Skip to Main Content
Wellesley College Research Guides

AFR 303: Understanding American Slavery through Film

What is a Video Essay?

A video essay is essentially a form of audiovisual analysis. It takes the core concept of a written essay — presenting an argument or exploring a topic — and translates it into a visual and auditory medium. This involves the strategic use of film clips, images, sound, and text to construct a compelling and persuasive narrative. Video essays allow for a deeper exploration of visual rhetoric, the interplay between different media, and the ways in which meaning is constructed through audiovisual elements.

“At its core the video essay is, like it’s print counterpart, an attempt to figure something out — not just with language, but with image and sound.” — John Bresland, “Call for Cinepoems and Video Essays"


Video essays allow you to use the meta-language of cinema — shot composition, editing rhythms, sound design, and more —directly within the analysis itself, rather than just describing it.

Video Essays:

 

Videos about Video Essays:

Planning & Preparing

đŸ“ē Watch: How to analyse a film: the complete beginners guide by The Media Insider

1. Follow your Curiosity

  • Start with what you know: What movies or TV shows genuinely fascinate you? 
  • Ask "Why?" repeatedly: Don't just accept what you see at face value. Dig deeper. Why does this scene make me feel this way? Why is this trope so common?

2. Look for Patterns and Themes

  • Recurring motifs: Are there visual or narrative patterns that appear repeatedly in a specific work or across multiple works? This could be anything from color palettes to character archetypes.
  • Genre conventions: How does a particular work adhere to or deviate from the conventions of its genre? This can reveal interesting insights about the creators' intentions.
  • The evolution of a trend: How has a specific trope, character type, or narrative device changed over time? 

3. Break Down the Elements

  • Framing and composition: Even if you don't know the technical terms, pay attention to how characters are positioned within the frame. Are they centered, off-center, close-up, or far away? What does this imply?
  • Editing: How are scenes cut together? Does the editing create a sense of tension, pace, or rhythm?
  • Color and lighting: What colors are used, and how does the lighting affect the mood?
  • Sound Design: What sounds are present? Music, sound effects, or even the lack of sound can drastically change a scene.
  • Character arcs: How do characters change and develop throughout the story?
  • Plot points: What are the key moments that drive the narrative forward?
  • Symbolism: Are there any objects, images, or events that carry symbolic meaning?

4. Audience reception

  • Fan theories and online discussions: What are people saying about this media online?
  • Cultural impact: How has this media influenced popular culture?

 

Storyboarding is a crucial step in the process of creating a video essay. It transforms abstract ideas and written scripts into tangible visual sequences. This allows you to see how the story will unfold before investing time and resources into actual production.

Storyboards act as a roadmap; outlining shots, scenes, scripts, and transitions. Storyboarding will help you ensure that all necessary elements are captured and identify potential gaps or inconsistencies in the narrative. They also provide a space for experimentation and creative exploration!

Most importantly: your storyboard can be in whatever form is helpful for you. You can use a more traditional storyboard doc, a slideshow, a spreadsheet, you can grab a blank piece of paper, or use post-it notes!

  • Choose a medium that you're comfortable with, because you'll be doing a lot of writing/sketching, deleting, rewording, re-sketching, writing, deleting... so on and so on.
  • Remember that the storyboard is just the beginning, not the final draft: it doesn't have to look pretty, it just has to be legible to you.

A series of four post-it notes. The first has a cat sitting, the second has the cat meowing, the third represents a fade, and the last says THE END.

The most important elements you'll want to include are:

  • Visuals: Video, photo, quote, title, credits, etc.
  • Script/Narration: What's being said in that moment, if anything? Is it your voiceover, an interview with an expert, or something else?
  • Other Audio: Is there any background music? Does the clip you might be showing have sound you want to audience to hear? Are there any sound effects you want to use?

Gathering Content

We recommend Zoom for capturing video clips, audio clips, or for recording yourself! 

 

📋 Find step-by-step instructions of how to record video clips via Zoom here.

 

Some reminders:

  • Recording quality depends on your device. The bigger the screen, the better the recording quality. We recommend recording on a computer. If you need to record on a phone or tablet, this process will work, but you may not be satisfied with the quality. 

  • Details matter! Follow the instructions carefully. We included steps to keep your video clips cleaner and minimize any need for additional editing other than trimming.

