This month, our video essay roundup features the return of a pair of highly influential creators who posted on YouTube recently for the first time in nearly a decade. Add to that videos about clothing manufacturing, stealth video games, and an odd new parenting trend on social media, and more. Enjoy!
“It’s Not Just Shein: Why Are ALL Your Clothes Worse Now?” by More Perfect Union
As part of its mission to spread the word about labor issues in the United States, nonprofit news outlet More Perfect Union produces a regular video series. This installment is a standout. It explains why clothing seems to have degraded in quality over time via easy-to-understand economics, namely, changes to supply chains, the rise of “fast fashion,” and the deterioration of wages and working conditions.
“Nothing Ever Stops Existing” by Jacob Geller
As usual, Geller tackles a heady philosophical concept with accessible pop cultural examples and considerable stylistic flair. If you just put this video on in the background without paying attention to the visuals, for instance, you’ll miss some neat stuff he does with split images. Referencing the works of Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Babbage, Pauline Oliveros, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, and more, this video explores how measurable the universe is, whether our individual existences impact others, and how real free will is (or isn’t).
“‘Unschooling’ on TikTok” by Chad Chad
“Unschooling” is a newish trend that goes a step beyond homeschooling, entailing not only instructing children at home but also foregoing structured lessons entirely in favor of letting “life” educate them. YouTuber Chad Chad critically examines some of the TikTok influencers who advocate for this practice, observing how many of them look an awful lot like grifters using their kids for free domestic labor. The video is brilliantly edited, creating a tremendous density of quick visual gags that demand close attention.
“Stealth in Video Games” by NakeyJakey
Jacob Christensen is another skilled editor who has developed a unique style of comedic narration accompanied by quick cutting and out-of-pocket pop culture references. He also has a canny understanding of video game design; here, he explains the tropes of stealth-based games, or those in which the player attempts to avoid enemies, in a way that even a non-gamer can appreciate.
“The Sustained Two-Shot” by Every Frame a Painting
In many ways, Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos shaped our common understanding of how video essays about cinema work with their initial run of their Every Frame a Painting series, which ran from 2014 to 2016. They recently returned to the channel with this video on the history of a specific kind of film shot, and they don’t miss a beat despite all their years away. Though it runs less than six minutes, the essay covers a great breadth, demonstrating how different films have made use of extended shots of just two people together, and the many approaches to a single cinematic concept.
