In a lot of ways I think video is a poor way to share knowledge. It's great at capturing visual visual information and replaying that. But it forces content to be displayed slowly and at a fixed...
In a lot of ways I think video is a poor way to share knowledge. It's great at capturing visual visual information and replaying that. But it forces content to be displayed slowly and at a fixed rate. Out of your good content examples, I really only think Every Frame a Painting fits. But Historia Civilis also does a good job and I've actually learned things from it.
Otherwise I think these channels in no way benefit from making video essays. I think they could all cover their topics better by just doing regular essays. But video is what they're going for because people don't read essays. They are intentionally shooting for the intellectual community of YouTube which still wants to sit down and basically turn their brain off. In my opinion these channels are better than the rest of YouTube but if you actually want to learn you need to pick up a book or read, do research, or read a blog. But keep watching those YouTube channels, everyone likes to turn their brain off and one of those videos might just inspire you to look into the topic a little bit more.
Most of the video essay community covers art that has an audio or visual component that has to be worked around in text but fits perfectly naturally within YouTube videos. You're also mentioning...
Most of the video essay community covers art that has an audio or visual component that has to be worked around in text but fits perfectly naturally within YouTube videos. You're also mentioning information coming in at a fixed rate as if it's universally a bad thing. The controlled stream of information is a powerful tool of the essayist / filmmaker that can be put to use for a lot of purposes, most obviously in that they have tight control of emphasis that isn't nearly as strong through text. I think a lot of people can relate with being told to read a section of a textbook in school and having their thoughts be scrambled / directionless because text (to a certain degree, obviously through the way we section it off and present it there's some control) tends to display all information as equivalent and if you don't know yourself what to focus in on and prioritize, it gets all jumbled. Yet, when they talk about that same group of ideas with other people, listening to an instructor who gets to pace out the information as is necessary, things often get cleared up.
These techniques are well-integrated into how we formally teach many of these subjects anyway. It's long been standard practice to play clips from movies in film studies courses and it would be weird to study music history without listening to any. A lecture with clips accompanying them is fairly similar (though generally better for the interactive elements, but text doesn't replicate that either so that's irrelevant) to popular video essay formats like what Lindsay Ellis or Folding Ideas do.
As much as I love the written word, we shouldn't treat its place as the medium with the most academic prestige as something that grew out of the inherent advantages of the medium or that it shouldn't be challenged. It has that status for historical reasons, and we should be doing everything we can to have quality information be available in every appropriate medium in accessible ways. Remember how young video essays are (though admittedly, some pull from documentary and traditional essay film ideas) and that they're continuing to get better as people are inspired by the better essayists and build on each other. The ones that really build are the most interesting, in my opinion...rather than just spitting back essays they've read from academic journals, there are conversations going on within video essay communities themselves that go back and forth and move forward leaving breadcrumbs of videos on YouTube. That process is how the genre will truly mature...not only does that mean there's the opportunity for radically new ideas to be born outside of an academic context, but there could be a day where you can become reasonably well-educated on, say, film studies with YouTube videos taking the place of traditional text.
Let's encourage the ideas to thrive wherever they can. If you want to make a video game that teaches me about the post-colonial gaze, fuck yeah! Do it! I love you! Shove it everywhere, critically engaging with the world around us shouldn't be something locked behind dense walls of text. Those should be one option among many.
Of course, it takes more than just reading to be knowledgable on these subjects even when taught normally, and we also need ways to engage with others online to simulate the kinds of class discussions and dialogues that are a massive part of traditional education. This is getting off topic, but I hope Tildes can be a place for this. I've seen bits and pieces of this taking place all over, but rarely on a platform that wholeheartedly supports a serious, well thought-out conversation. It happens a bit in the comments of good video essays, a bit when they get posted on good subreddits, etc...but this could be a haven for that.
Lectures are video (audio/visual) but still a great way to express this kind of information... But otherwise I mostly agree with you. Pop education channels have their place in spreading...
Lectures are video (audio/visual) but still a great way to express this kind of information... But otherwise I mostly agree with you. Pop education channels have their place in spreading awareness, advocating for the subjects they cover, and generating interest in them, but they're a bit like junk food for the brain; Fine in small doses but if it's your only source of nutrition (information) you're going to run into a problem. At some point people need a more balanced diet (books, lectures, essays, courses). But thankfully there is a ton of that available for free on the net too, E.g. Open Yale Courses Stanford's YouTube channels MIT OpenCourseWare edX
etc.
I have to disagree. 3Blue1Brown could not explain many of its videos better with a written essay. The animations used to explain complex mathematics work extremely well paired with concise verbal...
Out of your good content examples, I really only think Every Frame a Painting fits. But Historia Civilis also does a good job and I've actually learned things from it.
