Dr. Dexter Thomas, Emmy- and Pulitzer-winning documentarian and journalist, held a residency at Colby in the Spring of 2025 which he created a suite of resources for students to guide them when they’re assigned to make a video essay. Below are Dexter’s easy-to-follow modules, that you can use to design video essay assignments and share this with your students. 

Start by watching this introductory video by Dexter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuOI-jQjiPk

this is very meta (not in a zuckerberg way)

if you're curious as to what a video essay could look like, here's a quick one. Think you can do better? I think so too!

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C45vCR_unUo

We'll be breaking down some elements of this video in the next modules, so if something stuck out to you, you might see it pop up again!

the one thing I can't really help you with. don't miss the template!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH1lXYNTdpo 

And, as promised, here’s the template (this link will prompt you to make a copy - go for it!). Have fun!

the technical, and ...the personal. Or, how interviewing is like a chainsaw.

...if you have no plans of interviewing anyone in your video essay, you can safely skip this one. But, if you've ever wondered how journalists approach interviews, here's some insight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iW6T-Jy82M

got a phone? you've got a camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyln7-XDkT0

the most important part of video, believe it or not

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkjXKS78sYY

don't be fake. be fake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5RctrzfnNw

seems simple, but it's a good idea to think about it early!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pugz5l1kx2w

the most boring page, but also the one that is gonna save you a lot of tears

this one is fairly straightforward, and is largely covered in other sessions, but the gist is:

1. make sure you're using Google Drive to store everything.

2. did you know you can sync Google Drive with your computer? You can, and for this project, you might want to consider it! This is mostly relevant for the person who is doing the editing.

3. after you finish filming for the day, offload everything into your Google Drive, and label every single file.

4. First word should be the type of video, eg PTC for Piece to Camera, BROLL for b-roll, ARCH for archival, etc.

5. second word should be a quick description of where/what it is.

6. third phrase is a set of numbers: the date and time in military time: YYYY-MM-DD at HHMM.

7. So, for example, a PTC you filmed at the library might be something like this: PTC library - 2025-03-35 at 1130. B-roll of repairing a device would be BROLL repair - 2025-03-22 at 1545.

8. want to see an example of this in action? Check the editing module.

get a snack and some soda. oh, and your laptop. this one is gonna take a while!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAPu0s1yYcA

Here is the free download for CapCut. Note that there is a paid Pro version, but there's no reason to buy that. We're using the free version!

If you'd like to try editing along with me, you can download the source videos! Here are materials. Download the files in this folder.

 let's make this a little less scary, shall we?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJxWSIpAcNA

I know that you (yes, you!) are going to make something incredible, and I can't wait to watch it.