Audiovisual thoughts about audiovisual arts. Filmscalpel creates, collects and curates video essays at www.filmscalpel.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3ltypft5jp22b“We can now steal all your creative work. And share it with other thieves”. WeTransfer’s new terms of service are as brazen as they are despicable. I just deleted my professional account.15 Jul 2025 10:35 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltypft5jp22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lsod6tqy4s2jI Know What You’ll Do This Summer. [contains quote post or other embedded content]28 Jun 2025 14:05 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsod6tqy4s2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3loglmzhcj22jImplement a 100% tariff and ruin a movie. Seventeen [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 May 2025 14:34 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3loglmzhcj22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3ll2tqeoqd22mHow does Kevin Costner's 1991 Robin Hood remember Disney's 1973 version of the outlaw? How does that one, in turn, remember Errol Flynn's 1938 incarnation? Why is Ridley Scott's 2010 take on the character forgettable? @jemsaunders1.bsky.social jogs her memory in this nostalgia-inducing video essay. https://vimeo.com/95981077423 Mar 2025 18:12 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3ll2tqeoqd22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lfxjgzjrlc2yFriends Down Under: my video essay / short film MALE GAZING is playing at the ninth edition of the CAPRICORN FILM FESTIVAL in Yeppoon, Australia. This Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th January it is part of CAPS EXPERIMENTAL, a short form video art selection. More here: www.capricornfilmfestival.org https://www.capricornfilmfestival.org/capsexperimental17 Jan 2025 19:23 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfxjgzjrlc2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lfrvrpgigk2rGETTY ABORTIONS explores Getty's stock image databases and finds that the photos used to illustrate abortion are very stereotypical. Franzis Kabisch uses her personal story to challenge the anonymity of those images. #favoritevideoessaysof2024 More here: https://www.filmscalpel.com/getty-abortions/15 Jan 2025 13:48 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfrvrpgigk2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lfrvfc4dvc2rMAKEOVER MOVIE by Sue Ding compiles a long list of objections to the trope of the makeover montage and substantiates them with an impressive array of film excerpts. She also enlisted six childhood friends to give a running commentary on her video essay - a great idea. #favoritevideoessaysof2024 https://vimeo.com/98040343015 Jan 2025 13:41 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfrvfc4dvc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lfruyp7dps2rHEIMATFILM fashions excerpts from 50 different films into a hilarious supercut. Marion Kellmann deftly combines recurring situations and motifs, and boils the German genre down to its narrative, thematic and iconographic essence. #favoritevideoessaysof2024 More here: www.filmscalpel.com/heimatfilm/15 Jan 2025 13:34 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfruyp7dps2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lfruoa5f6k2rMEANWHILE IN LOS SANTOS (DISSOCIATION NATION) is a mod for Grand Theft Auto V that shifts the focus to NPCs (non-player characters, the extras of the gaming world). Their interior monologues are a critique of GTA’s design. #favoritevideoessaysof2024 More here: https://www.filmscalpel.com/meanwhile-in-los-santos-dissociation-nation/15 Jan 2025 13:28 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfruoa5f6k2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lfrugfkgqc2rLIGHT HANDS is an excellent example of how to revitalise archival footage in a video essay. Historian Lily Ford delves into the Imperial War Museum’s collection of footage of women building airplanes during WWI. She engages with it in a creative and speculative manner. #favoritevideoessaysof2024 https://vimeo.com/92199690615 Jan 2025 13:24 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfrugfkgqc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lfru4nf3kk2rTHE RED GOD strings together footage of foxes recorded by a wildlife camera. Christine Rogers connects her videographic research to her Māori ancestry and her personal history, to decolonisation and the camera as imperial tool, to speciesism and the human/nonhuman divide. #favoritevideoessaysof2024 https://vimeo.com/80795789315 Jan 2025 13:18 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfru4nf3kk2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lfrty7o4g22rDE SONT OF MJOEZIK is a live performance by Maria Zandvliet that translates videographic strategies to the stage. It turns the video essay into a fully embodied form of research. The result is an exhilarating study of fandom. #favoritevideoessaysof2024 More here: https://www.filmscalpel.com/de-sont-of-mjoezik/15 Jan 2025 13:16 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfrty7o4g22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lem33ynncc2uHere's a great way to start 2025. The Museum of the Moving Image in New York is devoting a screening series to the video essay. From January 3 to 5, they will present four different programs. My video essay THE APARTMENT is part of the second program (scheduled for Jan 4), called REMIXING NEW YORK. https://movingimage.org/series/expanded-screens-the-video-essay/31 Dec 2024 12:42 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lem33ynncc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lehdelju2k2cOn this day in 1986, Andrei Tarkovsky