There are many great things about YouTube, but one amazing thing that has come about are video essays. My kids and I regularly watch Kurzgesagt – In a nutshell or Vsauce or Veritasium, which are great channels for popular science video essays, and often make far more interesting science content compared to anything you can find on TV.
That also applies to the growing number of video essays on filmmaking. Here are a few examples of essays that I particularly enjoy. I highly recommend subscribing to all of these channels:
Red Letter Media
If you haven’t come across these videos yet, you’re really missing out. Some might argue that they’re not really video essays and have more in common with reviews. However that is an unfair assessment as these videos really break down as to why the prequels didn’t work, but also do highlight what does work. It is however an incredibly ballsy choice to frame a film analysis with serial killer humour. It’s really funny but also really informative. Red Letter Media also has one of my favourite shows “Best Of The Worst” which is highly entertaining.
Every Frame a Painting
As a big fan of David Fincher, I love how Tony Zhou breaks down his work, and shows why Fincher’s style works for the movies he makes. The essays are not super in depth, but they don’t need to be because he usually focuses on one or two creative aspects. And because Tony is an editor, he paces his videos really well. In his videos he talks about directing, staging, composition, pacing etc. All very obviously from an editor’s perspective, but for these videos, that is exactly the perspective you need. He does take his time to make his videos, so you might have to wait a while to get a new one. BUT, it’s totally worth it.
Nerdwriter
Nerdwriter is a bit different to the others, in that he creates a lot of different content. All of it is about communication in one way or another. Art, politics, music, film, etc. His writing is fantastic and the channel publishes a video every Wednesday, so there’s always content to dig into. This video here about Zack Snyder and why Batman vs Superman was such a flawed film is one of the best deconstructions of Zack Snyder’s style I’ve seen. I’ve been saying similar things about Snyder’s style for years, but in this video, he’s boiled it down so eloquently that I’ve been using his description ever since.
Lessons from a Screenplay
Michael has taken his basic cues from Tony Zhou at Every Frame a Painting, but that is not a bad thing. His video essays on how the screenplay translates into films are highly engaging and informative. He also really takes the time to reference screenwriting books, compares in detail when a script diverges from the film, etc. They are all very compelling and insightful videos. This video about Ex-Machina and his essay on the Gone Girl screenplay are my favourites.
Channel Criswell
The videos on Channel Criswell have a slightly more academic approach and on a technical level they’re not as good as some the others, but the content is fantastic. The videos are often longer than the others, but that’s only an issue if you can’t get into the content. If you’re into filmmaking, this channel is essential watching. This channel very much has it’s own voice and it’s worth checking out every single video.
Dan Golding – video essays
As of this writing, Dan Golding only has two video essays. He focusses on film music, and his first video is a response to Tony Zhou’s “Marvel’s symphonic universe” video, which I’ve linked above. His second is about Hans Zimmer’s scoring style. I’m really looking forward to more of his essays. He’s very good at breaking the music down in a way that’s understandable for even the non-musically inclined.