Submitting a multimedia essay

[Trystero0]

Hi, all –

I apologize in advance if any of my questions are glaringly obvious, but I require gradcafe wisdom on submitting a multimedia essay to PhD programs in English literature and similar disciplines like cultural/media studies. As a point of reference, my essay examines the ideological edifice of two Steve Bannon documentaries, Torchbearer and Generation Zero, and draws on the theoretical framework of S. Žižek's The Sublime Object of Ideology. Such analysis requires that I embed clips from either film as textual evidence, and the platform I decided upon was WordPress, buying my own domain to give a little autonomy to the project. 

To start, how do different PhD programs deal with this type of submission? I'm sure disciplines like media studies have pretty clear-cut protocol for what I'm describing, but I'm not sure how English literature programs might differ, if at all, but they're my main point of interest here, so it'd help to receive as much knowledge as I can on the subject. 

Further, might there be an advantage to briefly describing relevant scenes in my essay, as Žižek so often does, in lieu of embedded clips? On the one hand, this move would streamline the complication by maintaining a purely textual essay; on the other hand, I can't possibly imagine paraphrasing a literary text, e.g. Ulysses, for an entire paper without losing rhetorical effect on some demonstrative level. (Good grief, I never thought I would ever align Joyce and Bannon in a metaphorical capacity – I think I may need an ice-cold shower, or perhaps a holy water blessing from Dr. Buck Mulligan himself.)

If you're so inclined, I also have a few less-pressing questions: 

1) Preferentially, is WordPress the best platform for a multimedia essay such as mine?

2) How does one formalize your page-count with embedded videos, or does this ultimately not matter as much as word-count when submitting to programs?

3) Submitted multimedia essays should preclude peripheral or paratextual content, like expository "About" tabs, right? 

Thanks everyone!

[hj2012]

At least for most interdisciplinary programs (American studies, cultural studies, etc) and English depts, I wouldn't bother with the multimedia essay unless you have an explicit invitation to do so. My advice would be to provide relevant stills for close analysis and enough textual contextualization so that the reader can follow along. Briefly describing the film is probably a good idea. Scholars of Joyce can assume that their audience has read Ulysses. The same can't be said for your subject material. In any case, the ability to succinctly summarize a cultural text while drawing out the features cogent to your analysis is a good skill to showcase, especially if you plan on studying a "less canonical" body of work. 

Just my $.02. 

[Dr. Old Bill]

I simply wouldn't do this. It's possible that some DH programs might be amenable to the idea, but from all we know about how admissions committees are structured, it seems that there's a bit of an assembly line element to the first round -- applications are usually sorted into packets (possibly virtual or physical) and distributed to members of field groups for review, then they reconvene for further vetting etc. When almost all programs stipulate on their application pages that they want documents of a certain length, that's what they're expecting, and what they're equipped to deal with. I'm sure they'd make exceptions for certain legitimate disabilities etc., but unless you're applying specifically to a media studies program, or if there's some English Ph.D. program I don't know about that has flexible application guidelines, trying to put something like this through as a "writing sample" just doesn't seem prudent. Projects like this one are often looked upon quite favorably once you're in a graduate program, but as a means to get in the door, I think it's way too risky in an already high-risk process.

In other words, while there might be some rare exceptions, the probable answer to your question "how do different Ph.D. programs deal with this type of submission" is an unfortunate "they don't."

[orphic_mel528]

Just being frank: no English admissions committee that I know of is going to accept a multimedia essay. Not even programs with strong interdisciplinary mindsets.

The reasons for this are many, but not particularly pertinent to explain because you're not going to get around it. Admissions requirements are what they are because ad coms are comprised of very, very busy people, hence the word limits and strict formatting guidelines. Moreover, they have to standardize the process so that students are judged on as much of an equal footing as possible. If multimedia presentations were desired, they would require it of all students. English programs are primarily concerned with whether you have a strong and specific focus and whether you can appropriately articulate yourself in writing.   

If you are very strongly predisposed to a multimedia approach, I would take that as a sign that you should focus on media studies programs rather than English.  

[Keri]

Chiming in to say I agree with every other poster. I feel that describing the movies briefly and including an extra page for important / contextual stills would probably be better.

[Trystero0]

Hi again, everyone – thanks for the insightful advice. I had a hunch that the whole process would be too cumbersome for most admissions committees, so it's nice to see you all corroborating my suspicions before it was too late. I'll probably paraphrase content from the film in a way not unlike that of Žižek, or perhaps submit an essay more entrenched in standard textual analysis and close-reading. Anyways, I appreciate the responses! 

Edited June 28, 2017 by Trystero0

[EAstudies]

It's not impossible to discuss films without a "multimedia essay." Including films in written analysis without using a "multimedia" method, in fact, is nothing new. Use stills. Lots of critics and theorists incorporate films into their analysis these days, and that's how they do that. If they can do it (and if I can do it), then you can do it too.

[cowgirlsdontcry]

I have used quotes and scenes from movies to emphasize certain things, just as you want to do for Bannon. Quote it! Write it! You own it then. I used John Hillcoat's movie The Road to illustrate things about the woman/wife/mother in the chapter on McCarthy's novel The Road, in my master's thesis. It became my analysis not Hillcoat's. I agree with the others on this. Don't submit such a project as your WS to an English department. You can do this without clips.

Edited July 24, 2017 by cowgirlsdontcry