Video Critique Assignment
If you enjoy watching movies, you would probably enjoy writing a critical analysis of a movie or video. Critical analysis is a form of writing in which the author evaluates or critiques the work.
The work that is critiqued or evaluated can be a film, an essay, a book, a painting or any other creative work. The aim of writing a critical analysis is to enhance the understanding of the work by the reader or viewer. Following the steps below, compose your video critique in a Word document using MLA format. Write in your own words and in complete sentences. The assignment requires you to write four paragraphs. Each paragraph should follow our guidelines for writing a great paragraph (see the Paragraph module in the Course Documents section of Blackboard). This means that each paragraph should have a minimum of
five sentences to be acceptable (i.e. a topic sentence, a closing sentence, and at
least three detailed sentences in the middle). Every sentence should be complete
(with a subject and an action/verb), not just a fragment or a phrase. A strong, healthy
paragraph will contain more than five complete sentences. If you quote from the
video, make sure to use a signal phrase to introduce the quote and “double
quotation marks.” (See examples below for tips.)
How to write an analysis of a video step by step…
Your analysis will have two major aspects: studying the video and critiquing it.

Step 1: Watch the video “Why Not Eat Insects?”
At this step, you watch the video in order to understand it. To watch the video critically implies  that you must watch it as much as you need to in order to understand it and to take notes while
watching it. If you are watching the video using a computer, rewind and pause to understand important parts of the video.
Step 2: Engage with the video critically.
At this step, start engaging critically with the video that you want to analyze. This is very important because it will enable you to come up with a strong video critique. Identify the purpose of the video; that is the concept or theme that dominates the video. You can also think about how the video was filmed/photographed; how images, charts or graphs were used to make points; how a sequence in the video relates to a broader concept; how the video relates to a past event of history; how the video presents facts; how the presenter delivered the message (i.e. posture, gesture, expressiveness, eye contact, using notes, speaking loud enough so all can hear, etc.). Make sure you identify the purpose of the video and its message.
Step 3: Outline your critical analysis.
Writing a basic outline will help you to present your video critique in a more organized way.
Create headings for the four different sections of your analysis which will eventually become the four paragraphs of your video critique: 1) the introduction, 2) summary, 3) analysis, and 4) conclusion. Under each heading, list the ideas that you thought about during Step 2 that match
the focus of that heading. Try to list at least three points under each heading so you have enough to write about in each section. Add new points to complete your outline, as the ideas come to you.
Step 4: Paragraph #1: Introduce the video.
In this step, you start the actual writing by introducing the video that you are analyzing critically and the major participants in it. Among the participants that you can introduce at this step are the film director and the actors (if known), or, in this case, the host/presenter (i.e. Marcel Dicke).
You can also include the date the video was produced (Dec., 1, 2010), the producer (TED video podcast), and the publication platform (YouTube). You can introduce the subject and the purpose of the video (the main idea or theme), and describe the format and delivery method
used (i.e. a video podcast in front of a live audience using a PowerPoint presentation and live demonstrations to support the talk).
Step 5: Paragraph #2: Write the video story overview or summary.
In this step, provide an overview of the video story in a brief manner. Describe the beginning, middle (content), and end. What happens in the video? What topics are discussed and in what order are they discussed? What is shared or shown? Think “TV Guide summary” when writing this paragraph.
Step 6: Paragraph #3: Write the analysis.
Start writing the analysis section with the video at hand. If possible, have the video up in a window on the computer close to you. Avoid relying on your memory. Re–watch the video, start and pause it, as necessary, while you write the analysis. This is because it is difficult to memorize all the points, video techniques, and narration, after playing the video. Therefore,
make sure that you have easy access to the video while writing your critical analysis.
In this section, you tell readers what you liked and what you did not like about the video. It is okay to use personal pronouns like “I” or “me” in this assignment. Provide an explanation for your ideas by citing specific examples from the video. Additionally, identify the goal of the video
and whether it accomplished it. Your analysis should focus on determining whether the video is understandable, focused, organized, interesting, properly concluded, authentic, clear and meeting its purpose, among others. Your discussion should be very specific (using vivid details) and supported by evidence from the video.
Step 7: Paragraph #4: Write the conclusion.
In the conclusion paragraph, end your critical analysis by summarizing the main ideas that you discussed in paragraphs #1–3. However, use new words. Consider using a dictionary, a thesaurus, or a synonym finder. End the conclusion with an effective “call to action” in response
to the video’s purpose. This call to action can vary depending on your critique and personal opinion. You may call for the reader to eat insects, or not to eat insects, or to adopt vegetarianism, or to eat meat but avoid insects, or to share the video and ask people to stay open to thinking about the issue of feeding the world in the future, or to find recipes using
insects, or to learn how to cook insects, or something else entirely.
TIPS for sharing examples or quoting from the video:
A good critique uses examples and quotes to support your analysis. When you use “quotes” from the video in order to support your response, remember to introduce a quote with a signal phrase and to use “double quotation marks around the direct quote.” Examples from the video should include a signal phrase too. See the samples below to get inspired!
Sample phrases to introduce a quote or evidence from the video:
The presenter said, “Direct quote here …”
The presenter stated, “Direct quote here…”
According to the video…state the example.
The video stated, “Quote here.”
In the video, it said, “Quote here.”
One example from the video is…state example.
From the video, I know that…state example.
Based on what I saw…state example.
In the video, I noticed…state example.
_____ because in the video…
For instance, …
For example, .