In honor of Twin Peaks Day, I’m reposting this video essay I made on the series last spring. Enjoy, and please feel free to share any feedback!

For my final project for CTCS 587: Television Theory, a graduate Cinema & Media Studies course at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, I elected to do a video essay on Twin Peaks.

In “Exploring ‘Twin Peaks'” I take a brief look at the production history of the series, as well as the show’s hybridization of genres. Because this was my first attempt at creating a video essay it certainly has its issues – but despite some technical and conceptual roadblocks, I truly enjoyed working on this project. In retrospect, I realize that I underestimated the amount of effort video essays require. From conducting research, to writing a script, recording voiceover, gathering clips, and assembling them into a cohesive format – it’s quite a time-consuming undertaking! All in all, I’d describe making a video essay as a labor-intensive, but immensely fun endeavor.

I’m interested in exploring the video essay genre further, so any constructive criticism or feedback is welcomed.

Incase you’re interested, here are the research materials I used for the project:

• Short, Sue. Cult Telefantasy Series: A Critical Analysis of The Prisoner, Twin Peaks, the X-files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, heroes, Doctor Who and Star Trek. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2011. Print.
• Halskov, Andreas. TV Peaks: Twin Peaks and Modern Television Drama. Odense: University of Southern Denmark, 2015. Print.