Video Essay
Video Essay
Length: 8-12 minutes
Format: mp4 uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube as an unlisted link.
Point Value: 65 points divided this way:
Draft 1 (20 points)
Draft 2 (20 points)
Final Draft (25 points)
Introduction
Length: 600 – 900 words
Format: Word document
Point Value: 10 points
Journal Submission Rationale
Length: 200 – 400 words
Format: Word Document
Point Value: 5 points
Length: 8-12 minutes
Format: mp4 uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube as an unlisted link.
Point Value: 65 points divided this way:
Draft 1 (20 points)
Draft 2 (20 points)
Final Draft (25 points)
Introduction
Length: 600 – 900 words
Format: Word document
Point Value: 10 points
Journal Submission Rationale
Length: 200 – 400 words
Format: Word Document
Point Value: 5 points
Video Essay
Do I need a partner?
Having a partner is optional. While most scholars make video essays on their own, others work with a partner. As you decide whether or not you would like to have a partner, make sure to check out these video essays created by multiple authors for ideas of what multiple-author video essays are like:
Introduction to “Race, Rhetoric, and the State” Special Issue by Alexandra Hidalgo and Donnie Johnson Sackey, 10 minutes (2015).
The Choric Slam Tilt: Unpinning the Table by Sarah Arroyo, Bahareh Alaei, and Amy Loy, 7 minutes (2013).
A Feminist Approach to Social Media by Alexandra Hidalgo and Katie Grimes, 16 minutes (2017).
One More Video Theory (Some Assemblage Required) by Sarah Arroyo and Bahareh Alaei, 12 minutes (2015).
How do I select my partner if I choose to have one?
It is up to you to decide whom you want to work with. Try to find someone with whom you think you can collaborate easily. Make sure you set up some system of communication (texting, Facebook, Slack) and that you check in with each other outside of class.
What is expected of a video essay?
As we have been watching in class and will continue to watch throughout the semester, video essays feature narrated academic ideas accompanied by images and a soundtrack. Some video essays intersperse narration with scenes, as these do:
Idiocy of Videocy by Sarah Arroyo and Bahareh Alaei, 10 minutes (2012).
Alto Precio: Love, Loss, and Rebellion in Raising Bilingual Children by Alexandra Hidalgo, 25 minutes (2016).
What should the video essay be about?
Anything you and your partner (if you have one) want as long as you come up with something that meets these criteria:
1. You have a sense of how you can make these arguments visually as well as through narration.
2. It is a topic you can research, write about, and find footage for during our short time together this semester.
3. It is a topic narrow enough that it would work as a video essay instead of a longer piece.
What should the narration be like?
Whether you decide to intersperse scenes or not, you’ll want to draft a narration that features academic ideas and backs them up by citing from scholarly sources. While it would be awkward for you to mention page numbers in your narration, you want to make sure to add them to your transcript.
If you have two people working on the video essay, you should take turns narrating. You should each write the section you’re reading.
Make sure to use a professional mic to record your narration. Some are available at the film lab. You’ll want to record inside and turn off anything that makes noise, such as dishwashers, heating system, etc. Make sure you get at least two good versions of each sentence you’re recording. Your voice changes in noticeable ways so you’ll want to record everything in one sitting (with breaks, of course). If you start recording today and go back tomorrow, there will be a discernible change in your voice that will confuse listeners.
All of this means that you want to have a very polished narration before you sit down to record because it will be hard to make changes afterwards. I will look at a draft and provide comments before you start recording.
What requirements are there for B-roll and optional scenes?
You’ll want to make sure to have images accompany your work. Although some video essays use only remixed found footage, I would like you to use mostly original footage for your video essays. The reason for this is that I would like you to leave this class knowing how to film and edit your own footage.
You can remix footage from others if you like and also use stills. Archival footage is also welcome, however, as long as it doesn’t comprise the majority of the project.
The scenes, if you choose to have them, can be actual scenes or interviews. It’s up to you what you decide to do.
