Jacob Cutler and Dr. Patrick Madden, Department of English
Teaming up with Inscape (BYU’s journal of literature and art) has proven to be fundamental for my ORCA project. In addition to publishing two of my video essays, Inscape has published my short essay explaining and introducing the concept of the video essay. I have included that essay below because I feel it speaks to the relevance of the project and places it within a broader context:
“It is hard to say exactly when the idea for the video essay arrived because, like most ideas, it sort of crystallized over time. I do know that by the fall of 2010 the idea had solidified sufficiently for me to decide to do something about it. While there certainly exist many films or videos that are ‘essayistic,’ I had never seen anyone approach the personal essay as film in any sort of formal or acknowledged way. And I thought it was time someone tried.
“With the help of some very talented people I created my first video essay–The Summer We Stole from the Cookie Jar–and then began pitching my idea. It wasn’t until the fall of 2011 that I found someone that could help me do something with it. Patrick Madden (a magnificent essayist who has taught me most of what I know about the form) listened to what I had to say, liked the idea, provided many of his own, and has been fundamental in getting our little project to where it is now. Madden was also the one that pointed me to the work of John Bresland at Northwestern University who, as it turns out, has been working with the idea of video essays for years. I can’t say I was surprised and, although I must admit that I had liked the idea of being some sort of pioneer, it was exciting to find that someone else had already made so much progress in the development of a young genre that I think will continue to grow.
“Because it is a young genre, it remains to be seen what exactly the video essay is or will become and I believe it will be the work of future video essayists that will eventually provide the definition. For the time being, however, the question is best answered by looking at the written essay. Philip Lopate once said that the essay is ‘a search to find out what one thinks about something,’ that an essayist is simply working out ‘some mental knot.’1 I don’t think the video essay is any different and Bresland agrees: ‘In its intent the video essay is no different from its print counterpart, which for thousands of years has been a means for writers to confront hard questions on the page. The essayist pushes toward some insight or some truth. That insight, that truth, tends to be hard won, if at all, for the essay tends to ask more than it answers. That asking—whether inscribed in ancient mud, printed on paper, or streamed thirty frames per second–is central to the essay, is the essay.’2
“I believe this process is what makes the essay so compelling. As writers wind down some mental path we, as readers, can’t help but follow along. And by following we are taken to places we may never have experienced otherwise. I also believe that we will see more and more writers embark on these searches, ask these questions, and attempt to untie these mental knots on screen. The video essay seems capable of accomplishing something not found on the page alone—an extra emotional sway produced through word and sight and sound.”
The production of the video essays was a very time consuming process. As mentioned above, the first video essay was created before applying for the ORCA grant but I needed to have original music composed for that video in order to legally publish it on Inscape’s website. The production of the second video essay was an exhausting process. That video, “A Story About Snow and People,” was much more complicated to film and depended largely on the weather so that created some major obstacles. I created that video along with my sister and two friends and the four of us were essentially on-call throughout January and February in order to get the shots that we needed in the right weather conditions. We needed to have original music made for that video as well and fortunately a close friend of mine, Garret Williams, is a talented musician and was happy to help us with both.
After creating the video essays my focus turned toward promoting and advertising the project in an effort to encourage other students to produce their own video essays. I presented the idea and showed “A Story About Snow and People” at BYU’s English Symposium in March. I also did a similar presentation for BYU’s Essayists Club. In April I worked closely with Inscape’s editor-in-chief, Jason Zippro, to organize an event that announced and celebrated some of the changes they have recently made. Inscape is expanding their scope to include more than just writing and the video essay fell in line with that expansion. I approached Jason about organizing an event that brought together writing, art, film and music. We held the event in a conference room on the top floor of the Tanner Building and it featured a student art
display, several student readings, a viewing of “A Story About Snow and People,” and a live performance by Garret’s band, Lady & Gent. We had a good turnout and were able to expose a wide audience of people to Inscape and the video essay.
I feel good about what we’ve been able to accomplish with the video essay project and am excited about the future of the video essay. The video essays have had a combined total of nearly 1,000 views3, which confirms my belief that it can become a relevant subgenre. I have been approached by a few students who would like my help in producing video essays of their own and Inscape is open to publishing more video essays in the future.
References
- Lopate. “In Search of the Centaur: The Essay Film,” Threepenny Review
- Bresland. “On the Origin of the Video Essay,” Blackbird
- Both video essays and a short video from the Inscape event can be viewed online at inscape.byu.edu or
vimeo.com/thingsofthatnature