In Praise Of Video Essays: A Short...Essay

 “Hi, my name is Tony, and this is 'Every Frame A Painting'…”

…are the words that ring in my ear whenever I think of the video essay series by Tony Zhou. Sadly, the series has come to an end…
 

…But the series is still one that for me is salient in the realm of video essays. If you haven’t been acquainted with this brilliant art form yet, video essays are - as you might expect - essays in audio-visual form. It breathes life into the words and brings colour, shape, form and obviously, sound. But what sets a good video essay apart from the rest is how video is integrated into the essay. It’s not just slapping some visuals onto an essay with basic zooms and pans across static images.

It’s a film.

Which makes sense considering all the video essays I watch are based around discussing film. Anyway, here are some of the best video-essayists out there (in my opinion):

Every Frame A Painting by Tony Zhou:

Now You See It by Jack Nugent:

Brows Held High by Kyle Kallgren:

 

Lindsay Ellis:

Rossatron:

 

The Nerdwriter:

And HBomberguy:


Of course, there are many others out there, and you might not find any you like here. So…google! Look around. The internet’s massive and full of things and knowledge (and video essays) to fascinate and astound you.

Get searching, and get learning! …What? Too much?

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