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Artistic [Analysis and Criticism] on Youtube
Hi I'm Vee!
Formerly VH; She/Her; Is an E X P E R I E N C ERegistered User regular
Formerly VH; She/Her; Is an E X P E R I E N C ERegistered User regular
Over the course of my time on the forums, many people have linked various videos about myriad subjects. Through watching these, and some investigation of my own, I have ended up with a collection of Youtube channels containing some really insightful, fascinating content. I've learned a lot from these channels, and they've profoundly changed how I consume film, TV, video games, and other media. I decided it would be selfish to keep this collection to myself, so I have made this thread to share what I've found in the hopes that it will introduce people to new content, foster discussion, and hopefully encourage others to share their own discoveries!
What this thread is:
What this thread is not:
Without further ado, here are some of the best channels I've found, loosely organized by subject.
Film & TV
Every Frame A Painting
I'm going to start with the first channel in this vein that I encountered: Every Frame A Painting. The channel is run by Tony Zhou, who is, according to his Reddit AMA, a filmmaker and freelance editor. His videos are mostly about editing and cinematography, but several just talk about general movie-making stuff, especially those that focus on specific actors, like his videos on Jackie Chan and Robin Williams. I love both of those videos, but the ones I learn the most from talk about the mechanics of cinematography. For example his video on Drive talks about the quadrant system, where each quadrant and each half of the screen is telling its own story. He also talks about some foreign movies that I never would have known about otherwise, like the ensemble staging in Memories of Murder, a Korean murder mystery film, or how a scene can be staged with shapes using The Bad Sleep Well, which is admittedly a Kurosawa film so I probably should have known about it. Unfortunately, he hasn't made a new video since September of last year, so it seems you'll only get the videos already on the channel for the foreseeable future. I've watched all of them multiple times, though, so it's well worth going through his uploads. I'll leave you with my favorite video he's done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FOzD4Sfgag
Lessons from the Screenplay
Lessons from the Screenplay is run by Michael Tucker, a Director/Writer for Finite Films, and true to its name it mostly focuses on storytelling aspects of film and TV and how those come out in the final product. Full disclosure, I have not watched all of his videos, because they are, for the most part, NOT spoiler-free, so I have avoided videos about movies I haven't watched yet (but plan to watch). Topics discussed are everything from what makes the opening scene of Inglourious Basterds so amazing and suspenseful, to what makes When Harry Met Sally such a unique RomCom. He dissects the dialogue of Aaron Sorkin (while making an interesting point about how Sorkin should collaborate more), and walks us through the history of the Ghostbusters screenplay. By far my favorite video, though, is the one on The Shining, a movie I have not seen because I can't really handle horror movies. What I love about it is that he really branches out from just talking about the screenplay (considering there isn't really a copy of the original, and Kubrick was making major edits throughout the movie) and discusses other elements of the movie, like cinematography, editing, and sound, all for the purpose of nailing down what makes it so scary. I invite you to watch it below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv8KroxoAhk
Some Others
Here are some channels that only have a few videos that I've watched, but I'd still like to share them with you.
Channel Criswell: Some very long-form film analysis that I haven't watched, but also several shorter videos I quite enjoyed, like this amazing one about the underlying theme in Hayao Miyazaki's work, and another perspective on the dialogue in The Social Network, which is great to watch after the one from Lessons from the Screenplay.
Now You See It: I'm not sure why I haven't watched all of his videos because they're typically shorter than the previous ones I've posted (usually 4-6 minutes or so). I really enjoyed his perspective on Inglourious Basterds, which gave voice to a feeling I had about the movie but couldn't fully articulate, as well as his look at The Truman Show, which inspired me to rewatch the movie.