How is the crew going to be divided for those working in pairs?
If you decide not to have scenes or interviews, all team members are responsible for researching and writing their own sections of the narration, though you should edit each other’s sections carefully to make sure they flow.
If you choose to feature interviews and/or scenes, this is how the work will be divided.
One member of your team will be the director, main editor, and music supervisor.
The other team member will be the producer, cinematographer, assistant editor, and color correction/sound editor.
Because we’re working under a filmmaking model where everyone’s contribution is valued and collaboration is key, I expect that some of these roles will be porous and that you will converse with your partner and make all important decisions for the video essay together. However, it is useful for each one of you to have set roles in the production process.
What equipment will we have access to?
You and your partner, if you have one, will have access to one camera, one tripod, and one shotgun mic, which you will pick up from the Film Lab on the sixth floor of Wells at various times during the course.
What will we use to edit the video essay?
We will learn to use Adobe Premiere for this assignment. Premiere is available on our Bessey 317 computers and on the Film Lab computers.
Does the video essay need a soundtrack?
Yes, and it should be made out of Creative Commons music, which you can find here: http://www.freesound.org, http://www.jamendo.com/en, and http://ccmixter.org. You’re also welcome to suggest other Creative Commons music websites and/or to compose your own music.
Does the video essay need credits?
Yes, and you need to make sure to have a Works Cited/References section in the credits where you list all your sources in the appropriate citation system for your journal of choice.
NOTE: You need to save your footage and video essay on both hard drives your team owns and to update your versions often. Have a version of your Adobe Premiere file in the drive, in your computer, and in a Google drive you create and share with each other for that purpose. They don’t take up a lot of space so make sure to back them up.
Having a partner is optional. While most scholars make video essays on their own, others work with a partner. As you decide whether or not you would like to have a partner, make sure to check out these video essays created by multiple authors for ideas of what multiple-author video essays are like:
Introduction to “Race, Rhetoric, and the State” Special Issue by Alexandra Hidalgo and Donnie Johnson Sackey, 10 minutes (2015).
The Choric Slam Tilt: Unpinning the Table by Sarah Arroyo, Bahareh Alaei, and Amy Loy, 7 minutes (2013).
A Feminist Approach to Social Media by Alexandra Hidalgo and Katie Grimes, 16 minutes (2017).
One More Video Theory (Some Assemblage Required) by Sarah Arroyo and Bahareh Alaei, 12 minutes (2015).
How do I select my partner if I choose to have one?
It is up to you to decide whom you want to work with. Try to find someone with whom you think you can collaborate easily. Make sure you set up some system of communication (texting, Facebook, Slack) and that you check in with each other outside of class.
What is expected of a video essay?
As we have been watching in class and will continue to watch throughout the semester, video essays feature narrated academic ideas accompanied by images and a soundtrack. Some video essays intersperse narration with scenes, as these do:
Idiocy of Videocy by Sarah Arroyo and Bahareh Alaei, 10 minutes (2012).
Alto Precio: Love, Loss, and Rebellion in Raising Bilingual Children by Alexandra Hidalgo, 25 minutes (2016).
What should the video essay be about?
Anything you and your partner (if you have one) want as long as you come up with something that meets these criteria:
1. You have a sense of how you can make these arguments visually as well as through narration.
2. It is a topic you can research, write about, and find footage for during our short time together this semester.
3. It is a topic narrow enough that it would work as a video essay instead of a longer piece.
What should the narration be like?
Whether you decide to intersperse scenes or not, you’ll want to draft a narration that features academic ideas and backs them up by citing from scholarly sources. While it would be awkward for you to mention page numbers in your narration, you want to make sure to add them to your transcript.
If you have two people working on the video essay, you should take turns narrating. You should each write the section you’re reading.
Make sure to use a professional mic to record your narration. Some are available at the film lab. You’ll want to record inside and turn off anything that makes noise, such as dishwashers, heating system, etc. Make sure you get at least two good versions of each sentence you’re recording. Your voice changes in noticeable ways so you’ll want to record everything in one sitting (with breaks, of course). If you start recording today and go back tomorrow, there will be a discernible change in your voice that will confuse listeners.