  • đŸšĢ Streaming đŸšĢ Most streaming services (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc.) block screen recording softwares. Talk with Allegra if you need a clip from a streaming service.

  • Use the desktop client. Download and install the Zoom Desktop Client if you don’t already have it installed on your computer.

 

🧑‍đŸ’ģ Recording yourself? Learn some basic tips on how to improve the quality of your computer webcam recordings by watching this video.

📱 Want to use your phone? Make sure that your phone is fully-charged and that you have enough free space to record. To learn about best practices when recording your video with a smartphone, watch this video.

What is Creative Commons?

CC is a set of rules that creators use to share their work. Instead of saying "all rights reserved," they choose how much control they want to keep over their work.

There are different types of Creative Commons licenses:

Most CC-licensed content isn’t free for all uses, only some — so make sure to double-check the terms.

  • CC0 (aka CC Zero) enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions.
  •  BY: credit must be given to the creator.
  •  NC: Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.
     ND: No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted.

 

Remember:

  • Check the license: Always make sure you understand the specific terms of the Creative Commons license.
  • Give credit: If the license requires attribution, make sure to give credit to the original creator in your video essay.

 

Read More:

Fair Use: A Quick Guide

Fair use is a legal doctrine that allows you to use copyrighted material without permission under certain circumstances. For students working on projects like video essays, it's a valuable tool.  

Key points to remember:

  • Purpose: The use must be for educational, nonprofit, or research purposes.  
  • Nature of the work: The more creative or original the work, the less likely it is to qualify for fair use.
  • Amount used: Only use the portion of the work that's necessary to make your point.
  • Effect on the market: Using the material shouldn't significantly harm the market value of the original work.

 

Example: If you're making a video essay about the Apollo 11 mission, you might use a short clip from the historical footage. This could qualify as fair use because it's for educational purposes, the clip is a small portion of the overall footage, and it's unlikely to affect the value of the original footage.

What wouldn't count is something like background music in a video essay about Apollo 11. While the overall purpose of the video essay might be educational, using background music that doesn't directly contribute to the educational content could be seen as more of an aesthetic choice, which might not fall under fair use. To use background music legally in your video essay, you'll need to use royalty-free/CC-licensed music.

Remember: While fair use can be a helpful tool, it's always best to err on the side of caution. If you're unsure about whether your use qualifies as fair use, it's a good idea to consult with a librarian.

Read More:

General / Stock

Name Description Attribution required?
Pixabay Over 3 million+ high quality stock images, videos and music. No, but it is encouraged
Pexels All photos are nicely tagged, searchable and also easy to discover through their discover pages. No, but it is encouraged
MorgueFile Morguefile is a free photo archive and all photos found in the Morguefile archive are free for you to download and re-use in your work, be it commercial or not. If you use the image as-is with no creative alterations, attribution is required. Learn more here.

Art and Archival

Name Description Attribution required?
Europeana Offers over 20 million digital images from Europe's museums, libraries, archives and audio-visual collections -- all of which are in the public domain. See each file for copyright information.
NYPL Digital Gallery Provides free and open access to over 800,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more. No, but it is encouraged
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) "The Digital Public Library of America amplifies the value of libraries and cultural organizations as Americans’ most trusted sources of shared knowledge. We do this by collaborating with partners to accelerate innovative tools and ideas that empower and equip libraries to make information more accessible." After running a search, see "How Can I Use It?" filter on the left side

Remember: It is your responsibility to make sure that your projects are copyright-compliant. This list of resources may not be up-to-date and you should always check the site or the individual file to make sure you are complying with copyright terms.

Music

Name Description Attribution required?
Youtube Audio Library

login required icon Must be logged into a Youtube account (you can use your Wellesley email).

Filter by genre, length, etc and choose from thousands of songs.