Video Games
Game Maker's Toolkit
This is honestly one of my favorite channels on Youtube. Game Maker's Toolkit is run by Mark Brown, a self-described former games journalist and critic, and his videos have changed the way I look at video games. He focuses primarily on game design, with videos on everything from Half-Life 2's invisible tutorial, to Shovel Knight's use of nostalgia, to what makes good AI. You can often see a running theme through several videos, like how he's not a fan of hand-holding, as expressed in his videos about navigational aids in games like Uncharted, getting places in open world games, and the "small open world" of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It shows up in bits and pieces in other videos too. I also like his videos highlighting innovative design elements for each year, which he has done for both 2015 and 2016. And I haven't even mentioned his Boss Keys series, which is a (mostly) chronological look at the dungeon design in each of the Zelda games. All in all, there's a wealth of fantastic game design commentary on this channel, and I envy anybody who is checking it out for the first time. I don't always agree with the points Mark Brown makes, but I've found all of his videos to be thoughtful and educational. It's hard to choose my favorite thing he's done, but I think it might be the combination of his video on Breath of the Wild's open world (which is not the Boss Keys entry for that game) and its follow-up about BotW's music (note: they're not very spoilery, I watched both before playing BotW):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmIgjAM0uh0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FWVKu1gnWs
Some Others
Unfortunately I don't have as many video game channels of this type as I'd like, but here are a couple with some very specialized content:
Core-A Gaming: A channel about fighting games, with mostly videos containing interviews, recaps, or technical discussions, but also some about subjects like why buffing is better than nerfing, what makes a move overpowered, and the role of taunting in competition. I definitely don't always agree with his points (his videos on the skill gap/why fighting games should be hard come off slightly grognardy) but either way it's a cool perspective on a genre of gaming I don't know much about.
Summoning Salt: A series of videos about the history of speedrun records for various games. I hesitated to include this because it seems like a channel more along the lines of CrashCourse or what have you, but I do think that it gives a really interesting look into the world of speedrunning and what the culture is like beyond just what you see on AGDQ twice a year. Personally I would just start with his first World Record Progression video, which is the one for Mike Tyson in Punch Out, work your way through the Super Mario Bros, Mario 64, and Super Mario World videos, and then go from there. His videos do get a little formulaic ("everybody thought [speedrunner]'s time was unbeatable, and the record stood for X years....but then...."), so I've stopped watching every single one and just watch the videos he puts out about games I'm interested in.
Miscellaneous
These channels cover a number of different topics, typically some mix of the above categories, but sometimes also including things like literature or philosophy or current events.
The Nerdwriter
The Nerdwriter is run by Evan Puschak, a former host/writer for Discovery Digital Networks (whatever that means). He has videos on all kinds of things, from film/tv analysis to politics. I can understand how the channel name, or the way he ends almost every video with a profound statement....interspersed....with pauses, might turn some people off to this guy, but I really dig his perspective and I find the range of his knowledge pretty impressive. You can start with a video about Alfred Hitchcock's blocking, jump to a cool analysis of the music in Lord of the Rings, and end up on a video about (yes I know, but it's a good video) Donald Trump's use of language. Just, uh, ignore that video called "Why Donald Trump Is A Gift To Democracy" that he made before the election last year...
Here's my favorite video of his, about Craig Ferguson's tenure at The Late Late Show. You should go to Youtube to watch this, because you'll want to click on the links in the description for some great clips from Craig's show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50MU4Cz62so
Wisecrack
Definitely a more comedic take on these kinds of videos, Wisecrack nonetheless has some really interesting analysis to present, mostly about Film and TV, but also occasionally about video games. My favorite series on the channel is Earthling Cinema, which is an analysis of various films from the perspective of an alien who has recovered these DVDs as "artifacts" from the now-extinct human civilization. Behind the jokes wherein the host uses the wrong names for actors or gets points of human history wrong, there is a pretty cogent explanation of the philosophy behind each movie. Sure we all know about the obvious Jesus symbolism in The Matrix, or the objectivist philosophy in The Incredibles, but some of the underlying themes showing up in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy or The LEGO Movie are less obvious. I have watched a few videos from some of their other series, like Thug Notes and 8-bit Philosophy, but honestly some of it is over my head. I'll leave you with the Earthling Cinema for Star Wars Episode IV and let you find your way to the videos for V and VI on your own:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ii5puoNxTM
Some Others
This section only has one channel for now, but maybe I'll add more later.
