are video essays bad

AV Undercover

Here's a video essay about why video essays are bad

We write a lot about video essays . A lot . As fans of pop culture, it can be fun for us to see someone take a deep, obsessive dive into a film, TV show, pop culture trend, or genre. But, what if video essays, specifically those that trade in well-polished film analysis, are actually bad? That’s the thesis put forward by YouTuber BluShades in a recent video— ironically presented in the video essay format .

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The main thrust of BluShades’ argument is that, while essays from YouTube mainstays like The Nerdwriter , Lindsay Ellis , and Lessons From The Screenplay are all extremely well produced, they may just be gussied up opinion pieces. The danger in this is that the analysis contained in those videos is taken as fact by the viewer because of the convincingly academic delivery. Rather than present an analysis of a creator’s work as the end-all, be-all interpretation, BluShades would prefer if video essayists leaned more towards subjective analysis rather than relying on a bunch of cliché techniques and analyses learned from other video essays.

This isn’t necessarily a new criticism. Over the years, there have been theorists who opposed the reliance on rigid, academic analysis as the only way to discuss art—Susan Sontag’s essay “ Against Interpretation ” being one example. After watching the umpteenth 20-minute video breaking down every single one of David Fincher’s shots, the draw of the subjective becomes a bit more understandable. Still, it remains to be seen how interesting it would be to watch a bunch of videos of people saying, “Here is a movie I saw and here is why I liked it.” Maybe the answer, like with most things, lies somewhere in the middle.

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Video Essays Are Terrible

Thread starter Deleted member 6730
Start date Dec 27, 2017

Deleted member 6730

User requested account closure.

Dec 27, 2017

It's not the worst genre on Youtube (yet) but, like let's plays, I've noticed amateurs with basic audio equipment and access to slightly better video editing software than iMovie can pump this stuff out like processed junk food in a factory. What used to be a style used by knowledgeable people explaining a subject they were passionate about for the just as passionate audience to learn from has become diluted into a personality with passable public speaking skills explaining the obvious or elevating the subject to a near god-like level wrapped around in a slick presentation complete with a lo-fi beat (and they always use the same kind of music). Another big problem is how samey they tend to be. I noticed two videos on Fleetwood Mac. And a ton of videos on David Fincher (I'm not going to link them all just Youtube search "David Fincher Video Essay" and the results are endless) all without approaching a new angle or offering new insight. And honestly if you're into music or movies do you really need to be told that Rumours is a good album or how David Fincher is a good director? Now there are good video essays on Youtube, like Lindsay Ellis and Dan Olson, but they all buck some of the trends other essayists used. Their videos tend to be longer and go into way more depth, are more critical of the subject, and are laid back, yet more confident in their presentation. You are not going to see Nerdwriter make an hour long video on The Book of Henry or Rent for example. I just want to get this off my chest. I'm disappointed that there's seemingly another easy way to make money off Youtube with no originality or substance. May god help us all.

Randomly Generated

There are some good ones, but like a lot of written internet content, in 99% of these things it's painfully obvious they're in desperate need of editors. Not only are they way too long, but they tend to repeat the same point over and over again. Nerdwriter, Folding Ideas, and Lindsay Ellis are indeed good exceptions though.

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account

You're correct when you say that they need editors but it's insulting to imply they "pump these out like junk food". Long form review content might seem at odds with our increasing social focus on quick consumable info tidbits but I think that they absolutely have a place in discourse. Nerdwriter's work is very brief and consumable but that format will never be able to describe the design intricacies in Zelda (for example). Amateurs not knowing the power of editing is a classic film school mistake. Joseph Andersen and Matthew Matosis fall into that category for me.

Deleted member 19844

I like Just Write.

Like Stories of Old check him out, thank me later

Video essays aren't bad inherently, but the rise in their popularity means you're going to get a lot of bad with the good. This always happens, and eventually diluted hot take criticism with oblique, pseudo-intellectual vocabulary masking very basic and poorly thought out analysis will become the norm and every one will hate it. But there will always be good stuff.

I like extra credits and extra history. Am i wrong in thinking superbunnyhop videos are essays?

