Press Play

"The best video essay source on the web." (Roger Ebert) This web site is built on a mix of original video essays and critical, personal writing about film, TV, and their connection to broader cultural concerns. Co-founded by Matt Zoller Seitz, TV critic for New York Magazine, and Ken Cancelosi, it is overseen by Editor-in-Chief Max Winter.

THE REGULARS

Monthly Archives

Motion Studies #9: Rose Hobart

Video

The original movie remix.

By Volker Pantenburg and Kevin B. Lee
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April 2, 2012 8:03 AM
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Video

Even George Lucas started out as a resourceful low-budget filmmaker, as detailed in this video essay manifesto on DIY film production.

By Volker Pantenburg and Kevin B. Lee
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March 29, 2012 7:57 AM
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Video

This popular video, first featured on Press Play, explores how chaos reigns in the techniques used to make contemporary action films.

By Volker Pantenburg and Kevin B. Lee
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March 28, 2012 8:36 AM
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Video

A 12 minute D.W. Griffith short is dissected and rearranged into multiple spaces playing out in real time, providing a revelatory view of Griffith's approach to storytelling and space.

By Volker Pantenburg and Kevin B. Lee
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March 27, 2012 8:30 AM
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Video

47 films spanning 50 years of filmmaking are channeled into a stream of images that attest to the inimitable talent of Jean-Luc Godard.

By Volker Pantenburg and Kevin B. Lee
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March 23, 2012 1:42 PM
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Video

The video essay at its most direct, eloquent and illuminating, by virtue of simple comparison and astute observation.

By Volker Pantenburg and Kevin B. Lee
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March 21, 2012 11:59 AM
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Video

This video essay links an under-seen 1967 American independent film with the current wave of reality TV and video blogs that pervade contemporary culture.

By Volker Pantenburg and Kevin B. Lee
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March 20, 2012 8:57 AM
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Video

A sampling of exemplary works from the emerging genre of online video essays on cinema. What better way to kick off the series than with an opening credit sequence, unpacked in such a way that can only be done via video essay?