Otherwise I think these channels in no way benefit from making video essays. I think they could all cover their topics better by just doing regular essays.
I have to disagree. 3Blue1Brown could not explain many of its videos better with a written essay. The animations used to explain complex mathematics work extremely well paired with concise verbal explanations alongside them. The narrator is able to guide the user's attention and provide context in the moment in a way that mere text would not.
I did consider that, but didn't write that part out. 3Blue1Brown definitely benefits from having videos. But I think they could work better if they supplemented a written article people could work...
I did consider that, but didn't write that part out. 3Blue1Brown definitely benefits from having videos. But I think they could work better if they supplemented a written article people could work through at their own pace. For example, this is a god way to explain a math concept in essay form http://acko.net/blog/to-infinity-and-beyond/
Using YouTube as a platform, and video as a medium, give them access to a bigger audience which is a huge benefit when you're trying to spread knowledge. How well and efficiently that knowledge is...
I think these channels in no way benefit from making video essays.
Using YouTube as a platform, and video as a medium, give them access to a bigger audience which is a huge benefit when you're trying to spread knowledge.
How well and efficiently that knowledge is spread person-to-person doesn't matter. Reach is the far more important factor. I suspect nearly 100% of people who claim such channels do not benefit from being in video format would never, ever have encountered those in the wild, in that parallel universe where CGP Grey is a blogger. So how efficient a particular video essay by CGP Grey does not matter at all.
I think one thing that sets the good video essays apart from the bad video essays is, funnily enough, exactly the kind of things they try and teach you in high school: structure, argumentation,...
I think one thing that sets the good video essays apart from the bad video essays is, funnily enough, exactly the kind of things they try and teach you in high school: structure, argumentation, conciseness.
Lindsey Ellis, and Dan Olson/Foldable Human I think are really good examples of this because they both have very well structured essays, with clear and defined parts which transition rather smoothly, and are edited to be concise yet rhythmic making them pleasant to follow, but when they actually advance an argument they do so in a very methodical manner: state the premise, draw the conclusion, back this up with an example or a citation. It's the basics for a good reason.
Every Frame a Painting, I think, took this to a whole new level because they were incredibly experienced not just with the material they talked about but with the medium itself, especially editing. EFP doesn't use delineated parts much because they don't need to, the flow of their work is natural enough that you don't even notice it's there (it is though, if you pay attention to it).
3Blue1Brown I wouldn't call "video essay" though, because the larger part of his work is more explanatory lecture-style. Essays usually have a core thesis, 3Blue1Brown mostly doesn't, he just explains what science has figured out but what we might not fully understand.
I think the differences there are almost irreconcilable with the format of an "essay". We have to remember that an essay is different from a research paper, textbook, lecture, or thesis. The essay...
I think the differences there are almost irreconcilable with the format of an "essay". We have to remember that an essay is different from a research paper, textbook, lecture, or thesis. The essay format isn't strictly speaking meant to be instructive, it's meant to be argumentative, you make a case for something backed with your knowledge on the subject.
Focusing more on detail and explanation risks breaking flow and obscuring the core thesis, which are vital components of an essay. At which point you should probably consider a change in format.
What makes a video essay good is this: Information density. No matter the level of detail a video essay decides to go into, they must maintain a decent amount of information density, or risk...
What makes a video essay good is this:
Information density. No matter the level of detail a video essay decides to go into, they must maintain a decent amount of information density, or risk becoming boring
Effective use of the medium. In keeping with rule 1, the best video essays are ones that explain visually AND in words simultaneously. CGP Grey himself is excellent at this technique, especially in his geography and voting videos.
Appropriate tone and appropriate pacing -- Tone should match the content. Haunting, somber, or happy... and pacing is really important. Breaking up chunks of information allowing time for digestion, and adding little bits of humor between large chunks of information is important if you don't want to tire out the audience.
I get what you're saying. For me, every medium has its own advantages and specific uses. Every Frame uses the video essay medium so well because it's directly discussing visual media. In the same...
I get what you're saying. For me, every medium has its own advantages and specific uses. Every Frame uses the video essay medium so well because it's directly discussing visual media. In the same vein, the best Nerdwriter videos are ones like his Sandman one that discusses the graphic novel.
On the list of good ones, I would add Pop Culture Detective. I also personally love watching Eons because there's something nice see artistic renderings of the topics.
Edit to add that I disagree with your comment on people who make no effort to learn. People learn differently depending on who they are, what the topic is (and how familiar they are with it) and lots of other reasons.
I think one of the prime differences between good and decent video essays is the creator's interest in the topic. A couple of the best video essays I've seen (I'll link them below) are about the...
I think one of the prime differences between good and decent video essays is the creator's interest in the topic. A couple of the best video essays I've seen (I'll link them below) are about the music and culture of Yugoslavia during the wars following its breakup and how an obscure 80s Sukeban anime series inspired Kill la Kill.
