that not only captures a scene that is not still, but, engages the audience into the scene. This sense of engagement or role within the film from the audiences’ perspective is all due to the dynamics of the camera and how the “mise en scene” is developed. There is more to a film than the capturing of shot, the moving camera allows for “the gaze” to be elaborate, an in some cases, maybe more intimate with the spectator. This allows for the observer to have power over the object in a different manner, it is not only examining just the object as a whole, but taking apart the object to discover ideas about it. Yes, the object has ownership of “the gaze” as it is whats being examined but with the limitations of what about the object, the observer wants to see. It is possible to make the mise en scenee due to the moving camera because, a setting can be shown to an audience. Take the 1954 film Rear Window, at the commencement of the film there the camera shows the audience an external/outdoor view of some apartments which allows them to decode the setting for the film.
The artist is the one who is in power of creating the subject which in turn affects the observes power over the subject. Although the prior sentence may seem misleading but it basically explains how the “artist” can paint or create something (subject) and arrange (montage) it in a particular way to have the audience (observers) analyze the product. In the film, there are other ways that the moving camera demonstrates the effectiveness of movement. For example, once the scene or setting is shown to the audience, we are then taken into the apartment of the main character, protagonist, journalist who is sleeping. A close up is then made of the character as we examine his face being awoken by the second character, a female that kisses him. It is intimate, of course a kiss in general in intimate, but with the innovation of moving cameras we see the exchangement of words and expressions in a more complex manner.
Thus, the ethics of the artist, subject, and observer are dependent on the positioning and creating of the camera and scene. Having close-ups, then reverse-camera shots demonstrate the level of excitement within a conversation in a film, which an audience could decode as important or not significant. Monaco said it best in the reading Language of Film, “Film has no grammar. There are, however, some vaguely defined rules of usage in cinematic language, and the syntax of film- its systematic arrangement-orders these rules and indicates relationship among them” (Monaco p191). Ethics can only be established by the method an artist decides to develop the “mise en scene” which will then depict the relationships an audience identifies with, giving them the power, to decide how to decode the subject. Taking another reading into consideration for further elaboration is form Sturken and Catwright where they identified that “Just as images are both representations and producers of the ideologies of their time, they are also factors in the power relations between human subjects and between individuals and institutions” (Sturken & Catwright p93). Not to confuse people with the different subjects at hand, but they do interpret how an observer can be effected by the artists’ creation and a moving camera has much to do with what Monaco and Sturken/Catwright have to say about the relationships between power of an observer and the object being identified with.
“The video essay is often described as a form of new media, but the basic principles are as old as rhetoric: the author makes an assertion, then presents evidence to back up his claim. Of course it was always possible for film critics to do this in print, and they’ve been doing it for over 100 years, following more or less the same template that one would use while writing about any art form: state your thesis or opinion, then back it with examples. In college, I was assured that in its heart, all written criticism was essentially the same – that in terms of rhetorical construction, book reviews, music reviews, dance reviews and film reviews were cut from the same cloth, but tailored to suit the specific properties of the medium being described, with greater emphasis given to form or content depending on the author’s goals and the reader’s presumed interest.”
“Of all the many developments in the short history of film criticism and scholarship, the video essay has the greatest potential to challenge the now historically located text-based dominance of the appraisal and interpretation of film and its contextual cultures…”
“Importantly, the [new] media stylo does not replace traditional scholarship. This is a new practice beyond traditional scholarship. So how does critical media differ from traditional scholarship and what advantages does it offer? First, as you will see with the works in this issue, critical media demonstrates a shift in rhetorical mode. The traditional essay is argumentative-thesis, evidence, conclusion. Traditional scholarship aspires to exhaustion, to be the definitive, end-all-be-all, last word on a particular subject. The media stylo, by contrast, suggests possibilities-it is not the end of scholarly inquiry; it is the beginning. It explores and experiments and is designed just as much to inspire as to convince…”
Matt Zoller Seitz (various venues) A writer and director by trade, Zoller Seitz is nonetheless probably best known as a prominent American cultural critic. He’s made over 1000 hours of video essays and is generally recognized as a founder of the video essay movement in high-brow periodicals. A recognized expert on Wes Anderson, Zoller Seitz is also notable because he often mixes other cinematic media (especially television) into his analysis, as in the above example, which doubles as an experiment in the absence of voiceover.
Various contributors, Press Play Co-founded by Matt Zoller Seitz and Ken Cancelosi, Press Play (published by Indiewire)is one of the oldest high-brow venues for video essays about television, cinema, and other aspects of popular culture.
Various contributors, Keyframe(A Fandor online publication)
Fandor’s video essay department publishes work from many editors (what many video essayists call themselves) on and in a range of topics and styles. Check it out to get an idea of all that things a video essay can do!
Various contributors, Moving Image Source A high-brow publication for video essays.
Tony Zhou, Every Frame a Painting The master of video essays on filmic form, Tony’s arguments are clean, simple, and well-evidenced. Look to Tony as an example of aggressive and precise editing and arrangement. He’s also an excellent sound editor–pay attention to his choices and try out some of his sound-mixing techniques in your essay.
