Blog Post 1: What Is The Video Essay?
“Define your terms.”
“What are we defining as _____?”
What is the Video Essay? The video essay is a compelling, distinctive form of cinematic expression defined by film critics and theorists. American essayist and film critic, Phillip Lopate, in his “In Search of the Centaur,” takes on the task of clearly defining this film genre. The term “Video Essay” is not merely a vague label, but constitutes a distinct category of cinematic thought. However, it must be said that it seems to be the case that different theorists argue for certain components. Naturally, as I read the assigned literature on this topic, I was eager to learn the rules to think about what could be broken.
A defining characteristic of this genre is a single authorial voice that guides the audience through a subject matter.
Chris Marker’s The Case of the Grinning Cat (2004) exemplifies the key components that Lopate identifies within the genre. Marker immerses viewers in a self-reflective exploration of art, culture, and international politics, seamlessly intertwining these themes. While it may be challenging to pinpoint Marker’s exact argument, the film resonates with the power of argumentation, invoking a sense of engagement that meets Lopate’s criteria for a genuine video essay.
Unlike conventional storytelling that follows a linear narrative, Marker’s video essay and others in the genre invite us to engage deeply without the constraints of a linear timeline. The seemingly disconnected elements, like the yellow cat and political commentary, initially feel unrelated, yet they come together in a thought-provoking way. This differs from traditional essays that may frustrate readers when the writing is jumbled, unrelated, non-linear, or disconnect until it comes together at the end. I also found that Marker’s video required background knowledge of global political moments of which I was too young to remember and are outside my scope of knowledge. Sometimes reading without certain background knowledge is frustrating and disengages readers, but here with the video essay it was not as frustrating and I still was immersed in Marker’s material.
It must be said that Lopate pushes that a merely poetic or abstract style should not be confused with a video essay. Lopate asserts that a genuine video essay is a “centaur,” a hybrid creature, that requires a specific kind of intellectual and personal presence.
Marker’s film contains the power of thoughtful exploration and intellectual engagement. The film by Markers feels like an essay in the sense that you have to follow along and have some kind of knowledge before hand compared to a video that is storytelling something to its audience from the beginning. Spoken and written words, which Lopate states is necessary to guide the viewer through a reasoned line of discourse, were also present in Marker’s film. Through speech and visuals, we see Markers conducting intellectual thinking.
Although Lopate and Paul Arthur’s “Essay Questions” offer their own ideas on what constitutes a Video Essay, they seemed to generally agree with one another. An element that stuck with me that differs from other genres is a heavy authorial presence that presents a strong argument that cannot be ignored when the video is watched by an audience. In my process of creating my own Video Essay, I spent just as much time visualizing the content in my head as I did sitting with what my intellectual argument would be. If anything, sitting with what exactly my arugement would/is what the component of the video I sat with the longest, while visualizing is second, and audio selection is third, all of which I believe come together to create an emotion I want to my viewers to feel as I take them through my argument of why I am conducting research on La Purísima and why it is important to conduct.