Overview

An essential guide to writing about a broad range of media objects – including film, television, social media, advertising, video games, mobile media, music videos, and digital media – in an equally broad range of formats – from essays and video essays to podcasts and playlists. This second edition has been updated to address new digital tools and resources, including generative AI. The book’s case studies showcase media studies’ geographical and industrial breadth, with essays covering topics as varied as: Brazilian telenovelas, K-pop music videos, global streaming services, film festivals, and archives. New chapters on writing about AI-enhanced media, digital media fandoms, and immersive media experiences expand the book’s scope. With the expertise of over forty esteemed media scholars, the collection combines their personal reflections about writing with practical advice. Through its unprecedented scope, this volume will engage not only those who may be writing about film and other screen media for the first time but also accomplished writers who are interested in exploring new screen media objects, new approaches to writing about media, and new formats for critical expression. Accompanying instructor resources, including sample syllabi, are available at www.writingaboutscreenmedia.net

Full Product Details

Author:   Lisa Patti (Hobart and William Smith Colleges, USA)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Edition:   2nd edition
ISBN:  

9781032933771

ISBN 10:   1032933771
Pages:   316
Publication Date:   09 July 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

Table of Contents

List of figures List of contributors Acknowledgements Part I Strategies for writing about screen media Lisa Patti 1. Introduction (Still) learning to write about screen media How to read this book In practice: Write your (writing) autobiography – Keep a journal – Accept invitations to experiment with your writing 2. Writing practices: How to begin writing about screen media Framing Curating Collaborating Step-by-step spotlight: Peer review In practice: Think like a programmer – Think like a designer – Think like an editor 3. Entering the conversation: How to develop a critical argument Thinking with others: Arguing Thinking on the page: Free writing Structuring your argument: Outlines Step-by-step spotlight: Outlining your argument Telling a story: Evidence Setting the scene: Introductions Step-by-step spotlight: Analyzing introductions Making a last(ing) impression: Conclusions In practice: Write a blurb – Write a new ending – Write a script 4. From notebook to network: How to use practical and digital writing tools Reading Watching Writing Citing Generating In practice: Search without a search engine – Create a commonplace book – Show your work (of art) 5. Elements of screen style: How to write about screen media form Notes Step-by-step spotlight: Drafting screening questions Texts Step-by-step spotlight: Reading a screen media text Contexts Resources In practice: Make GIFs – Make an audio commentary – Make an audio playlist – Make a video essay playlist Part II Writers on writing about screen media Objects and events 6. Writing about transnational cinema: Crazy Rich Asians Olivia Khoo 7. Capturing moments: Writing about film festivals as events Kirsten Stevens 8. Writing about experimental cinema: Andy Warhol’s Empire (1964) Glyn Davis 9. From meaning to effect: Writing about archival footage Jaimie Baron 10. Making the absent present: Writing about nonextant media Allyson Nadia Field 11. Expressing race in Brazilian telenovelas Jasmine Mitchell 12. Writing about music video: Tracing the ephemeral Carol Vernallis 13. Writing across divides: Locating power in K-pop music videos S. Heijin Lee 14. Playing to write: Analyzing video games TreaAndrea M. Russworm and Jennifer Malkowski 15. When it all clicks: Writing about participatory media Lauren S. Berliner 16. Feeling out social media Julie Wilson and Emily Chivers Yochim 17. “A Very Black Project”: A method for digital visual culture Lauren McLeod Cramer 18. Writing about transnational media: From representation to materiality Fan Yang 19. Writing about digital and interactive media Dale Hudson and Patricia R. Zimmermann 20. (Un)limited mobilities Rahul Mukherjee 21. Context is key: How (and why) you should write about outdoor advertising Beth Corzo-Duchardt Methods and locations 22. How sound helps tell a story: Sound, music, and narrative in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara Nilanjana Bhattacharjya 23. Writing outside the text: A cultural approach to exhibition and moviegoing Jasmine Nadua Trice 24. Writing about streaming portals: The drama of distribution Ramon Lobato 25. Analyzing and writing about credit sequences Monika Mehta 26. “We are not thinking frogs”: The archive, the artifact, and the task of the film historian Katherine Groo 27. Show me the data!: Uncovering the evidence in screen media industry research Bronwyn Coate and Deb Verhoeven 28. Researching and writing across media industries Derek Johnson 29. The value of surprise: Ethnography of media industries Tejaswini Ganti 30. Listen up!: Interviewing as method Alicia Kozma 31. The need for translation: Difference, footnotes, hyperlinks Tijana Mamula Forms and formats 32. Words and more: Strategies for writing about and with media Virginia Kuhn 33. Best practices for screen media podcasting Christine Becker and Kyle Wrather 34. Confessions of an academic blogger Henry Jenkins 35. The research and the remix: Video essays as creative criticism Jeffrey Romero Middents 36. Foregrounding the invisible: Notes on the video essay review Chiara Grizzaffi 37. Review, edit, repeat: Writing and editing book reviews Alice Leppert 38. Extracurricular scholarship: “Writing” my audio commentary of Losing Ground Terri Francis 39. The short, sweet art of blurb writing Leah Shafer 40. Bridging the gaps between scholarly essays and mass-market film writing Nick Davis 41. Writing across the page without a line Holly Willis Vantage points 42. The algorithm strikes back: Writing about generative AI Bridget Kies 43. Hidden faces and digital affect: Writing about online fandoms Osarugue Otebele 44. Documenting immersive media experiences with ArcGIS Storymaps Melanie Kohnen

Reviews

Author Information

Lisa Patti is Associate Professor of Media and Society at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She is the editor of Writing About Screen Media; co-editor (with Tijana Mamula) of The Multilingual Screen: New Reflections on Cinema and Linguistic Difference; and co-author (with Glyn Davis, Kay Dickinson, and Amy Villarejo) of Film Studies: A Global Introduction.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions