Thinking Images: A Short Course in Video Essay Making
with Dr Darren Elliott-Smith
Course Structure: 4 × 2 hour Zoom sessions
Course Venue: Online (Zoom)
Course Dates: planned for September 2026 & January 2027
Course Fee: £175 (regularly employed); £100 (freelance/unemployed)
payment plans available via Outsavvy
This course explores the innovative practice of video essay creation as a cutting-edge development in film criticism and art practice, whereby lovers of film can use the moving image itself to deepen their appreciation, analysis, and production of creative media.
The video essay uses digital video editing techniques (known as videographic work) to create a new type of investigation, which offers an extra emotional dimension produced through the blending of words, images and sounds.
The course will include short lecture-based workshops to enable an understanding of video essay techniques and practices; short practical digital tasks where the basics of video editing will be implemented; and the production of your own 5-minute video essay.
This course is co-produced by the Live Art Development Agency.
This course is for:
Individuals interested in video essay theory and practice
Individuals at a beginner or intermediate stage in video production interested in expanding their practice
Film scholar and video essayist Dr. Darren Elliott-Smith (University of Stirling) will guide students through the forms, origins and influences of the video essay, drawing on noteworthy examples before inviting them to work on short projects of their own. The course will include short lecture-based workshops to begin an understanding of video essay techniques and practices; short practical digital tasks where the basics of video editing will be implemented; and the production of your own 5-minute video essay.
The course will include short lecture-based workshops to begin an understanding of video essay techniques and practices; short practical digital tasks where the basics of video editing will be implemented; and the production of your own 5-minute video essay.
The course will be run in a relaxed and informal environment.
No prior video editing experience necessary. Students may benefit from having had some knowledge and appreciation of film/media criticism.
Students may bring their own hardware/software for practical editing – we recommend iMovie or Clipchamp for beginners.
In November 2025 Queer Extension & the Live Art Development Agency hosted a zoom taster session for Thinking Images. See the recording of that taster below.
Dr Darren Elliott-Smith (he/him) is currently Senior Lecturer in Film and Gender at the University of Stirling and has published extensively academic work involving gender and sexuality and their representation in film and media. His work involves considering sociological connections between LGBTQ+ identity/communities and genre work in film and TV, focusing on horror and melodrama. He has used written work, curation and videographic practices to engage with such concerns and has been integral in developing international academic work on Queer Horror Film and TV analysis and production.