The Art and Practice of the Video Essay

Special Information

Students should bring their own laptops and download free open source video transcoder Handbrake https://handbrake.fr

Content of Course

Day 1 (4 hours)

1. An Introduction to the Essay form in Literature and Film: We’ll discuss the essay form in literature and film, drawing on examples from writers such as Michel de Montaigne and Virginia Woolf and filmmakers such as Chris Marker, Jean-Luc Godard, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Agnès Varda.

2. The Different Styles of Video Essay: We’ll examine the two main trends in the video essay. The ‘prose’ style uses voiceover and/or on-screen text to direct the audience through particular arguments while the ‘poetic’ style uses combinations of image, sound and text in a more experimental way.

Day 2 (4 hours)

3. Video Essay Workshop: This session will cover the basics for making a video essay. Students will be introduced to the relevant applications needed before starting to make their own pieces.

Day 3 (2 hours)

4. Discussion / screening of student video essay projects: Students will present their video essay projects followed by extensive group discussion.

Teaching method(s)

Seminars with video clips and class discussion.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Understand the development of the video essay form;

• Identify and explain the main styles of audiovisual essay;

• Make their own short video essay.

Sources

Core Readings

Recommended:

• Rascaroli, L., 2009. The Personal Camera: Subjective Cinema and the Essay Film, London: Columbia University Press.

• Corrigan, T., 2011. The Essay Film: From Montaigne, After Marker, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Web Sources

Audiovisualcy: An Online Forum for Videographic Film Studies:

https://vimeo.com/groups/audiovisualcy

Sight & Sound: Deep Focus – The Essay Film

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/deep-focus/essay-film

Class Handouts

An article relevant to the week’s topic will be provided by the tutor.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.