The Video Essay and Conversations across Disciplines

This paper will introduce the panel by examining some of the opportunities for the video essay in the context of disciplines beyond Film and Television studies. Drawing on the experience of leading interdisciplinary videographic workshops – working with colleagues from a variety of subject areas – and on a range of examples of relevant practice from screen studies, this paper will reflect on the affordances of the video essay for scholarship in different disciplines, and for historical enquiry in particular.

Technology which used to cost hundreds of dollars an hour to access, is now readily available on a domestic laptop. As a result, the technological means of production are available to many users: fans, cinephiles, students, academics, found footage filmmakers, all kinds of participants in the moving image aspects of remix culture. In Film and Television studies the video essay has become a key methodology, both for research / scholarship and for teaching. This paper presents some of the strengths of the videographic field before sharing insights gained from working with video makers from different disciplines. The presentation includes excerpts from video essays, with a focus on ones which have value in the context of history teaching and research.