Folding Ideas: One of the only channels that does hyper-critical videos that I can actually stand. I have found this channel to be pretty hit or miss, but some of my favorites are this well-known epic takedown of the editing in Suicide Squad, this accounting of everybody Batman kills/maims in Batman vs Superman, and what I think is a fascinating look at the pitfalls of starting or participating in a new platform like VidMe.
Whew, okay, that was a lot. Now it's your turn! What are some of your favorite channels like this? What are your thoughts on some of the videos you've watched? Check out the "What this thread is/is not" up top and then go wild! I'll try to update this OP with people's suggestions every once in awhile too.
What this thread is:
- A place to share new channels/videos like the ones mentioned here
- A place to discuss the content of said channels/videos
What this thread is not:
- A generic youtube thread. Much as I love PUBG highlights and ProZD clips, this isn't the place.
- A catch-all thread for educational videos. I'd like to keep the topic to videos containing analysis and criticism, especially of art. Videos from channels like CrashCourse or Vi Hart are a little outside the bounds of what this thread is meant for.
Without further ado, here are some of the best channels I've found, loosely organized by subject.
Film & TV
Every Frame A Painting
I'm going to start with the first channel in this vein that I encountered: Every Frame A Painting. The channel is run by Tony Zhou, who is, according to his Reddit AMA, a filmmaker and freelance editor. His videos are mostly about editing and cinematography, but several just talk about general movie-making stuff, especially those that focus on specific actors, like his videos on Jackie Chan and Robin Williams. I love both of those videos, but the ones I learn the most from talk about the mechanics of cinematography. For example his video on Drive talks about the quadrant system, where each quadrant and each half of the screen is telling its own story. He also talks about some foreign movies that I never would have known about otherwise, like the ensemble staging in Memories of Murder, a Korean murder mystery film, or how a scene can be staged with shapes using The Bad Sleep Well, which is admittedly a Kurosawa film so I probably should have known about it. Unfortunately, he hasn't made a new video since September of last year, so it seems you'll only get the videos already on the channel for the foreseeable future. I've watched all of them multiple times, though, so it's well worth going through his uploads. I'll leave you with my favorite video he's done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FOzD4SfgagLessons from the Screenplay
Lessons from the Screenplay is run by Michael Tucker, a Director/Writer for Finite Films, and true to its name it mostly focuses on storytelling aspects of film and TV and how those come out in the final product. Full disclosure, I have not watched all of his videos, because they are, for the most part, NOT spoiler-free, so I have avoided videos about movies I haven't watched yet (but plan to watch). Topics discussed are everything from what makes the opening scene of Inglourious Basterds so amazing and suspenseful, to what makes When Harry Met Sally such a unique RomCom. He dissects the dialogue of Aaron Sorkin (while making an interesting point about how Sorkin should collaborate more), and walks us through the history of the Ghostbusters screenplay. By far my favorite video, though, is the one on The Shining, a movie I have not seen because I can't really handle horror movies. What I love about it is that he really branches out from just talking about the screenplay (considering there isn't really a copy of the original, and Kubrick was making major edits throughout the movie) and discusses other elements of the movie, like cinematography, editing, and sound, all for the purpose of nailing down what makes it so scary. I invite you to watch it below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv8KroxoAhkSome Others
Here are some channels that only have a few videos that I've watched, but I'd still like to share them with you.
Channel Criswell: Some very long-form film analysis that I haven't watched, but also several shorter videos I quite enjoyed, like this amazing one about the underlying theme in Hayao Miyazaki's work, and another perspective on the dialogue in The Social Network, which is great to watch after the one from Lessons from the Screenplay.