All of this means that you want to have a very polished narration before you sit down to record because it will be hard to make changes afterwards. I will look at a draft and provide comments before you start recording.
What requirements are there for B-roll and optional scenes?
You’ll want to make sure to have images accompany your work. Although some video essays use only remixed found footage, I would like you to use mostly original footage for your video essays. The reason for this is that I would like you to leave this class knowing how to film and edit your own footage.
You can remix footage from others if you like and also use stills. Archival footage is also welcome, however, as long as it doesn’t comprise the majority of the project.
The scenes, if you choose to have them, can be actual scenes or interviews. It’s up to you what you decide to do.
How is the crew going to be divided for those working in pairs?
If you decide not to have scenes or interviews, all team members are responsible for researching and writing their own sections of the narration, though you should edit each other’s sections carefully to make sure they flow.
If you choose to feature interviews and/or scenes, this is how the work will be divided.
One member of your team will be the director, main editor, and music supervisor.
- The director makes participants feel comfortable with the process by talking to them while interviews are set up, conducts interviews, and discusses with the participants and producer what B-roll and scenes will be filmed and how they will be filmed.
- The main editor is in charge of going through the footage and putting the story together with the help and feedback of the assistant editor.
- The music supervisor finds music and works on placing it on the scenes that require it.
The other team member will be the producer, cinematographer, assistant editor, and color correction/sound editor.
- The producer contacts all participants and is in charge of scheduling days of shooting and of making sure that the schedule is kept. If the schedule is not kept, the producer is in charge of revising it.
- The producer is in charge of getting all releases signed and keeps in touch with participants outside of filming, sending them thank you messages and updates.
- The cinematographer films most of the footage, making sure to consult with the director and participants for interview setups and longer scenes.
- The color correction and sound editor works on the picture lock version of the film to make sure the color of it is consistent, that the sound levels are constant, and that the sound is clean.
Because we’re working under a filmmaking model where everyone’s contribution is valued and collaboration is key, I expect that some of these roles will be porous and that you will converse with your partner and make all important decisions for the video essay together. However, it is useful for each one of you to have set roles in the production process.
What equipment will we have access to?
You and your partner, if you have one, will have access to one camera, one tripod, and one shotgun mic, which you will pick up from the Film Lab on the sixth floor of Wells at various times during the course.
What will we use to edit the video essay?
We will learn to use Adobe Premiere for this assignment. Premiere is available on our Bessey 317 computers and on the Film Lab computers.
Does the video essay need a soundtrack?
Yes, and it should be made out of Creative Commons music, which you can find here: http://www.freesound.org, http://www.jamendo.com/en, and http://ccmixter.org. You’re also welcome to suggest other Creative Commons music websites and/or to compose your own music.
Does the video essay need credits?
Yes, and you need to make sure to have a Works Cited/References section in the credits where you list all your sources in the appropriate citation system for your journal of choice.
NOTE: You need to save your footage and video essay on both hard drives your team owns and to update your versions often. Have a version of your Adobe Premiere file in the drive, in your computer, and in a Google drive you create and share with each other for that purpose. They don’t take up a lot of space so make sure to back them up.
Introduction
What is its purpose?
Almost every time I’ve published a video essay (and I’ve published video essays in most digital journals in Rhetoric and Composition) I’m asked to write an introduction. There is a belief in the field that people are more likely to watch a video if there is an alphabetic writing introduction before it to give readers a sense of its value. We can certainly debate whether that’s the case—and as a filmmaker I don’t agree with the practice of always requiring an introduction for video essays—but the fact is that you’ll likely be asked to write an introduction, so you might as well send one out to begin with.
What should the introduction contain?
The introduction can have sources but it doesn’t have to. It needs to give readers of your intended publication venue of a sense of some of these things: how your video essay came about, why it matters now, how it relates to similar scholarship in the field, and why you chose to make this piece as a video essay instead of a regular text.
