[Music] how do you make a video essay what do you make your video about how do you select which films to cover what about scripting the video how do you source footage in the best possible quality what equipment do you need to do so what sorts of formats can you use how do you edit your final product together in an interesting convincing way hi I'm will Webb I'm a filmmaker film reviewer and most importantly for this a video essayist in this series of videos I'm going to explain as much as possible about the process of
making video essays drawing on my experience and pointing you towards further resources you can use to make your own video essays and one last thing I'm specifically talking about video essays about films but lots of what I'll discuss is applicable to videos about games TV or pretty much anything you want to cover the first thing you'll need is an idea you probably already have this after all you clicked on a video called how to make a video essay the idea could be a deep dive on a film you'd like identifying something in it that you
want to talk about whether that's a directorial choice a narrative arc or a thematic elements you might want to talk about the fantastical parts of the Fisher King the set design of snowpiercer or the emotional journey of Holly Hunter's character in the piano another approach is to look at a film with a production focus not so much why did the filmmakers choose to do this but more how did they do this I did this with the Creepshow films for example examining the inspiration behind them and the process of how they were made another approach is
to compare a number of films looking for similarities or points of contrast you could focus on genre like a rundown of tropes in blaxploitation film you might look at approaches to similar themes like john carpenter's treatment of end of the world stories across his apocalypse trilogy you might seek to find commonalities in a single creatives work like exploring the strong visual style of Wes Anderson's films for example something like the lateral dolly shots of where's Anderson there's a freebie if you're having trouble coming up with an idea here's an exercise to consider think of one
of your favorite films pick something distinctive that you about it or a particular scene or sequence and try to work out what makes it so good that's a great way to approach a rough structure for your video once you've got your idea it's always worth re-watching the film or films your essay is about even if you know them very well you may discover that your recollection of the movie is wrong or that you feel differently about it on this watch be open to discovering new things and changing your mind as it'll be easier to do
this now than further down the line in the editing stage I always keep notes as I watch a movie along with a rough time code so that I know at what point in the film's runtime my note refers to sometimes these notes are in depth my Forte's on a key scene or sequence and where it might fit in my arguments often it's a surface level thing like a nice shot that ties into the theme of the video you can see that the level of detail I go into varies a lot and some notes are more
for my research than for the essay itself things like check this pronunciation are important notes too armed with your notes you can begin to script your video essay I did a really academic degree so I'm most comfortable approaching the first draft like a written essay that means roughing out a structure usually following some kind of argument I'll explain what I'm going to do make a points and then seek out examples to prove that point the end result looks like this basically an essay in itself that could in theory be published I then go back through
my draft and insert references to specific shots and sequences so I can put them in during the editing stage and remember that this is a video essay and wherever possible you should be making your points with visuals and sound of course this isn't the only way to do it a video essay is Charlie Shackleton who's made feature-length essays like beyond clueless and fear itself writes his work as actual scripts complete with character names and dialogues from the scenes that he will include that's a great level of detail and I think it encourages you to approach
the subject in a holistic way treating your video essay as a film in itself and thinking creatively about how to incorporate elements from the used footage in your video you might also be interested in making a more personal video essay instead of the more academic or editorial style that I've covered here when doing this you might want to try a different approach to scripting sometimes I use a visual script creating a table that lists rough ideas of scripted voiceover lines alongside shot ideas from films or any other sources you'd like to consider and any additional
notes or sound effects that's actually kind of how I planned this video you're watching now this is very meta isn't it once you're happy with your first draft I recommend that you try reading it through aloud it'll help you hear the flow of the narration make sure that it makes sense and can actually be spoken aloud by a human being that's always a good idea even if you're not recording the script yourself I often find at this point for example that I've written sentences that are just way too long to be said out loud you
can read raft as you go along and keep rereading until everything sounds natural at this point your script is ready to record you might read raft it during the recording process and you might change or add elements during the editing process rewriting and free recording to clarify parts of your video but what you want to have at this point is a blueprint a scaffolding around which you will create your video essay the next step is sourcing footage and recording your voiceover which I'll cover in the next video if you have any questions about this stage
of making a video essay let me know in the comments below and I'll try to answer if you've enjoyed the video do consider popping over to patreon and supporting indie tricks or go to my coffee and drop a few quid to say thanks you can find links to both in the description