Adam Johnston, Your Movie Sucks (YMS) Although an excellent example of epideictic film rhetoric, this channel is a great example of what not to do in this assignment (write a movie review, gush about how good/bad you think a movie is, focus on motifs or narrative content instead of film form as the center of your argument). What you can learn from Adam is a lot about style. Adam’s delivery, pacing, and editing all work together to promote a mildly-disinterested-and-therefore-credible ethos through a near-monotone, which I’ll affectionately dub the “Daria” narratorial ethos.
Adam Westbrook, delve.tv Adam Westbrook is part of an emerging group of professional video essayists and delve.tv is his version of a visual podcast. Using the video essay form, Adam has developed a professional public intellectual ethos for himself through skillful overlay of explanation/interpretation and concept. Check out Westbrook’s work as a really good example of presenting and representing visual concepts crucial to an argument. He’s a master at making an argument in the form of storytelling, and he uses the video essay as a vehicle for that enterprise.
:: kogonada (various venues) If you found yourself wondering what the auteur video essay might look like, :: kogonada is it. I like to call this “expressionist” video essay style. Kogonada is the ultimate minimalist when it comes to voiceover/text over–its message impossibly and almost excessively efficient. Half of the videos in his library are simple, expertly-executed supercuts, highlighting how heavily video essays rely on the “supercut” technique to make an argument. Crafting an essay in this style really limits your audience and may not be a very good fit for the constraints of assignment (very “cutting edge,” as we talked about it in class), but you will probably draw inspiration from ::kogonada’s distinct, recognizable style, as well as an idea of what a video essay can do at the outer limits of its form.
Lewis Bond, Channel Criswell Narrating in brogue-y Northern English, Bond takes his time, releasing a very carefully-edited, high-production video essay once every couple of months. He’s a decent editor, but I feel his essays tend to run long, and I feel rushed by his narration at times. Bond also makes a useful distinction between video essays and analysis/reviews on his channel–and while most of his analysis/reviews focus on film content (what you don’t want to imitate), his video essays stay pretty focused on film technique (what you do). Hearing the same author consciously engage in two different modes of analysis might help you better understand the distinction between the two, as well.
Jack Nugent, Now You See It Nugent’s brisk, formal analysis is both insightful and accessible–a good example of what it takes to secure a significant following in the highly-competitive Youtube marketplace. [That’s my way of slyly calling him commercial.] Nugent is especially good at pairing his narration with his images. Concentrate and reflect upon his simple pairings as you watch–how does Nugent help you process both sets of information at the pacing he sets?
Evan Puschak, The Nerdwriter
Nerdwriter is a great example the diversity of topics a video essay can be used to craft an argument about. Every week, Puschak publishes an episode on science, art, and culture. Look at all the different things Puschak considers visual rhetoric and think about how he’s using the video essay form to make honed, precisely-executed arguments about popular culture.
Dennis Hartwig and John P. Hess, FilmmakerIQ Hartwig and Hess use video essays to explain filmmaking technique to aspiring filmmakers. I’ve included the channel here as another example of what not to do in your argument, although perhaps some of the technical explanations that Hartwig and Hess have produced might help you as secondary sources. Your target audience (someone familiar on basic film theory trying to better understand film form) is likely to find the highly technical, prescriptive arguments on FilmIQ boring or alienating. Don’t focus on technical production in your essay (how the film accomplishes a particular visual technique using a camera); rather, focus on how the audience interprets the end result in the film itself; in other words, focus on choices the audience can notice and interpret–how is the audience interpreting the product of production? How often is the audience thinking about/noticing production in that process?
Kevin B. Lee (various venues) A good example of the older, high-brow generation of video essayists, Kevin’s collection of work hosted on his Vimeo channel offers slow, deliberate, lecture-inspired readings of film techniques and form. Note the distinct stylistic difference between Kevin’s pacing and someone like Zhou or Lewis. How does delivery affect reception?
Use your free UTBox account to upload and manage your files. Make sure you’ve got some sort of system for tracking and assembling everything into your video editing software. UTBox has a 2 terabyte limit (much higher than Google Drive) and is an excellent file management resource for all sorts of academic work.
Adobe Premiere saves versions with links to your video files, so it’s imperative that you keep your video files folder in the same place on every machine you open it up on. That’s why I keep all my video files in a big folder on box that I drop on the desktop of any machine I’m working on before I open my premiere files. The Adobe Premiere project walkthrough has more details on this.
Where to find video and how to capture it
About fair use. Make sure your composition complies with the Fair Use doctrine and familiarize yourself with the four criteria.
The best place to capture images is always from a high-resolution DVD or video file. The first place you should go to get the film is the library– see instructions for searching here.
To import the video and audio from your DVD or video file into your video editing software (like Premiere), you will first need to use a software to convert it to an .mkv. See instructions on how to do that here.
Camtasia tutorials. Camtasia is a program that allows you to capture anything that’s going on on your screen. This is a critical tool for this assignment as you decide what kind of interface you want to present to your reader in your video essay. Camtasia also allows you to capture any high-quality video playing on your desktop without licensing restrictions.
You can also use Clip Converter to capture images and sound from pre-existing YouTube videos, and it may be a little faster and easier than Camtasia. I suggest converting things into .mkv before putting them into your video editor, regardless of where you get the material from.
