Module manager: Dr Libertad Gills
Email: L.Gills@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module offers students the opportunity to engage conceptually and practically with video essay making as a creative and experimental way to produce and communicate scholarly knowledge about cinema. The module will introduce students to video essays that range from the explanatory to the exploratory and the poetic and offer useful models to consider as students undertake their own projects. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
This module will introduce students to the theory and practice of video essay making. It will encourage them to explore current and past examples of this mode of creative practice, enabling them to develop a range of creative and practical skills, and exposing them to a variety of theoretical debates and approaches in the domain.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Evaluate critically video essay making and videographic criticism as a mode of scholarly rhetoric
2. Engage creatively and practically with video essay making as a form of audiovisual thinking and scholarship
3. Reflect critically on the learning process and knowledge creation across different media
4. Employ effectively digital editing tools to communicate complex ideas and information
5. Analyse information, synthesise views, and make connections between different sources of information and knowledge
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practical | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| Seminar | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Student progress will be monitored via regular production and discussion of short video essays (formative), thus providing a robust peer learning environment in which students learn from each other rather than just the module tutor. Students will be given formal feedback on their first assessment (video essay journal, 30%) to develop their skills in the approaches and concepts that underpin video essay making. This and the weekly in-seminar discussion/feedback will then aid students in the conceptualisation and production of their final assessment – a creative-critical video essay and short companion text that contextualises the work and sets out its academic goals and rhetorical means (70%).
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Video Essay Journal | 30 |
| Coursework | Video essay and creator’s statement | 70 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team