“In Search of Flat Earth,” Dan Olson (Folding Ideas) Almost all of these videos contain spoilers, so watch at your own risk - but most can be enjoyed regardless of your familiarity with the subject matter, too. When you watch, you know you’ll come away understanding the subject matter, and likely how art and society impact each other, a little better. Defining the parameters of a video essay, though, puts the videos discussed here on an equal playing field. On the contrary: the ones mentioned above absolutely rule. This isn’t to say the excluded videos aren’t great. But this doesn’t mean the video should necessarily aim for pure objectivity personal video essays are, in fact, a thing.The focus should be a subject from an analytical standpoint, not an interview standpoint. The video also shouldn’t be a documentary (like NoClip’s documentary about the making of Pyre).
This means no straight reviews (like La’Ron Readus’s review of Candyman), no commentary/discussion videos (like Sherliza Moé’s series on cultural appropriation in the Star Wars prequels and Avatar: The Last Airbender), no lore recaps (like My Name Is Byf’s meticulous archival works of the Destiny 2 lore), and no straight-up histories (like Sarah Z’s retelling of the infamous DashCon).
To discuss what makes a video essay one of the best of the year, let’s first break down what a video essay was in the year 2020. With more and more creators choosing a video essay - or video essay-inspired - format, there are video essays about almost any topic you want to learn more about. For the last few years, video essays have gained more and more prominence on YouTube.