Investigating Genres

In investigating genres, I chose to investigate the one which intrigues me the most, which is the video essay. I have heard of this genre and concept before and I have even seen it before, but I never recognized it as being a video essay. Due to the media and technology of today, the video essay has taken rise among major social media outlets such as YouTube. Many of the video essays I have seen before, including some of those included in the chosen examples were posted to YouTube for view by the general public.

Many of the examples I viewed were arguments discussing the deeper meaning behind different mediums of media, especially that spread through movies, T.V., radio, etc. Because of the nature of this specific genre, it is especially easy to evaluate and analyze the media and the types of ideas they are trying to showcase to the public. By this means, many of these video essays come at the audience as a sort of explanation, or in-depth analysis of a certain topic. The "author" of the video essay chooses a certain stance on the topic and through the use of video, still images and voice over, they use the media to prove their point,

Lee, See-ming. Mixed Media Installation. 5/23/2013 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

In a nutshell, this a very unique genre, simply because of the nature of it. It has several key elements which lend to this uniqueness and make it ideal for today's generation.

Purpose:

Dispute or otherwise stir up conversation concerning a common issue or idea.

Intended Audience:

Those who keep up with social media and technology that want to keep a keen eye on the constant images they are fed everyday or what they mean.

Key Features:

Combination of different mediums, one narrator that provides their point of view on the topic, a strong overall topic up for discussion/dispute.

What actually is a Video Essay?

After careful review of several examples, to me, a video essay is a way for an author to not only argue their point through rhetoric devices, but do so in a visual way that captures the audience and provides strong visual aid to prove the author's point.

Reflection:

From each of the blogs I read, I realized that I wrote this specific post slightly different from some of the other students. Where I answered the questions in a more essay format throughout the blog and then with bullets at the end, they approached the questions by simply writing them out and answering them directly. I used my post more as an analysis and discussion for myself before telling my audience my actual opinion about the genre I discussed.

Elizabeth Hernandez

Erica Mohr