left us. He had spent only 54 years with us, but he sculpted that time into seven immortal feature films. Celebrate his legacy with this selection of ten video essays: http://filmscalpel.com/andrei-tarkovsky/29 Dec 2024 15:27 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lehdelju2k2chttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3ldlqdzsw2k22Sight and Sound has published its annual poll of the year's most notable video essays. @queline.bsky.social , @willwebbful.bsky.social, and @cydniiwilde.bsky.social tallied a total of 183 videos. Better start now if you plan to watch them all before the year ends. Or skip Christmas dinner. https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/polls/best-video-essays-202418 Dec 2024 16:05 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldlqdzsw2k22https://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lcg7i7ohvs2sOn this day in 1930, Jean-Luc Godard was born. He was both film icon and iconoclast, movie rebel and royalty. Defining this chameleonic French provocateur is hard, but these ten video essays give it a go, focusing on different aspects of his output: www.filmscalpel.com/godard03 Dec 2024 17:54 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lcg7i7ohvs2shttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lc3zuewuz22qOn November 29, 1954, Joel Coen was born. His brother Ethan would join him three years later. Celebrate their combined creative output with this selection of video essays. 🧵 (Big fan? There are even more on www.filmscalpel.com/coen-brothers/)29 Nov 2024 16:47 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lc3zuewuz22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lbyupxjaw22yOn November 28, 1961, Alfonso Cuarón was born. He has directed just eight feature films but often does double duty on his movies. He's won Academy awards as director, producer, editor and cinematographer. Here's a selection of half o dozen video essays to celebrate his birthday. 🧵📽️ #filmsky28 Nov 2024 10:37 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbyupxjaw22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lbmylba7f22gIf you want to contribute to the newest volume of the Screen Stars Dictionary, then here's your chance. Previous entries in this series of video essays can be found on the website of the Journal of Audiovisual Essays TECMERIN (see tinyurl.com/2f74a8ej). [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Nov 2024 17:14 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbmylba7f22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lbmmst2ka22wOn November 23, 1887, William Henry Pratt was born in London. He emigrated to Canada, then the US, where he pursued acting. In 1931 he rose to fame under his stage name Boris Karloff when he played Frankenstein's Creature. Celebrate his birthday with these Frankenstein-themed video essays. 🧵23 Nov 2024 13:44 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbmmst2ka22whttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lbhsbvd6ok2mResearcher and visual artist Roc Albalat traces the genealogy of modern AI visuals back to two 19th-century photography pioneers, Marey and Galton. His excellent video essay LATENCIES OF THE STATISTICAL IMAGE invites viewers to reflect on the ambitions and aspirations that underpin AI developments. https://vimeo.com/92428771821 Nov 2024 15:38 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbhsbvd6ok2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lbhhxfvs622jDust and lint, scratches and splice marks: what if you started focusing on those imperfections of celluloid film instead of the actual image? Such UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS fascinate @sennahojottonib.bsky.social, and his hypnotic video essay does an excellent job conveying that fascination. https://vimeo.com/102143604821 Nov 2024 12:33 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbhhxfvs622jhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lbhffj4bus2jIf you ever need to explain the concept of the uncanny, then this elegant video essay by @filmstudiesff.bsky.social and Lynda Nead is all you need. THE HAUNTED MIRROR illustrates Freud's definition of "Das Unheimliche" with shots from the 1945 anthology horror film Dead of Night. https://vimeo.com/102489236721 Nov 2024 11:48 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbhffj4bus2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lbhe6b55o22jThe angry cadence of THE RHYTHMS OF RAGE is both catchy and cathartic. @barbarazecchi.bsky.social mixes dozens of film and tv clips of enraged women into a video essay that pulses powerfully. https://vimeo.com/92277920021 Nov 2024 11:26 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbhe6b55o22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lbh5z2rm3s2yThe video essay isn't that young anymore... DUST is a Western supercut created in 2008 by Patrick Elliott. Patiently piecing together shots sourced from VHS tapes, he made a montage of Native Americans gathering for a "last ride." The cowboys and settlers are conspicuously and deliberately absent. https://vimeo.com/103185221121 Nov 2024 09:35 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbh5z2rm3s2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/filmscalpel.bsky.social/post/3lbfajzcqt22fFilmmaking is as pragmatic as it is creative. The song that plays over the closing credits of The Cry of the Owl is a case in point. CHOOSING DEATH ROW SONGS, a video essay by John Gibbs, explains how rights issues complicated the audio post-production of the film, but enriched the end result. https://vimeo.com/82879008120 Nov 2024 15:15 +0000at://did:plc:wp44idkbwva5bqobdcf5eopw/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbfajzcqt22f