Pre-Production

Like in filmmaking, preproduction is a crucial phase in the whole production process of video essays. This is when we research and plan what we are going to discuss, and how you are going to do it. This requires not just thinking, but a series of actions, which may involve the following considerations:

1. What screen media are you citing/analysing in your video essay? Why?

2. What is your research question? Why is it pertinent?

3. What research gap are you responding to? In other words, what is your contribution to knowledge?

4. Do you have lawful access to the high-quality cited screen media?

5. How are you going to closely read, interpret and critically analyse your sample? What aspects are you focusing on?

6. How short can your screen media extract be in order to make your point?

7. Has there been any media discussion about your selected screen media? If so, how are you integrating this in your video essay?

8. What will your aesthetic approach be? Is there a way of making this coherent with the main point you are making? In other words, can you perform the point you are making, aesthetically? For instance, if your argument is around sound, you may want to prove your point through a creative use of sound, instead of visual elements.

9. What will be your position in relation to the film and your analysis? Does your voice appear? Is it a voice-of-God third-person narrator who takes distance from the cited film or screen media? Or is it rather a first-person narrator including reflections about the film?

10. Will you need any contributors to the project? While scholars find themselves making video essays individually, filmmaking is very often a collaborative work. Beyond co-authorship, you may want to consider inviting someone else to perform your words - that is, to be the narrator - if the film shots themselves are not already performing them. Just remember to credit all contributors to your work (in the end credits, for instance).

11. How are you going to structure the video essay? This is what takes us to a key aspect of your pre-production. Once you have done some preliminary thinking and planning, you need to write or draw this down on a paper or digital document. This is the equivalent to a screenplay or story-line in a fiction film. The more detailed it is, the easier the production and postproduction phases will be. However, as this is a reflexive piece, be open to changes, as you become increasingly more knowledgeable of your cited film or screen media. Since this is a creative piece, all structures are welcome, as long as your argument becomes clear by the end of the essay. Watch some examples for inspiration, and find your own voice and style. You may want to consider the following structure as a reference to depart from:

A) Establishing shot: this is how the video essay opens. It is quite important since, like in any film, it sets the tone of the whole video.

B) Research question: the purpose of the video essay should be quite clear from the very beginning (in the same way that this would appear in the introduction of any written essay).

C) Body of your analysis: this can be as creative as you wish, by juxtaposition of images, disruptive sound editing, multi-screen, etc. You may want to include inter-titles or voice-over, so think well of when and how you are doing this.

D) Conclusion: there should be a sense of wrapping up or of conclusion, where your main finding(s) become(s) evident.

E) End credits: in the same way as films end with credits, in video essays you should also credit all makers of the work, as well as the consulted sources. You may prefer to leave the latter for the supporting statement.

This is a similar structure to the one advocated by van den Berg and Kiss, the TREE structure, composed of a “Thesis supported by Reasons which rest upon Evidence and Examples” (cited in Garwood, 2016). Video essays involve some kind of compilation of already existing videos, that is, a supercut. These may be commented upon, or instead, be used as audiovisual commentators. They may also be interwoven with further sounds and images. As mentioned before, you can be as experimental as you wish. Please note that if your structure is not linear, this does not mean it is wrong. You may prefer to leave your viewer the responsibility of finding out what your main research question is, and your main argument in the video. You will just need further reflection on such aesthetic choice in your written supporting statement, and a solid theoretically grounded rationale behind it.

12. How long do you need or have to make the video essay and be ready to submit?

Efficient time management is another indispensable aspect to consider in your pre-production. Make sure you create a very detailed timeline where you plan what to do, when, where, why, and what you need for it. You can draw a basic yet comprehensive work timeline. This can be structured in the following way:

PREPRODUCTION

• What to do
• When
• What for?

PRODUCTION

• Date
• Location/ source
• What to record/include
• What for?
• Materials needed?
• People involved

POSTPRODUCTION

• Editing period?
• Exporting date?
• Uploading date?
• Supporting Statement, key words, settings.

Draft of the Supporting Statement:

This should be conceived as a video-making diary. As you plan your video essay, have a notebook (physical or digital, written, visual and/or oral) where you keep a record of your creative process. This may include the following considerations:

a) How did you come across this film or screen media?

b) What moves you about it?

c) How do you think you may analyse it?

d) What is your positionality in relation to the selected film, screen media and/or chosen theoretical framework? Was this approach inspired by anything you read, heard or lived?

e) What is it worth reflecting about it?

f) What is the advantage of doing it recursively, that is, through the film medium?