footage from the Real Housewives of Dubai (2022)

Exercise #3: epigraphs

I started the semester using footage from the Real Housewives of Dubai (RHODU). I have a strong inclination for reality television and it’s fast paced editing. Using this as inspiration for the epigraph exercise, I wanted to created a similar sensation of fast-paced, continuity editing. The sequence came first, then the music, and finally the text. In the end, these elements came together to create a style that I continue to push throughout the rest of the semester.

footage from the Real Housewives of Dubai (2022)

Exercise #4: multiscreen

Using the momentum from week 3, I decided to continue to use fast-paced editing only this time with multiscreen. The RHODU centers the lives of women of color as a part of the main cast. I wanted to see how my peers’ source materials were treating women. I used footage from Interstellar (2014), Arrival (2016), and Midsommar (2019). The result of this exploration was this video exercise that uses multiscreen to compare and contrast the representation of women in 21st century American television and film.

footage from the Real Housewives of Dubai (2022)

Exercise #6: desktop documentary

Opting to use my phone as my screen instead of a desktop, I decided to continue my exploration of women’s representation in television specifically how Americans view, treat, and value Black women in mainstream pop culture. This time around, I decided to use voiceover to guide the viewer through my thinking process in making the exercise itself. In this way, this video essay uses a slower pacing that is different from my first two video exercises.  Using the limit of a smaller screen but the limitless nature of the internet, this video essay explores the cost of representation for black women in reality tv and the greater internet culture..

The Queen: Nicki Minaj

Video Response: Super Nicki

I responded to sackhub’s YouTube video essay on Nicki Minaj, her femininity, and her role in a male dominated hip hop. In many ways, this video response is a culmination of my semester’s research of the treatment of black women in modern culture. Using Nicki Minaj as my case study, I created a video essay reflecting the excellence that Nicki Minaj represents. This video highlights the important work that Nicki has done and continues to do for our culture. In so many ways, Nicki Minaj is under-appreciative, like many black women in the US. This video serves to celebrate a legend in our lifetime because this is Nicki’s world and we are all just living in it.

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Final Response: Let the racing begin!

For my final assignment, I connected the themes of black women’s representation in reality tv to my own life as a gay man of color. I am from generation X, born 1999, so I grew up watching America’s Next Top Model (2003-2018). I was part of the fandom that made the show a hit for over a decade on the CW. AMTN set the groundwork for Rupaul’s Drag Race (2009- Present). Rupaul and Drag Race have found an unmatched level of success to that of ANTM and Tyra Banks. Yet, this video essay finds that both tv shows helped create a new wave of gay tv programming that we wish our younger selves could have grown up watching.