Now You See It: I'm not sure why I haven't watched all of his videos because they're typically shorter than the previous ones I've posted (usually 4-6 minutes or so). I really enjoyed his perspective on Inglourious Basterds, which gave voice to a feeling I had about the movie but couldn't fully articulate, as well as his look at The Truman Show, which inspired me to rewatch the movie.
Video Games
Game Maker's Toolkit
This is honestly one of my favorite channels on Youtube. Game Maker's Toolkit is run by Mark Brown, a self-described former games journalist and critic, and his videos have changed the way I look at video games. He focuses primarily on game design, with videos on everything from Half-Life 2's invisible tutorial, to Shovel Knight's use of nostalgia, to what makes good AI. You can often see a running theme through several videos, like how he's not a fan of hand-holding, as expressed in his videos about navigational aids in games like Uncharted, getting places in open world games, and the "small open world" of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It shows up in bits and pieces in other videos too. I also like his videos highlighting innovative design elements for each year, which he has done for both 2015 and 2016. And I haven't even mentioned his Boss Keys series, which is a (mostly) chronological look at the dungeon design in each of the Zelda games. All in all, there's a wealth of fantastic game design commentary on this channel, and I envy anybody who is checking it out for the first time. I don't always agree with the points Mark Brown makes, but I've found all of his videos to be thoughtful and educational. It's hard to choose my favorite thing he's done, but I think it might be the combination of his video on Breath of the Wild's open world (which is not the Boss Keys entry for that game) and its follow-up about BotW's music (note: they're not very spoilery, I watched both before playing BotW):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmIgjAM0uh0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FWVKu1gnWsSome Others
Unfortunately I don't have as many video game channels of this type as I'd like, but here are a couple with some very specialized content:
Core-A Gaming: A channel about fighting games, with mostly videos containing interviews, recaps, or technical discussions, but also some about subjects like why buffing is better than nerfing, what makes a move overpowered, and the role of taunting in competition. I definitely don't always agree with his points (his videos on the skill gap/why fighting games should be hard come off slightly grognardy) but either way it's a cool perspective on a genre of gaming I don't know much about.
Summoning Salt: A series of videos about the history of speedrun records for various games. I hesitated to include this because it seems like a channel more along the lines of CrashCourse or what have you, but I do think that it gives a really interesting look into the world of speedrunning and what the culture is like beyond just what you see on AGDQ twice a year. Personally I would just start with his first World Record Progression video, which is the one for Mike Tyson in Punch Out, work your way through the Super Mario Bros, Mario 64, and Super Mario World videos, and then go from there. His videos do get a little formulaic ("everybody thought [speedrunner]'s time was unbeatable, and the record stood for X years....but then...."), so I've stopped watching every single one and just watch the videos he puts out about games I'm interested in.
Miscellaneous
These channels cover a number of different topics, typically some mix of the above categories, but sometimes also including things like literature or philosophy or current events.
The Nerdwriter
The Nerdwriter is run by Evan Puschak, a former host/writer for Discovery Digital Networks (whatever that means). He has videos on all kinds of things, from film/tv analysis to politics. I can understand how the channel name, or the way he ends almost every video with a profound statement....interspersed....with pauses, might turn some people off to this guy, but I really dig his perspective and I find the range of his knowledge pretty impressive. You can start with a video about Alfred Hitchcock's blocking, jump to a cool analysis of the music in Lord of the Rings, and end up on a video about (yes I know, but it's a good video) Donald Trump's use of language. Just, uh, ignore that video called "Why Donald Trump Is A Gift To Democracy" that he made before the election last year...
