writing with a camera

Video Playlists

Thrown together by David Tamés, v.4, revised September 17, 2025

This is a curated list of moving image works. Do you have suggestions for videos that should be on this list? Please let me know using this contact form. Links to videos often change, so you may need to search for alternative sources. If you find a broken link, please let me know.

 Playlist 1. personal visions and adverts

  • Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943, 16mm, B&W, silent), view on Kanopy (requires subscription, Northeastern students have access). After watching the film, take a look at Maya Deren providing some context for interpreting the work, but see the film fresh before reading this.
  • Lamp (Spike Jonze, Crispin Porter + Bogusky agency, 2002) demonstrates effective use of a wide range of cinematic language conventions, how many can you identify?
  • Lamp 2 (Mark Zibert, Rethink Canada agency, 2018), a remake of Lamp that reflects changes in the culture between 2002 and 2018, what are the cues?
  • Watchtowers of Turkey (Leonardo Dalessandri, 2014, 3:34)

Playlist 2. experimental documentary, adverts, performance

  • The Above  (Kirsten Johnson, 2015, 8:22), experimental documentary
  • Volkswagen: Milky Way, (dir. Dayton/Faris; agency: Arnold Boston, Music: Nick Drake “Pink Moon,” 2006), commercial, think about the cinematic metaphors at work in this piece
  • Please Consider #6: Skype (michelle ellsworth, 2011), performance, even though this was made many years ago, replace “skype” with “zoom” and it’s totally up to date! 

Playlist 3. lighting and cinematic storytelling

  • Cinematic lighting explained – Basics,  tutorial and ultra-mobile lighting kit – Epic Episode #9; this overview of lighting from Media Division provides a good summary of lighting fundamentals and how to achieve cinematic lighting with modest gear
  • Bao by Pixar — a short animated film; notice how the cinematic lighting techniques discussed in the first video are applied in this video, which is one of the factors that contribute to the cinematic style of the work; see also this article (New York Times). Note: unofficial copies get uploaded and taken down regularly, Bao can be purchased legally for $2.99 on YouTube and other services.

 Playlist 4. sound

  • Recording Sound on Location (Lizi Hesling, CADARN Learning), provides a good overview of location sound recording, recommended for additional coverage of location sound recording
  • The Foley Artist  (Oliver Holms, 2015, short film), many of the sounds we hear in fiction films are not made by the actual objects we see on the screen, many of the sounds in cinema are the work of foley artists
  • Justin Boyd: Sound and Time  (Mark Lee Walley and Angela Guerra Walley, 2013, short documentary), sound is half the picture and often stands on its own, this is not only a short documentary about sound, but it provides a good example of a very well crafted short documentary with good b-roll footage that brings the story alive, a good example to draw upon for your micro-documentary projects
  • Door Into the Dark  (May Abdalla and Amy Rose, 2014), a trailer for an immersive documentary installation, consider how sound is used in this work
  • UCLA Post Production: How To Wrap A Cable (David McKenna), a demonstration of the mechanics of wrapping a cable with the “Over-Under” method, It’s important to wrap all cables properly and you’ll be expected to wrap the cables we use in the workshop using this technique, so practice a little bit before the workshop