The videos come off as very organic. They have humor that the creators naturally use. It feels like I'm listening to a professor talking about a field they worked in for years.
These topics are also very niche -- not something meant to attract large audiences and be "poppy". They're not flashy nor do they have amazing visual editing. They're just made by people who care about Yugoslavian war music and obscure anime series.
I think the reason they are popular is exactly because they are vague and wide with their topics so they can reach a wider audience. If they were more specific, only a fraction of the people would...
I think the reason they are popular is exactly because they are vague and wide with their topics so they can reach a wider audience.
If they were more specific, only a fraction of the people would watch them because they would probably be overwhelmed or need to already have knowledge about the topic at hand.
Underrated comment here. This is not only good technical advice, but also great accessibilty-wise: if your video's transcript does not exlude a lot of info, then it will be almost equally fruitful...
Underrated comment here. This is not only good technical advice, but also great accessibilty-wise: if your video's transcript does not exlude a lot of info, then it will be almost equally fruitful for the visually or aurally impaired, for those with cognitive disabilities that affect comprehension, and language learners.
In a lot of ways I think video is a poor way to share knowledge. It's great at capturing visual visual information and replaying that. But it forces content to be displayed slowly and at a fixed rate. Out of your good content examples, I really only think Every Frame a Painting fits. But Historia Civilis also does a good job and I've actually learned things from it.
Otherwise I think these channels in no way benefit from making video essays. I think they could all cover their topics better by just doing regular essays. But video is what they're going for because people don't read essays. They are intentionally shooting for the intellectual community of YouTube which still wants to sit down and basically turn their brain off. In my opinion these channels are better than the rest of YouTube but if you actually want to learn you need to pick up a book or read, do research, or read a blog. But keep watching those YouTube channels, everyone likes to turn their brain off and one of those videos might just inspire you to look into the topic a little bit more.
Most of the video essay community covers art that has an audio or visual component that has to be worked around in text but fits perfectly naturally within YouTube videos. You're also mentioning information coming in at a fixed rate as if it's universally a bad thing. The controlled stream of information is a powerful tool of the essayist / filmmaker that can be put to use for a lot of purposes, most obviously in that they have tight control of emphasis that isn't nearly as strong through text. I think a lot of people can relate with being told to read a section of a textbook in school and having their thoughts be scrambled / directionless because text (to a certain degree, obviously through the way we section it off and present it there's some control) tends to display all information as equivalent and if you don't know yourself what to focus in on and prioritize, it gets all jumbled. Yet, when they talk about that same group of ideas with other people, listening to an instructor who gets to pace out the information as is necessary, things often get cleared up.
These techniques are well-integrated into how we formally teach many of these subjects anyway. It's long been standard practice to play clips from movies in film studies courses and it would be weird to study music history without listening to any. A lecture with clips accompanying them is fairly similar (though generally better for the interactive elements, but text doesn't replicate that either so that's irrelevant) to popular video essay formats like what Lindsay Ellis or Folding Ideas do.
As much as I love the written word, we shouldn't treat its place as the medium with the most academic prestige as something that grew out of the inherent advantages of the medium or that it shouldn't be challenged. It has that status for historical reasons, and we should be doing everything we can to have quality information be available in every appropriate medium in accessible ways. Remember how young video essays are (though admittedly, some pull from documentary and traditional essay film ideas) and that they're continuing to get better as people are inspired by the better essayists and build on each other. The ones that really build are the most interesting, in my opinion...rather than just spitting back essays they've read from academic journals, there are conversations going on within video essay communities themselves that go back and forth and move forward leaving breadcrumbs of videos on YouTube. That process is how the genre will truly mature...not only does that mean there's the opportunity for radically new ideas to be born outside of an academic context, but there could be a day where you can become reasonably well-educated on, say, film studies with YouTube videos taking the place of traditional text.
Let's encourage the ideas to thrive wherever they can. If you want to make a video game that teaches me about the post-colonial gaze, fuck yeah! Do it! I love you! Shove it everywhere, critically engaging with the world around us shouldn't be something locked behind dense walls of text. Those should be one option among many.
Of course, it takes more than just reading to be knowledgable on these subjects even when taught normally, and we also need ways to engage with others online to simulate the kinds of class discussions and dialogues that are a massive part of traditional education. This is getting off topic, but I hope Tildes can be a place for this. I've seen bits and pieces of this taking place all over, but rarely on a platform that wholeheartedly supports a serious, well thought-out conversation. It happens a bit in the comments of good video essays, a bit when they get posted on good subreddits, etc...but this could be a haven for that.
