Videographic Scholarship / Crítica videográfica
| Videographic criticism allows us to not simply write on films, but with them. Using tools made possible via increasingly accessible technologies, practitioners use digital sound and moving images to construct arguments in ways that emerge or diverge from the possibilities of the written essay. Videographic criticism employs approaches from the explanatory to the poetic. This emerging mode of critical analysis and scholarship is increasingly being used in the classroom, as well. The contents of this section of Cinegogia are meant not to define its pedagogical possibilities, but rather these materials show some of the ways in which videographic criticism is being integrated into the classroom studying Latin American film and media studies. - Nicolas Poppe, Middlebury College | Ensayo videográfico de Michelle L. Farrell, presentado como parte de la sesión "Video-ensayo: Teória, Práxis, y Pedagogía" (LASA Annual Congress, 2023) |
What does videographic criticism look like?
Here a few recent examples in Spanish and English that focus on Latin American cinema.
- Farrell, Michelle L. "Con la voz presente: Video-ensayos 'imperfectos' en el tiempo de cuarentena." Tecmerin. Revista de Ensayos Audiovisuales, no. 9, 2022 (1).
- Schroeder Rodríguez, Paul A. "La doble repetición en Memorias del subdesarrollo." Tecmerin: Revista de Ensayos Audiovisuales, vol. 6, no. 2, 2020.
- Farrell, Michelle L. "Santa y Teresa: A Walking Dialogue between two Cuban Characters." [in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film & Moving Image Studies vol. 7, no. 1, 2020.
- Grant, Catherine. "El embrujo de La mujer sin cabeza." Tecmerin: Revista de Ensayos Audiovisuales, vol. 2, no. 1, 2019.
- Middents, Jeffrey. Memorias de C/Leo: On Auteurism and Roma. Mediático, December 2018.
- "Dossier" in Vivomatografías, vol. 4, 2018, pp. 116-154. Includes an introduction to videographic criticism by Nicolás Poppe and a dossier of video essays
- Schroeder Rodríguez, Paul A. "La imagen tiempo y el deseo en Límite (Mário Peixoto, 1931)." Vivomatografías, vol. 4, 2018, pp. 150-154.
- [in]Transition 3.3 (2016) (various authors), guest-edited issue focused on videographic criticism of Latin American cinema
- Díaz Cervantes, Katherine. "El aporte de la Escuela de Cine de Cusco en el cine cusqueño." 15 December 2021. Video resumen elaborado para el proyecto de investigación, "La Escuela de Cine de Cusco: patrimonio audiovisual nacional." Riqch'ariy, Revista de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, vol. 2, no. 1, 2021, pp. 107-134. Riqch'ariy, https://revistariqchariy.com/articulos/3155.
Workshops & Resources
Ready to get involved? Here are some professional development and networking resources that can help you find colleagues who are interested in videographic criticism.
- Scholarship in Sound & Image, Workshop on Videographic Criticism, Middlebury College
- Digital Humanities & Videographic Criticism Scholarly Interest Group (DHVC-SIG), Society for Cinema & Media Studies: strives to create a community of practice connecting digital humanities and videographic scholarship
- Videographic Roundtable Facebook Group: group dedicated to discussing work, ideas & development around videographic criticism/video essays.
Publication Venues for Videographic Criticism
- Film Criticism, peer-reviewed, online publication bringing together scholarship in the field of cinema and media studies since 1975.
- [in]Transition, Journal of Videographic Films and Moving Image Studies, first journal devoted exclusively to peer reviewed publication of videographic scholarly work in English
- Mediático, media and film studies blog, showcasing a diverse array of research, news, views and perspectives on Latin(o/a) American, Spanish and Portuguese media cultures
- Tecmerin: Revista de Ensayos Audiovisuales, publicación semestral de vídeo ensayos, con revisión por pares, que intenta ocupar un espacio inexistente en el ámbito de la investigación en español
- Vivomatografías, revista de estudios sobre precine y cine silente en Latinoamérica
- 16:9, a Danish journal of film studies with articles and peer reviewed video-essays published in English (five times/year).
Further Reading
Want to learn more? Below are some recent publications about videographic criticism and possible directions for the future of the field.
- Cox-Stanton, Tracy and Allison de Fren, eds. The Scholarly Video Essay. Special Issue of The Cine-Files, vol. 15, Fall 2020, www.thecine-files.com.
- Keathley, Christian. "La caméra-stylo: Notes on Video Criticism and Cinephilia," in The Language and Style of Film Criticism, ed. Alex Clayton and Andrew Klevan (London: Routledge, 2011), 180.
- Keathley, Christian, Jason Mittell and Catherine Grant. The Videographic Essay: Criticism in Sound & Image. Revised ed. Montreal: caboose books, 2019.
- "In Focus: Videographic Criticism." Cinema Journal 56.4 (Summer 2017).
- Reséndiz, Luis. "A la caza del videoensayo." Letras Libres, sec. Cine, 1 marzo 2019, letraslibres.com/revista/a-la-caza-del-videoensayo.
- Van den Berg, Thomas and Miklós Kiss. Film Studies in Motion: From Audiovisual Essay to Academic Research Video. Los Angeles: Scalar, 2016. Ebook.