Deleted member 5545

Chojin said: I like extra credits and extra history. Am i wrong in thinking superbunnyhop videos are essays? Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Yazzees said: Why do you like extra credits Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Spyder_Monkey said: The best Bunnyhop videos tend to be more like pseudo documentaries about the current state of the industry. Actually documentaries are now my favorite Youtube genre. If you aren't watching No Clip or Past Mortem that's way more worth your time. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

I don't know how you'd get annoyed by these videos to the same level as dudes playing video games.

A Syrian Communist

I appreciate the extra effort that goes into these and I watch a lot of them. I don't really see any inherent problem with the genre, if you don't like someone's writing just watch somebody else.

Deleted member 32726

I'm thinking were going to be seeing a "I hate video essays" trend. It's really a matter of taste, because one guy with a nice voice, pirated software, cheap hardware, and a rap instrumental and another that's the opposite will be the same to your average YouTube viewer. It's what you wrote on paper that matters for a good video essay, and popular channels are usually not worth watching when you really know all about what they're saying (usually more, you may feel like commenting) and you are basically left with the high of feeling smart and listening to nice voice with visual stimulation for 30 minutes. Even small YouTube "documentaries" can feel like spoken encyclopedia articles if they dont hit the road and record interviews and relevant original footage.

So you're saying there are good video essays and bad video essays. Just like...literally everything else? I'm not seeing the point here.

99% of video essays are terrible, just as 99% of non-video essays are terrible. The difference is there isn't a universally common service in which the mass majority people to go read essays everyday. The creators that you see people recommend consistently on individual topics are the rare cream of the crop.

A lot them aren't great, which helps you appreciate the good channels even more. I really miss Every Frame a Painting...

passepied joe

Nerdwriter is the most basic Youtuber out there. I have no idea why he's so popular. Spoiler The only good video essays are by Every Frame A Painting. RIP

Randomly Generated said: Nerdwriter, Folding Ideas, and Lindsay Ellis are indeed good exceptions though. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

PeskyToaster

RIP every frame a painting

Koukalaka said: A lot them aren't great, which helps you appreciate the good channels even more. I really miss Every Frame a Painting... Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Salty_Piers

pinnacle of video essays imo

Tony Zhou and his partner probably just didn't have time to do those long detailed and well edited videos as a hobby. His videos being better than the majority of other channels doesn't mean there aren't any other good videos in the same sorta lane.

Homeworkfilms

First the premise that most of these make money is just not borne out by fact. Second I think you are conflating a much wider space of documentary or documentary adjacent work into "video essay." A lot of these videos would have previously been a segment of a larger TV show or a small part of a larger documentary but have been cut down into single top videos that tend to work best on YouTube. As with a lot of critiques of these works, I think your critique feels a lot like "why is this space so democratic and why are there not gatekeepers to sort out what is or isn't good?!?" I don't need to be told Rumors is a great album but it was nice to encounter a small video on a song that means a lot to me and my relationship with my parents. Where I do agree with your critique is that there is a lot of the same videos popping up. See Dark Souls critiques. Some have been more or less stolen from others. That type of intellectual theft or copying is obviously bad and it would be nice to see it policed. (good luck with that)

People gotta start somewhere. You don't get professional equipment and software day one, and it takes time to develop a style.

I'm just gonna post this here http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/...rveys/annual-round-ups/best-video-essays-2017

These have basically replaced the blogs of yore. Except I think it's hard to write because you can't use production values to try to carry you.

While I agree that some videos are very low effort and just tend to be churned out, I think other channels deserve to be cut some slack. Someone's first effort at creating anything will obviously look pretty rough, and that's totally fine as long as they make an effort to continue learning and improving. I also think the video format is completely overused these days. There are so many 10-15 minute Youtube video guides for things that would have been more easily absorbed in a two-paragraph Wiki page or Google doc. Not everything needs to be shoehorned into a video where some guy soapboxes about himself for 15 minutes before he gets to whatever you're actually interested in.

Most of them are very bad. Just faux-intellectual nonsense thrown together after reading some Wikipedia articles. Every Frame a Painting and Vox are the only two channels I pay attention to that do these.

