The Video Essay Podcast

Today's episode of On Your Screen features a conversation with Professor Francesca Coppa, author of the new book Vidding: A History. We discuss the history of the form, the community of primarily women creators who pioneered vidding, online fan communities, the impact of technologies like the VCR, personal editing software and YouTube had on the form, and much more. Read and learn more about the FREE, open-access book here.

[1:34] - Francesca's background and scholarly interests

[8:45] - What is a vid? 

[13:20] - How do vidders convey the experience of watching? 

[18:30] - How does vidding differ and engage with other critical modes? 

[24:00] - The role various technologies have played in the history of vidding, and in particular the VCR

[34:30] - The work of women creators and the ways vidding interacts with and upends "traditional" film culture

[38:00] - The significance of vidding conventions

[43:29] - What is a dancing vid? 

[47:00] - How Francesca curated vids for the book

[56:00] - Francesca's take on videographic criticism, the influence of vidding, and the role of platforms

[1:09:00] - How vidders engage with remix culture and issues of piracy 

[1:14:00] - Francesca's advocacy for fair use legislation 

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A special thanks to the show's associate producer, Emily Su Bin Ko. 

Today's episode begins with perhaps the most important news in show history: Emily Su Bin Ko has joined The Video Essay Podcast as associate producer! The show starts with a conversation between Emily and Will and an introduction to Emily and her work. 

The episode also features a conversation with Jordan Schonig, a lecturer at SUNY Binghamton. Schonig's work is particularly interesting in the ways it bridges divides between academic and popular videographic criticism. In 2020, Schonig founded the YouTube channel, "Film & Media Studies with Jordan Schonig," which features lecture-style videos that sometime dip into the essayistic to explore concepts in Film and Media Studies.

Schonig has also published academic video essays and is the author of the new book from Oxford University Press, The Shape of Motion: Cinema and the Aesthetics of Movement, which features audiovisual criticism in addition to the written text. We discuss his video, "The 'Wind in the Trees' from Early Cinema to Pixar," and Grace Lee's "What Isn't a Video Essay?"

0:00 - Introducing Emily Su Bin Ko

18:50 - Jordan Schonig's Origin Story 

21:44 - A Brief Encounter

27:23 - Video Camp & Working With Pretty Images

35:55 - Creating Videographic Criticism as an Early Career Researcher

41:06 - Starting a YouTube Channel

53:56 – "Lev Manovich's 'What is Digital Cinema' and 'Compositing'"

1:02:47 – Deciding Whether to Upload a Work to Vimeo 

1:06:55 – "The 'Wind in the Trees' from Early Cinema to Pixar"

1:21:20 - Zooming in On the Marginal

1:25:40 - "What Isn't a Video Essay?"

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Music access via Free Music Archive here and here.

Today's episode features a conversation with Anthony Hon, the creator and curator of the popular Twitter account, Dancer on Film. We discuss Anthony's curatorial approach, how he thinks of his Twitter account as a rotating gallery, and his passion for the musical genre. Follow the account @DancerOnFilm. 

On Your Screen is a relatively new show dedicated to exploring various aspects of digital film culture. The show is a companion to The Video Essay Podcast. Learn more via the show's website.

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Today's episode features a conversation with Thomas Flight, one of the most popular and prolific video essayists currently working on YouTube. We discuss Thomas' origin story, his audience, and how he balances paying the bills as a full-time video essayist with his passion projects. We also discuss his video essay, "The Side of Scorsese We Don't Talk About," and a fantastic video essay by fellow YouTuber, Jacob Geller, "The Game That Won't Let You See All Of It." 

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Music access via Free Music Archive here and here.

Today's episode features an interview with Maia, the YouTuber known as Broey Deschanel. Today's topics include Maia's introduction to video essays, her creative process, why YouTube is currently in a "magic moment" of virality, censorship and the YouTube algorithm, how and why to cite the work of other video essayists, why humor is funny, and much more. We also discuss Maia's video "The Liberal Escapism of Bridgerton" and BREADSWORD's 2017 video, "Treasure Planet - Disney's Biggest Mistake."

