This exercise is used to re-familiarize video essayists with your media object.

Download the pdf.

Watch embodied supercut exercise examples here.

Prompt: What is embodiment? How does embodiment manifest in your project? Based on your understanding of and interest in embodiment, create a supercut from your media object(s) that communicates embodiment.

Supercut: a form of remix that condenses a particular media object from a viewer/maker’s perspective and bias into a shorter version using the same media object, or a series of media objects that are somehow related. Supercuts often note patterns within a media object.

Consider: This prompt is purposefully broad and offers no academic reading list or reference. It relies on your understanding of embodiment.

How do you define embodiment? How does this definition change in relation to your media object? How/does the repetition of instances of embodiment communicate your intent? If you refuse the prompt of the supercut, how will you represent embodiment in your project?

Restrictions

• 30 seconds to 1-minute.
• Do not separate sound from image in clips.
• Light sound editing permitted between 1 clip and another.
• Do not add additional sound.
• Do not add visual effects.
• You may use onscreen text.
• No temporal effects: do not manipulate the speed of your footage.
• You may work with more than one media object.

This exercise was devised by Dayna McLeod. It was commissioned by ‘Embodying the Video Essay’ workshop hosted at Bowdoin College, July 2023, a collaboration between The University of British Columbia, Bowdoin College, University of Leeds, University of Rochester, and the University of St. Andrews, which was funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Connection grant.