 No.
CCMixter A community music remixing site featuring remixes and samples licensed under Creative Commons licenses. Over 38,000 (and growing) pieces of music are available. Depends; see their licenses overview.
Free Music Archive Library of openly licensed audio. Yes, learn how here.
MusOpen Royalty and copyright free music. No.
Jamendo Jamendo Yes 
Incomptech Background music for videos, live productions, and more. Yes
ClassicCat Index of ~7,000 free to download classical performances, sorted by composer and work. No


Sound Effects

Name Description Attribution required?
BBC Sound Effects Over 16,000 are made available by the BBC in WAV format to download for use under the terms of the RemArc Licence. The Sound Effects are BBC copyright, but they may be used for personal, educational or research purposes, as detailed in the license. Yes: bbc.co.uk – © copyright [the year goes here] BBC
FreeSound.org

login required icon Requires an account to download content.

Mostly recordings and sound effects, some music clips.

 Depends, see each clip for information.

Remember: It is your responsibility to make sure that your projects are copyright-compliant. This list of resources may not be up-to-date and you should always check the site or the individual file to make sure you are complying with copyright terms.

A full list of audiovisual databases that Wellesley subscribes to can be found by going to the A-Z List of Databases and setting the Content Type/s filter to Streaming Audio and Video

Box Office Mojo
A subsidiary of IMDb, Box Office Mojo produces and archives film-related news and analysis, and provides "...the most comprehensive box office tracking available online".
 

CineFiles
Founded in 1996, CineFiles indexes digitized materials from the University of California Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive collection. CineFiles' archive dates back over a century, and includes reviews, interviews, scholarly articles and publicity materials.
 

Media History Digital Library
A digital collection of classic journals and magazines related to film history.

Editing

📹 Video Editing

We generally recommend iMovie for beginners. It's easy to use, there's a lot of online resources, and it has excellent auto-save functions.

Name Compatibility Skill
iMovie

🍏 (Apple only)

Also available on Wellesley lab computers

 Beginner
KDenLive 🍏 + đŸĒŸ (Apple and Windows) Beginner/Intermediate
Adobe Premiere Rush

🍏 + đŸĒŸ (Apple and Windows)

Only available on Wellesley lab computers

 Beginner/Intermediate
DaVinci Resolve

🍏 + đŸĒŸ (Apple and Windows)

Needs fancy-ish computer to run!

 Advanced
Adobe Premiere Pro

🍏 + đŸĒŸ (Apple and Windows)

Only available on Wellesley lab computers

 Advanced

🎧 Audio Editing

If you follow the tips and techniques outlined in the 🎙ī¸ Recoding Voiceover tab, you should be able to just record audio in the video editing program that you choose. All the video editing software listed above has built-in audio recording capabilities.

If your audio needs higher-level editing like background noise removal, here are some programs we suggest:

Name Compatibility Skill

Audacity

Use the 64bit installer or the dmg, not the Muse Hub option!

 🍏 + đŸĒŸ (Apple and Windows) Intermediate
Adobe Audition

🍏 + đŸĒŸ (Apple and Windows)

Only available on Wellesley lab computers

 Advanced

In-Person Support:

 

Documentation and Tutorials:

iMovie

 

đŸĢ Choosing a Recording Environment

Podcasts, voiceovers, bears, oh my! Try to find a quiet place to record your audio. Take stock of your background noise: fans, A/Cs, dogs barking, kids playing. Do what you can to minimize those sounds — turn off the fan, close doors to muffle loud noises in other rooms. But remember: it's not the end of the world if you can't control the noise around you.

đŸ’ģ/📱 Choosing a Recording Medium

The easiest way to record audio for your project is probably in the same software you'll use for editing. iMovie, Kdenlive, Premiere Pro, and most other video editing softwares have built-in audio recording tools.

🎙ī¸ Microphones

We highly recommend checking out a Samson Go USB Mic from Knapp EQ to record voiceover content! Reserving equipment via R&R is recommended but not required :)

If you don't want to trek to the Mods, the EarPods that come with most Apple products have built-in mics, which capture your voice just as well as some external microphones do! 

⛔ We not not recommend using AirPods or other bluetooth headphones.

đŸ—Ŗī¸ Technique and Tips

  • 1ī¸âƒŖđŸšĢ You don’t need to record in one take! Find natural pauses in your script and record segments.
  • đŸĒ‘ We recommend recording in one sitting, if possible. Different settings introduces some complications for your final video essay, like distracting changes in background noise, volume, etc. Splicing clips together seamlessly is much easier when they all sound the same!
  • đŸĸ Speak slower than you think you need to!
Subjects: Africana Studies