The Video Essay serves the purpose of informing an audience about a topic or issue through the use of a video presentation. The video can be set-up in a multitude of different styles. Popular forms of Video Essays include the interview, the voice over, and presentation formats. These styles contribute to the video's purpose, which is to engage the viewer in a visual way of learning about an issue or an idea. Rather than communicating in one dimension, the video provides two significant dimensions: voice and image. This seems to be more effective compared to a newspaper that is just used to pass the time.
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| Willson, Joshua. "Clapper Board Clapper Movie Film Board Cinema" 11/3/15 via pixabay. Creative Commons 0 Public Domain License |
2. Where, how or in what context do readers usually find this genre?
This context is typically found on Internet media sites such as YouTube, however, this genre can exist almost anywhere on the Internet. These videos typically come as a response to an idea or occurrence that recently took place. They can also be used to express an idea or to understand someone better than before. Another aspect of this genre is that it became relatively popular in recent times due to the expansion of social media and the ability to voice an idea over the internet with great quality.
3. Who is the typical audience?
The audience for this genre can be almost anyone. With the power of google, any individual that has access to the internet can search any given topic or issue. Anyone incapable of using the Internet may have trouble viewing this genre. In this day and age, almost anyone is a click away from whatever it is that they are searching for.
4. What distinguishes this genre from others?
I think the fact that this is a VIDEO genre separates itself from the other types of text. Whenever you have the ability to view how the author read or explained a piece of information, you can obtain a better understanding of the idea they are trying to get across. It can be difficult to detect how a write or author sounded when simply reading a text, which can lead to misinterpretation of the idea they tried to convey. The video genre distinguishes itself from the podcast because you can sense their emotion through facial expressions. Sometimes a voice can leave behind the true meaning of what the speaker intends.
5. Definition of the Video Essay
The Video Essay- Expression of an idea that stimulates the viewer's visual and listening abilities in order to inform, educate or entertain the spectator.
Reflection: Both Mariana and Missy's blog posts offered very informative points on the quick reference guide (qrg) and the video essay. The quick reference guide seems to be a great way to present unbiased information that focuses on research. To create a very organized and informative piece, the qrg seems to work well. The video essay blog reinforced my own blog's thoughts. It allows the author to display emotion through vision, which can play a large role in getting a theme or idea across. It made me realize that this genre will work extremely well when discussing a topic that I am truly passionate about.
I completely agree that the video essay stimulates the audience in order for them to understand it better. They are much more immersive for the audience and allow them to get their attention better than a simple text. Of course, videos aren't perfect for everything though. The biggest thing to keep in mind would be the length of a video, because if a video essay is too long, the viewer might lose interest; as with other forms of media.
ReplyDeleteI really like the point you made about being able to understand the information better through this genre. I hadn't thought about it but it is true that the intent that the author had behind their own words can often be misinterpreted, and the video essay is a great way to minimize some of that confusion. I also agree with what you said about the audience being very broad for video essays. Most people might say that it is geared for younger people, but I think that the video essay is accessible and enjoyable to almost anyone.
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