Approach: How to Study a Vid

Abstract

A vid offers more than just access to the specific interpretive work of the person who created it. The vid is a robust and complete form that is capable of withstanding analysis independent of detailed knowledge of either the source material or the vidder’s own interpretive motives/ beliefs. This chapter discusses the approach to textual analysis taken in Fanvids and reveals what can be learned from studying vids as texts unto themselves. This chapter also explores canon formation in television/ media studies and how this can apply to studying a marginal form. This chapter finishes with a discussion of the canons of vids that are formed through fan convention programming.