What’s a Video Essay? A Beginner’s Guide

Whether you’re a film buff wanting to share your thoughts on your favorite franchise or a music lover reviewing a new album, a video essay is one of the best ways to unpack a concept for your audience.

Keep reading to explore different types of video essays and learn how to create your own.

What’s a Video Essay?

Video essays combine analysis, commentary, and education to explore specific topics. They usually aim to make a statement or try to convince the audience of something. 

Often, video essays are lengthy, so many content creators upload them to YouTube, since the platform is more suited to long-form videos. However, as sites like TikTok and Instagram Reels have started allowing longer content, some of these essays have made their way onto short-form platforms.

4 Types of Video Essays

Video essays can take many forms, but here’s a breakdown of the four most common types.

1. Analytical Video Essays

Perhaps the most standard video essay format, analytical video essays explore a topic or piece of content to unpack details that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. These reviews might compare two main characters from similar film franchises, dissect the meaning behind a piece of art, or break down how a video game influenced new releases in the same genre. 

While these videos can be serious, they don’t have to be — for instance, CinemaSins uses a quick narration style and funny explanations to describe what’s wrong with certain films. 

2. Documentary Video Essays

A documentary video essay is journalistic in nature, often involving videography of real people and places. This format tends to be a bit more casual than traditional documentaries and includes some of the content creator’s opinions.

Potential topics include diving into a company’s sustainability practices, filming international travel vlogs, and uncovering local history.

This style is well-suited to short-form platforms, since you can split long videos up into a series or follow a documentary-style formula for each upload.

3. Personal Video Essays

A personal video essay provides a glimpse into the creator’s life by sharing an experience they went through. For instance, content could feature details about why someone moved across the country or how they balance work and family. 

These essays went viral a few years ago with the popular “Draw My Life” format. YouTubers like Markiplier and Jaiden Animations drew biographical scenes to share their backgrounds with fans. 

4. Educational Video Essays

These video essays share lessons on things like scientific processes and historical events. One of the most well-known educational video essay examples is TED talks, which feature industry experts sharing their insights with a live audience. 

How To Make a Video Essay in 5 Steps

If you’re ready to create your own video essay, follow these five steps. 

1. Choose a Compelling Topic and Thesis

Start by identifying a topic you’re passionate about, and decide which angle you’re going to approach it from. Then, write a thesis statement that boils down your main argument into one or two sentences.

Here are a few tips on drafting a thesis: 

• Start with the topic — Decide what you want to discuss, such as ice cream flavors.
• Narrow it down — Pick which part of the topic you want to analyze. For instance, you could argue that vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor because it pairs well with every other dessert.
• Make it debatable — To keep viewers engaged, present a perspective they could challenge. Not everyone prefers vanilla ice cream over other flavors, and audiences might think vanilla clashes with desserts like lemon bars or meringue.

While you don’t necessarily have to share this thesis directly with viewers, knowing what it is will keep the rest of your script on track.

2. Outine or Write a Script

The most compelling video essays provide unique insights and give viewers a reason to be invested in the main argument. Keeping track of all this information without writing it down can be difficult, so draft an outline or script before you start filming. 

Explain what you want to say in the narration, and pair that information with quick notes about what you want to appear on the screen during each section. AI tools like Captions speed this process up — simply write a prompt explaining your video idea, and the tool will generate a complete script in minutes.

3. Record Your Footage

After all the prep work, you need to record your footage, which will take longer for certain formats than others. Documentary formats often feature a lot of videography, which could take time to gather. However, something like a movie analysis may not require you to film at all — you can just stitch together clips from the film and pair them with a voiceover.

4. Edit Your Video

Use a creative studio like Captions to edit your video essay. Our platform features several AI tools that speed up the post-production process, including: 

• AI Edit — Choose an editing style and let AI automatically apply changes to your raw footage.
• Voiceover — Select an AI actor, upload your script, and let AI narrate your post.
• Music — Pick a genre, mood, or theme that suits your video, then have AI generate a custom royalty-free soundtrack.

With these tools, you’ll create a professional-level essay in a fraction of the time it normally takes, freeing you up to concentrate on new content.

5. Share on Social Media

Once you’ve finished revising, upload the post to your preferred platforms and publish. To get more viewers excited about your new upload, pull out highlights from your longer posts and share them on short-form social media sites. Captions’ AI Clip Generator does this automatically, using AI to review hours of footage and extract viral-worthy highlights. 

Take Your Video Essays to the Next Level With Captions

Whether you’re sharing a personal story or exploring an educational topic, video essays are a creative way to share your ideas with your followers.

Because these posts tend to require so much editing, they can take a long time to produce. Thankfully, Captions automates many manual tasks. Our platform uses AI to generate custom scripts, add subtitles to each video, and translate your essay into different languages. 

Spend less time at the editing desk with Captions.

FAQs

How Long Should a Video Essay Be?

Video essay length varies wildly between creators and niches. Some are only five minutes long, while others run for over an hour. Ultimately, you should make your post as long as you need to fully explain your point.

Can I Make a Video Essay Without Professional Equipment?

Yes — all you need to get started is a smartphone, a ring light, and a great creative studio like Captions. As your channel grows, you can always upgrade to higher-quality equipment like DSLR cameras and professional microphones, but you don’t need these tools initially.

Where Should I Post My Video Essay?

YouTube is one of the best places to share video essays, as posts can be as long as you want. If you’re interested in sharing clips from your long-form posts or want to create mini essay videos, short-form platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels might be a good choice.