Playlist 5. essay and experimental film/video

  • 199. Elements of the Essay Film by Kevin B. Lee, this video explores how essay films use sounds, images, words, and editing differently than other forms of cinema.
  • Poetry will be made by everyone, an excerpt from Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil (1983), an essay film that reflects on the characteristics of human memory, and how our recollections are always fraught with uncertainty and fabrication, See also first few minutes of Sans Soleil (1983) here: Sans Soleil - The First Minute.
  • ANTS in my scanner > a five years time-lapse! (François Vautier, 2010, 2 min.); Vautier installed an ant colony inside an old scanner that allowed him to scan in high definition an evolving microcosm (animal, vegetable and mineral). The resulting clip is a close-up examination of decay and corrosion and how nature gradually takes hold of this environment; example of work recorded over a long period of time.
  • Love is the Message, the Message is Death (Arthur Jafa, 2017, 7.5 min.), consists of footage shot by Jafa as well as clips from films, newscasts, sports, music videos, and downloaded mobile phone videos constructed into an assemblage that traverses the twentieth century to present a meditation on African American life against the backdrop of systemic racism and White supremacism. Jafa said, “I’ve pushed myself to push toward things that disturb me,” Jafa has created one of the most powerful spiritual and political videos of recent memory.
  • Mothlight (Stan Brakhage, 1963, 3 min.) is a meditation on the materiality of projected film, Brakhage described Mothlight as an attempt to visualize what a moth might see from birth to death, particularly during its fatal attraction to light; an example of handmade, cameraless filmmaking, made by pressing moth wings, flower petals, leaves, etc. between strips of clear film leader and then printed them using a contact printer. In much of his work, Brakhage examines visuals beyond perception, creating films that work more like thought, perception, or “direct theory” instead of storytelling.

Playlist 6, part 1. narrative/fiction techniques

Playlist 6, part 2. narrative/fiction works

  •  A Ninja Pays Half My Rent (Steven Tsuchida, 2003), This is an example of a well-crafted labor-of-love project by Steven Tsuchida  who lives in Los Angeles and works in television and film production. It is also a good example of an efficient coverage strategy, excellent editing, and perfect writing for a short narrative. Played many festivals and won several awards when it was first released and has stood the test of time as an excellent example. 
  • The Black Hole (Phil Sampson and Olly Williams, 2008) is a story about a sleep-deprived office worker who discovers a black hole that can duplicate anything, leading to unexpected consequences. Never let anyone say you need a big budget or special creative resources to make an effective narrative work. Creativity flourishes under tight constraints. This video provides a clear premise and precise execution.
  • Passing (Adrian Yang, 2025, 2:03) tells the story of a woman who gathers the courage to say hello to a stranger on the street, this is short fiction filmmaking at it’s best, it captures one moment, one character reversal, produced on a micro–budget, with strong writing and performances.
  • Other, a short film written by and featuring Vanessa Baden Kelly and directed by Xavier Burgin about a black woman who struggles with her feelings as she navigates white spaces in the aftermath of the white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, an example of fiction based on contemporary social reality.
  • Splitscreen: A Love Story, directed by James Griffiths quite some time ago, was shot entirely on a Nokia N8 mobile phone, demonstrating that a strong concept, along with good composition, exposure, and basic technical craft, is more important than technical perfection or fancy equipment.

Playlist 7. editing

 Playlist 8. production craft

 Playlist 9. student work

  • Black of Space (Gabriel Reid, 2020), a personal essay responding to the political context of 2020. Nominated for a Newburyport Documentary Film Festival Young Emerging Showcase (YES) Award in September 2021. Produced in ARTD2380 Video Basics.
  • Wanderlust (Alli Kramer, Trevor Hewitt, Erica Hink, 2016), a response to the prompt: produce a film with the theme of “Lust” with every shot a split screen in the style of Wes Anderson. This was part of a student-generated class project in which the students created three lists of “obstructions” (theme, cinematic grammar, director) and then randomly assigned a trio of obstructions to each team, inspired by The Five Obstructions (Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth, 2003). Produced in ARTD2380 Video Basics.
  • Art of the March (Emily Gordon, Ellie LaCourt, and Connor Lewis, 2018, 6:05), after the 2017 Women’s March in Boston, professors collected 6,000 protest signs, creating a living archive that reflects a unique political moment. Winner of the “Best Short, Mass Reality Check” award at the Salem Film Festival, 2018, and the “Outstanding Work Award” at the Marblehead Festival of Arts, 2018. Produced in ARTD3480 Video: Sound+Image.
  • Pumpkin Head(Fares Bourote, 2022, 5:00) short narrative, term project for ARTD3480 Video: Sound+Image.

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