1. Maia's "origin story" and early influences, why YouTube?, the accessibility of YouTube, why it's the best time to go viral on YouTube [1:39 - 8:01]

2. The YouTube algorithm, what it censors, and how to navigate copyright, the art of the thumbnail, best practices for titling a video [8:01 - 19:46]

3. How and why to cite other video essayists and the way Maia cites and builds upon her own past work [19:47 - 27:04]

4. "The Liberal Escapism of Bridgerton," when and why Maia appears on camera, balancing the correct number of sources, humor and not taking oneself too seriously [27:04 - 48:31]

5. "Treasure Planet - Disney's Biggest Mistake," the art of sourcing and sequencing clips, how Maia writes her scripts, using active language in voiceover, why the video essay? [48:31 - end]

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Music access via Free Music Archive here and here. 

On Your Screen is the new monthly show about digital film culture. Today's episode features a conversation with Don McHoull, the creator of the popular Twitter account @SilentMovieGIFs. We discuss the history of the account, Don's curatorial approach, why the GIF is an ideal medium for the sharing of silent film, how content spreads on the internet, and how GIFs are helping to bring silent cinema to new audiences in the 21st century. Don also talks about his Reddit page and the viral compilation videos he has made about silent cinema on YouTube.

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Today's show features a conversation with Ian Garwood, senior lecturer in Film & Television Studies at the University of Glasgow, and one of the leading practitioners of the academic audiovisual essay. We discuss Ian's background, his creative process, Cary Grant, the role of voiceover in AV criticism, and his award-winning audiovisual monograph, Indy Vinyl: Records in American Independent Cinema: 1987 to 2019. Will and Ian also discuss "My Mulholland," a video essay by Jessica McGoff.

Support the podcast on Patreon. Follow the show on Twitter. Learn more at the pod's website. Get the free newsletter, Notes on Videographic Criticism.

Music via: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Mela/Mela_two/MELA_-_Mela_Two_-_05_Brain_Power

What is Film TikTok, or FilmTok? You've probably seen the videos, either on TikTok or other social media platforms, or perhaps you've seen Queline Meadow's great video essay on the subject. On today's episode of On Your Screen, Queline, also know as kikikrazed on YouTube, answers all the questions you may have about Film TikTok: How does it work? What kinds of videos can you find on the platform? What does Film TikTok mean for the future of film criticism and fandom? If you're looking for a beginners guide to the platform, this conversation is for you.

Want to learn more about Film TikTok? Check out Episode 10 of The Video Essay Podcast, which features a conversation with Charlie Shackleton about his video essay, "Criticism in the Age of TikTok." 

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Today's episode features a conversation with Dr. Tracy Cox-Stanton (Savannah College of Art & Design) and Dr. Allison de Fren (Occidental College), two leading videographic scholars who recently co-edited an issue of the online journal The Cine-Files dedicated to the scholarly video essay. Our conversation centers on the creation of the issue, what they hope the issue contributes to the field's understanding of the scholarly video essay, and how the scholarly video essay differs from other forms of videographic criticism.

The episode also features the first part of a conversation between host Will DiGravio and Shant Bayramian, a Netherlands-based video essayist who runs the YouTube channel, The Audiovisual Essayist. The conversation was published in three parts and is entitled, "The Video Essay: What Do New Practitioners Think?" All three parts can be found on Shant's YouTube page.

Support the podcast on Patreon. Follow the show on Twitter. Learn more at the pod's website. Get the free newsletter.

Music via: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Mela/Mela_two/MELA_-_Mela_Two_-_05_Brain_Power

The second episode of On Your Screen is dedicated to Monographs, a video essay series on Asian cinema commissioned by the Asian Film Archive. Will sits down with Thong Kay Wee and Viknesh Kobinathan, who are programmers at the Asian Film Archive and the coordinators of Monographs, to discuss the series. Monographs will screen alongside Kevin B. Lee’s video essay "Explosive Paradox" online via the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art until May 2, 2021. Stream the program here. To learn more about the program, and to get in touch with Viknesh and Kay Wee about screening Monographs at your festival or venue, visit the Asian Film Archive website.

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