Since the early 2000s and particularly over the last half decade, the practice of film and media studies has increasingly turned to videographic forms. The rise of the video essay (or “audiovisual essay”) has been facilitated by the proliferation of online media content, online magazines, journals, blogs, etc., and user-friendly editing platforms. It has also been supported by the widespread recognition of the benefits of allowing scholarly studies of audiovisual media to present and directly elaborate the material they engage with (rather than merely writing about it), as well as of the ways in which practical and critical engagement with media can advance active modes of spectatorship and media consumption. As a result, the video essay is quickly becoming a dominant form of media studies and a crucial instrument of the dissemination of ideas, scholarship and cultural critique. This course aims to introduce students to the various forms and methods associated with the contemporary video essay, and to guide them through the conception and production of their own analytic video essays — a skill which they will be able to transfer to numerous other courses and extracurricular and/or professional contexts. 

**Out of Pocket Materials**
It is highly advisable that students enrolled in this course should provide their own external USB hard drive (250-500GB) to store and archived captured material and video essay projects. These drives must be Mac formatted.

**Course Home Page**
http://moodle.johncabot.edu/

Students will:

— Be introduced to the essay film form and the critical discourses surrounding the recent growth of the video essay
— Acquire awareness of a range of methodologies and approaches to the video essay
— Learn to critically engage with audiovisual media, and to convey their reflections on media works and products by audiovisual means
— Acquire the technical skills to work with (collect, convert, edit) non-original audiovisual material
— Advance their editing skills and proficiency with Final Cut Pro
— Advance their understanding of film, media and communication studies and their ability to apply that understanding through practice
— Learn how to develop a critical argument through a combination of traditional and new media tools, i.e. by integrating writing and audiovisual compilation
— Acquire understanding of how essayistic film- and video-making can be used to advance active modes of spectatorship and media consumption

**It is highly recommended that you make use of the Communications Library Study Guide that is found at this link: https://johncabot.libguides.com/communications. It is an introductory guide for communication and media studies, journalism and cinema, and is extraordinarily valuable as a resource. 

**Course homepage: http://moodle.johncabot.edu/. Enrollment key: EXP1005Fall18

As this is a workshop course over a relatively short period, attendance is mandatory and unexcused absences will not be tolerated.