The best video essays of 2023

Looking at the year's notable video essays, many grapple with issues central to contemporary media itself. There are dissections of video playback tools, exposés on how companies restrict access, contrasts between tropes and reality, and thorough examination of trends in plagiarism and/or fabrication. As the essay landscape refines, it seems to look inward as much as outward.

About making this list: I've been trying to stay on top of video essays for a while, and have been contributing lists and/or voting in polls on the best videos made every year since 2018. During this time I've been conducting these types of raids has become exponentially more difficult. As YouTube has grown into a mega-company hosting powerful creators (part of the general trend of social media video sites becoming the new primary forum for cultural influence), I've seen essayists who I once considered niche gained more and more followers. millions. It was surreal. For this year's list, I tried to shake things up by keeping the number of essayists who have appeared in previous editions to a minimum, along with the usual considerations about including a diversity of creator backgrounds and video styles. Once again, the videos are simply presented in order of publication date.

(I'm also going to preface this with a mega mea culpa: It was absolute malpractice for me not to include this Platformer toolkit Through Game Maker Toolkit in the list of best video essays of 2022. I don't have a good excuse either; I simply missed the essay when it came out, and then overlooked it during my end-of-year catch-up phase. But an essay on game design that instructs you on its ideas by letting you actively engage with them through interactivity feels like a breakthrough in the form.)

Viewing practices by Johannes Binotto

Johannes Binotto is a Swiss researcher and teacher who has been adding to his 'Practices of Viewing' series for several years, and each episode leading up to the 2023 videos, 'Ending' and 'Description', is definitely worth a watch. With each essay, Binotto examines a specific element of the media viewing interface, and how these influence audience engagement. Some topics, like fast-forward, pause, or mute, may seem like obvious touchstones, while others, like sleep, are a more external approach to the conversation.

A History of the World According to Getty Images by Richard Misek

This technically debuted last year and was making the rounds at film festivals, but it was made available online last spring, so I'm including it here. A History of the World According to Getty Images is a great example of a work that embeds its own ethos in its construction. Misek, another academic, examines how for-profit companies (particularly Getty Images) mediate information that should be available to everyone. In practice, much footage that technically belongs to the public domain is only accessible in decent quality upon payment from an archive such as Getty. Misek gets around this by paying the fee for the use of selected images in this essay and then making this essay itself available for anyone to quote and cut out, thus putting those images out into the world in real life.

The Faces of Black Conservatism by FD Signifier

I believe that video essays in which the creator talks directly to the camera broaden the definition of the term. For me, the form's best cinematic and argumentative potential lies in the power of editing. FD Signifier's contrast between fictional portrayals of black conservatives and the reality of how they appear in the media is what sets him apart in this genre: not only the depth of his thoughts (although it is considerable), but also the playful way in which he presents the topics of his discussion. The running gag here, where he films himself holding hairstyling tools over the heads of various people on his screen, made me laugh harder with every appearance.

Games That Don't Fake Space by Jacob Geller/Why We Can't Stop Mapping Elden Ring by Ren of Raven

I actually don't think this is the best essay Jacob Geller has put out this year (it might be “Games that aren't games” or “How can we bear to throw anything away?”), but it fits so incredibly well with Renata Price's essay (an impressive video debut that draws on her experience as a games critic) that it seemed more appropriate to present it as a double feature. Both videos are sharp investigations into the ways in which video games evoke physical space. Geller highlights the shortcuts and tricks that games often use through examples that, as the title suggests, not use such devices, as Price analyzes the impulses beneath what might be called the “cartographic instinct” in open-world games.

Why do brands keep doing these crazy influencer trips? by Mina Le

In recent years it has been encouraging to see Le becoming more confident in her mix of media in her fashion and film/television videos. You may remember the controversy surrounding it Shein grants influencers a limited meeting place in a clothing factory last summer. Le contextualizes this story by delving into the broader, extremely strange world of sponsored tours. Watching this on your phone, the transitions between Le speaking to the camera and the clips from TikToks and other videos and photos flow together in a way not unlike how you would scroll through a social media feed, creating a uncomfortable resonance arises between message and medium.

Cynical Feelings About Barbie by Broey Deschanel / The Plastic Feminism of Barbie by Verilybitchie

I don't present these two videos as a contrarian attack on Barbie (a film I enjoyed), but to highlight the important role of informed critical voices that disagree with prevailing opinions. Both Maia Wyman and Verity Ritchie solve the problems with a heavy corporate product that tries to capitalize on feminist sentiments. Ritchie emphasizes the history of the Barbie brand and how the film fits into it, while Wyman goes more into the details of the film's plot. Together these videos can be well developed that of legendary critic Amy Taubin Barbie response: “It's about a fuck POP!'”

TikTok Gave Me Autism: The Politics of Self-Diagnosis by Alexander Avila

There is a lot of debate on social media about who can and cannot claim the label 'autistic'. As someone who struggles with both the logistics and appropriateness of figuring out if I'm on the spectrum, this video hit me hard. There are parts that feel like they delve so far into the philosophical question that they risk obscuring the subject rather than illuminating it, but the essay as a whole is undeniably compelling. Avila's own part in the issue of self-diagnosis is itself influential. This is the most personal video on this list, combining self-examination with rigorous research.

Chaste/Unchaste by Maryam Tafakory

This year's shortest entry is a deceptively simple interrogation of the concept of “chastity” as defined by Iran's censorship standards. Takafory is a veteran of the academic essay scene and I am thrilled for the opportunity to present her work to a wider audience. The video's text is minimal and the images are simply a montage of clips from Iranian films, but the implicit question of decency grips the viewer with each clip.

Journey to Epcot Center: A Symphonic History by Defunctland

This is the most groundbreaking essay on this year's list. It contains no commentary at all, instead emphasizing visuals and reenactment in telling the story of how Disney's Epcot park went from concept to realization over the decades. Kevin Perjury also provides a detailed set of notes intended to be read while watching the video, prompting full attention. This is a direct recognition of how we use the internet, the windowed experience of browsing and watching videos. I don't think everything works; many of the reenactments, while impressively professional, feel somewhat redundant. But I'd rather see a creator make major changes that result in a few glitches, rather than playing it safe, and I hope both Perjury and others continue in such an experimental manner.

Plagiarism and You (Tube) by Hbomberguy

Harry Brewis is so popular that he doesn't need any boost, but even in the very short period since the release of this video at the time of writing, Plagiarism and you(Tube) has had a seismic impact on the YouTuber scene. Does it have to take almost four hours? Maybe not. Still, the sheer volume of evidence it brings together to support various accusations of plagiarism seems crucial. The main focus of the piece, James Somerton, was shut down due to the fairly extensive evidence presented against him (and has remained active ever since). tried to apologize). I see conversations flourish around the endemic problem of plagiarism on the internet and what can be done about it, and a wave of creators recognizing and calling out others who have taken their work without credit. There's a deeper problem here, which is that the growth of YouTube entertainment comes with a truly staggering mountain of crap content that nevertheless draws viewers (and therefore dollars).

About the low quality standards on YouTube, aside from plagiarism, Todd in the Shadows recently said exhaustive efforts to fact-check several false claims Somerton made in his work is a useful addition to this video.