I think the huge problem with guys like Nerdwriter is that they really try and tackle everything. He'll do a video about Bon Iver and then switch to movies and then switch to something specific like how Hitchcock edited dialog. You aren't Vox or Vice Media group. Do one thing really well in your own voice is what I would suggest.

They were fun and interesting at first but now there's too fucking many of them. You can only listen to so many dudes in their mid-20s wax poetically on Fight Club and Batman v Superman before it just wears on you.

Bronx-Man said: You can only listen to so many dudes in their mid-20s wax poetically on Fight Club and Batman v Superman before it just wears on you. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

kingocfs said: Most of them are very bad. Just faux-intellectual nonsense thrown together after reading some Wikipedia articles. Every Frame a Painting and Vox are the only two channels I pay attention to that do these. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

OP, I saw you made exceptions, and that's appreciated. You're right about it being a bit of a tired genre, but I agree that there are some genuine masters of the craft. This was the best youtube video I've seen all year.

vox is pretty awesome as far as the infographics and animation and presentation goes. Plus they have the staff to cover a wide range of topics well. The videos I see about parking, Kanye West, or some unknown native American fruit are well done. to me the review and discussion guys are the ones wasting the most time. I don't need to watch an hour long video about why Batman vs. Superman is a bad movie. What kind of person would even waste their time watching that shit.

Prophet of Truth

I wasn't aware the quality of these was considered to be that diluted by overexposure. I enjoyed the few Kaptain Kristian videos I've seen, but they are very infrequent.

Griselbrand

This reminds me of that one video where someone breaks down how Louis CK writes and delivers his jokes. I don't remember what the example was but watching the video I felt like I'd learned nothing and it was just a dude way over analyzing something.

I bet if I look at uncurated samples of any kind of media, I'm going to have a terrible impression of those media as well. There are great video essayists out there, such as Folding Ideas, Lindsay Ellis, Vox, and even hbomberguy. Separate the wheat from the chaff and don't look back.

Deleted member 11501

Permanently banned for having an alt account.

I've recently started watching a lot of gid o essays and I have to say they all seem pretty legit to me. Nerdwriter1 and Vox do amazing ones. I've watched smaller channels and they do good ones as well. It's all down to the tone and personality of the editor and writers if you ask me. Every Frame A Painting said for every minute of content they made was about 8 hours of research and editing , so some do make a effort to make quality essays. But I've yet to watch a bad one

Messofanego

Griselbrand said: This reminds me of that one video where someone breaks down how Louis CK writes and delivers his jokes. I don't remember what the example was but watching the video I felt like I'd learned nothing and it was just a dude way over analyzing something. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Some are better than others. I think there's one I stumbled on called "charisma on demand" and it's pretty clear there's not much of value happening in those videos. It's all bluff. Certain people have a talent of speaking a lot, without saying anything. But I've seen some good ones.

Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!

Salty_Piers said: pinnacle of video essays imo Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Self-requested ban

Terrible video essays are terrible. Good video essays are good. I don't tend to seek them out actively, but the best make their way to me somehow. I watch... Comedy gaming analysis and reviews : Clemps, TheGamingBrit, Stop Skeletons From Fighting, Austin Eruption, Caddicarus, Arlo Upfront gaming analysis and reviews : Super Bunnyhop, Noclip, Nostalgia Nerd, Matthewmatosis, Joseph Anderson Anime analysis and reviews : Glass Reflection, Super Eyepatch Wolf, Mother's Basement Cartoon analysis and reviews : RebelTaxi, Saberspark Film analysis and reviews : Red Letter Media, Movies with Mikey

I love Vox's essays on rap music, it feels like i'm actually taking a class in production.

Scullibundo

Nerdwriter is the worst.

GenericForumName

Banned for suspected use of alt account.

Cipher Peon

One winged slayer.

I LOVE video essays and I feel like there aren't nearly enough. Of course, I want them to be better, but I can't get enough of them ^^ To answer the question of "And honestly if you're into music or movies do you really need to be told that Rumours is a good album or how David Fincher is a good director?", the answer is of course!!!