Lectures are video (audio/visual) but still a great way to express this kind of information... But otherwise I mostly agree with you. Pop education channels have their place in spreading awareness, advocating for the subjects they cover, and generating interest in them, but they're a bit like junk food for the brain; Fine in small doses but if it's your only source of nutrition (information) you're going to run into a problem. At some point people need a more balanced diet (books, lectures, essays, courses). But thankfully there is a ton of that available for free on the net too, E.g.
Open Yale Courses
Stanford's YouTube channels
MIT OpenCourseWare
edX
etc.
And there are also several decent quality paid services for courses as well:
Coursera
Udemy
Lynda/LinkedIn Learning
I have to disagree. 3Blue1Brown could not explain many of its videos better with a written essay. The animations used to explain complex mathematics work extremely well paired with concise verbal explanations alongside them. The narrator is able to guide the user's attention and provide context in the moment in a way that mere text would not.
I did consider that, but didn't write that part out. 3Blue1Brown definitely benefits from having videos. But I think they could work better if they supplemented a written article people could work through at their own pace. For example, this is a god way to explain a math concept in essay form http://acko.net/blog/to-infinity-and-beyond/
Using YouTube as a platform, and video as a medium, give them access to a bigger audience which is a huge benefit when you're trying to spread knowledge.
How well and efficiently that knowledge is spread person-to-person doesn't matter. Reach is the far more important factor. I suspect nearly 100% of people who claim such channels do not benefit from being in video format would never, ever have encountered those in the wild, in that parallel universe where CGP Grey is a blogger. So how efficient a particular video essay by CGP Grey does not matter at all.
I think one thing that sets the good video essays apart from the bad video essays is, funnily enough, exactly the kind of things they try and teach you in high school: structure, argumentation, conciseness.
Lindsey Ellis, and Dan Olson/Foldable Human I think are really good examples of this because they both have very well structured essays, with clear and defined parts which transition rather smoothly, and are edited to be concise yet rhythmic making them pleasant to follow, but when they actually advance an argument they do so in a very methodical manner: state the premise, draw the conclusion, back this up with an example or a citation. It's the basics for a good reason.
Every Frame a Painting, I think, took this to a whole new level because they were incredibly experienced not just with the material they talked about but with the medium itself, especially editing. EFP doesn't use delineated parts much because they don't need to, the flow of their work is natural enough that you don't even notice it's there (it is though, if you pay attention to it).
3Blue1Brown I wouldn't call "video essay" though, because the larger part of his work is more explanatory lecture-style. Essays usually have a core thesis, 3Blue1Brown mostly doesn't, he just explains what science has figured out but what we might not fully understand.
I think the differences there are almost irreconcilable with the format of an "essay". We have to remember that an essay is different from a research paper, textbook, lecture, or thesis. The essay format isn't strictly speaking meant to be instructive, it's meant to be argumentative, you make a case for something backed with your knowledge on the subject.
Focusing more on detail and explanation risks breaking flow and obscuring the core thesis, which are vital components of an essay. At which point you should probably consider a change in format.
What makes a video essay good is this:
I get what you're saying. For me, every medium has its own advantages and specific uses. Every Frame uses the video essay medium so well because it's directly discussing visual media. In the same vein, the best Nerdwriter videos are ones like his Sandman one that discusses the graphic novel.
On the list of good ones, I would add Pop Culture Detective. I also personally love watching Eons because there's something nice see artistic renderings of the topics.
Edit to add that I disagree with your comment on people who make no effort to learn. People learn differently depending on who they are, what the topic is (and how familiar they are with it) and lots of other reasons.
I get sad whenever I see a video essay. I miss Ever Frame's videos so much.
I think one of the prime differences between good and decent video essays is the creator's interest in the topic. A couple of the best video essays I've seen (I'll link them below) are about the music and culture of Yugoslavia during the wars following its breakup and how an obscure 80s Sukeban anime series inspired Kill la Kill.
The videos come off as very organic. They have humor that the creators naturally use. It feels like I'm listening to a professor talking about a field they worked in for years.
These topics are also very niche -- not something meant to attract large audiences and be "poppy". They're not flashy nor do they have amazing visual editing. They're just made by people who care about Yugoslavian war music and obscure anime series.
My Obsession With Wartime Yugoslav Music
The Original Kill La Kill (Sukeban Deka) Anime Review & Series Analysis [1985]
I think the reason they are popular is exactly because they are vague and wide with their topics so they can reach a wider audience.
If they were more specific, only a fraction of the people would watch them because they would probably be overwhelmed or need to already have knowledge about the topic at hand.
They must be good enough to work even in text form.
Underrated comment here. This is not only good technical advice, but also great accessibilty-wise: if your video's transcript does not exlude a lot of info, then it will be almost equally fruitful for the visually or aurally impaired, for those with cognitive disabilities that affect comprehension, and language learners.
Great call! I wasn't even thinking of that.