You don’t have to address all those points but they should give you some ideas. I would suggest looking at the introductions for the many video essays we’ve watched as a class and for the ones I’ve listed above in order to get a sense of the different approaches you can take to these introductions.
Almost every time I’ve published a video essay (and I’ve published video essays in most digital journals in Rhetoric and Composition) I’m asked to write an introduction. There is a belief in the field that people are more likely to watch a video if there is an alphabetic writing introduction before it to give readers a sense of its value. We can certainly debate whether that’s the case—and as a filmmaker I don’t agree with the practice of always requiring an introduction for video essays—but the fact is that you’ll likely be asked to write an introduction, so you might as well send one out to begin with.
What should the introduction contain?
The introduction can have sources but it doesn’t have to. It needs to give readers of your intended publication venue of a sense of some of these things: how your video essay came about, why it matters now, how it relates to similar scholarship in the field, and why you chose to make this piece as a video essay instead of a regular text.
You don’t have to address all those points but they should give you some ideas. I would suggest looking at the introductions for the many video essays we’ve watched as a class and for the ones I’ve listed above in order to get a sense of the different approaches you can take to these introductions.
Journal Submission Rationale
What does it entail?
Select one journal you would like to submit your video essay to. In the field, your main choices are: Kairos, Enculturation, constellations, Computers and Composition Online, Present Tense, Itineration, The Writing Instructor, The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics, and Peitho. There are other choices we can talk about if you like but these are good options to consider. Once you select a journal, you’ll want to look at other video essays they have published (if any) and explain how your work would function alongside those. You’ll also want to look at other scholarly pieces they’ve published on your topic and to cite them in your transcript. That will make it more likely for you to get published in that journal. Let me know in the journal rationale that you’ve cited these pieces and how they help move your story along.
Lastly, make sure to mention an alternate journal and briefly explain why that would be your backup journal in case your original journal of choice doesn’t work out.
Select one journal you would like to submit your video essay to. In the field, your main choices are: Kairos, Enculturation, constellations, Computers and Composition Online, Present Tense, Itineration, The Writing Instructor, The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics, and Peitho. There are other choices we can talk about if you like but these are good options to consider. Once you select a journal, you’ll want to look at other video essays they have published (if any) and explain how your work would function alongside those. You’ll also want to look at other scholarly pieces they’ve published on your topic and to cite them in your transcript. That will make it more likely for you to get published in that journal. Let me know in the journal rationale that you’ve cited these pieces and how they help move your story along.
Lastly, make sure to mention an alternate journal and briefly explain why that would be your backup journal in case your original journal of choice doesn’t work out.
Assignment Delivery:
Paste the link to your final version of the video essay under the introduction text, then attach it to your email and send it to [email protected]. The subject of your email should be Video Essay, followed by your last name(s), i.e. Video Essay Varda Moore. You should also attach your releases if your work features interviews and/or scenes.
Assignment Deadlines:
1/31: Video Essay Planning Presentation #1.
2/7: Video Essay Planning Presentation #2.
2/8: Begin filming your Video Essay.
2/14: Workshop of video essay text draft.
2/21: In-class critique of one edited section.
3/21: In-class critique of Video Essay 1.
4/1: In-class critique of Video Essay 2.
4/23 and 4/25: In-class critique of complete draft of Video Essay.
4/28: Video Essay Final Draft, Introduction, and Journal Submission Rationale.
2/7: Video Essay Planning Presentation #2.
2/8: Begin filming your Video Essay.
2/14: Workshop of video essay text draft.
2/21: In-class critique of one edited section.
3/21: In-class critique of Video Essay 1.
4/1: In-class critique of Video Essay 2.
4/23 and 4/25: In-class critique of complete draft of Video Essay.
4/28: Video Essay Final Draft, Introduction, and Journal Submission Rationale.
Questions
If you have questions about the documentary assignment, feel free to email me, stop by my office hours, or make an appointment.