Here's my favorite video of his, about Craig Ferguson's tenure at The Late Late Show. You should go to Youtube to watch this, because you'll want to click on the links in the description for some great clips from Craig's show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50MU4Cz62soWisecrack
Definitely a more comedic take on these kinds of videos, Wisecrack nonetheless has some really interesting analysis to present, mostly about Film and TV, but also occasionally about video games. My favorite series on the channel is Earthling Cinema, which is an analysis of various films from the perspective of an alien who has recovered these DVDs as "artifacts" from the now-extinct human civilization. Behind the jokes wherein the host uses the wrong names for actors or gets points of human history wrong, there is a pretty cogent explanation of the philosophy behind each movie. Sure we all know about the obvious Jesus symbolism in The Matrix, or the objectivist philosophy in The Incredibles, but some of the underlying themes showing up in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy or The LEGO Movie are less obvious. I have watched a few videos from some of their other series, like Thug Notes and 8-bit Philosophy, but honestly some of it is over my head. I'll leave you with the Earthling Cinema for Star Wars Episode IV and let you find your way to the videos for V and VI on your own:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ii5puoNxTMSome Others
This section only has one channel for now, but maybe I'll add more later.
Folding Ideas: One of the only channels that does hyper-critical videos that I can actually stand. I have found this channel to be pretty hit or miss, but some of my favorites are this well-known epic takedown of the editing in Suicide Squad, this accounting of everybody Batman kills/maims in Batman vs Superman, and what I think is a fascinating look at the pitfalls of starting or participating in a new platform like VidMe.
Whew, okay, that was a lot. Now it's your turn! What are some of your favorite channels like this? What are your thoughts on some of the videos you've watched? Check out the "What this thread is/is not" up top and then go wild! I'll try to update this OP with people's suggestions every once in awhile too.
+19
Posts
I used to watch Wisecrack, but do so far less often now. I feel like the flavour of it changed when Jared started inserting himself into every bloody video. Just let me watch Earthling Cinema in peace, Jared!
Edit: A video game channel I quite enjoy watching is Ahoy.
https://www.youtube.com/user/XboxAhoy/videos
Most of his videos focus on the history of certain games and their genres, or the history of certain items and monsters within them. It's all quite well researched.
I'm almost certain I've seen some of his videos before, not sure why I didn't think to add him to my subscription list. I'm going through his playlists about the history of various weapons in video games, I like how he talks about the "real life" version vs its representation in various shooters.
I quite like their videos, even though I don't understand any of the technical aspects.
More recently (within the past few years) he's been doing more animation analysis based videos under a side project he's calling Extra Frames
Analysis and discussion on Poses
Discussion on First Person Animation
A long series about the 12 Principles of Animation using different video games to explain them
Not their Plinkett stuff, which everyone probably already knows about. Nor their Halves in the Bag or Bests of the Worst, which are more review-ish than analysis and criticism.
No, it's their series they started last year which is oddly enough called Re: View. Where two of them sit and talk about an old movie they appreciate and have a conversation on why. It's incredibly different from their other work, still with a lot of humor because they are all funny people, but it's a lot more uplifting because they are talking about movies they know a lot about and really really like. Instead of the usual garbage films they are delving into and dissecting. At worst in a few episodes one will really like the movie and the other will either not or be noncommittal, and they go into why they each feel that way.
Probably my favorite one is this one:
A movie I had barely heard of before, and these two guys talk about it in detail and say absolutely everything that happens in it. But in a way that makes me need to go out and see this movie even though I now know everything. I have to see how it all happens.
People ripping apart trash and saying why it's trash can be fun, but there's really not much I enjoy more than people who know a ton about a subject going deep into the details of why they love a thing they love and why it works. It's fascinating.
You know what's weird? I didn't feel claustrophobic in Metroid 2 - I felt the opposite. The wide-open spaces where you couldn't see off the edge of the screen were scary. I only truly felt safe in the central corridor, which was marked by a change of music to something very upbeat compared to the rest of the game... And then it disappeared in the second to last zone.
Maybe it would have been cool to have the final area be without enemies.. representing the Metroids eating them all or something. But given what they do instead, seems perfectly fine.
Sad, but expected. They hadn't uploaded in ages.
The craziest thing to me in that is that the style of the channel was dictated in large part by what wouldn't set off Youtube's Copyright ID scanner.
This isn't strictly a series but a collection of people riffing on "Lessons Animation Taught Us" started by filmjoy.
It contains soviet womble clips obv, and therefore some bad words