Chapter 20 Exercises

Exercise 20.1 — Vid Analysis (Individual, Writing)

Find a fan vid on YouTube or a dedicated vidding archive (try the AO3 Fanvids category or Dreamwidth vidding communities) and write a 600–800 word close analysis of it as a creative argument. Your analysis should address:

  • What argument is the vid making about its source text, character(s), or theme?
  • How does the music choice support or complicate that argument?
  • Provide at least two specific examples of clip choices that generate meaning through their relationship to the music (lyrics, rhythm, emotional register, or all three)
  • Does the vid use what the chapter calls "productive dissonance"? If so, where?
  • How would you evaluate the vid's success as an argument?

Submit the URL of the vid alongside your analysis.

Exercise 20.2 — Platform Audit (Individual, Research)

Choose one fan video platform (YouTube, TikTok, Tumblr, or Twitter/X) and spend one hour specifically observing how that platform handles fan video content. Document:

  • What kinds of fan video content are you finding? (AMVs, vids, fancams, fan trailers, fan films, etc.)
  • Are there visible signs of Content ID action or copyright notices on any videos?
  • Do creators modify their content to avoid copyright enforcement (audio replacements, credits disclaimers, etc.)?
  • What is the apparent geographic availability of the content you are finding?

Write a 400–600 word observational report. Compare your findings to at least one other student's findings from a different platform.

Exercise 20.3 — The Cassette Network (Group, Discussion/Research)

Working in groups of three to four, research one of the following pre-internet fan creative distribution networks:

  • Trek fan convention vid distribution in the 1980s
  • The zine circuit in science fiction fandom
  • AMV competition at anime conventions before YouTube
  • Fan film distribution via early internet (1995–2004)

Using whatever sources you can find (fan wikis, oral history projects, academic sources), reconstruct how work circulated, who had access, and how community norms developed around that distribution method. Present your findings in a 10-minute group discussion: how does pre-internet circulation compare to contemporary platform-based distribution?

You are the legal team for a fan vidder who has received a Content ID strike removing a 4-minute vid from YouTube. The vid uses:

  • Footage from a streaming series (licensed by a major studio)
  • Music by a major-label pop artist
  • A brief clip from a press conference (arguably fair use as news footage)

The vid's argument is explicitly critical/analytical: it uses the footage and music to critique the series's treatment of a marginalized character group. Write a 500–700 word letter disputing the Content ID claim on fair use grounds. Use the four fair use factors as your framework. What is your strongest argument? What is your weakest?

Exercise 20.5 — Fancam Deconstruction (Individual, Media Analysis)

Find a K-pop fancam (search TikTok or YouTube for "[artist name] fancam" from a major performer). Watch it at least three times. Write a 400–500 word analysis of its production craft:

  • What editing choices create the sense of highlight and emphasis?
  • How does the music choice relate to the visual content?
  • What specific technical elements (color grading, transition types, moment selection) stand out?
  • How does this fancam function as a form of fan advocacy — what argument, if any, does it make about the performer?

Compare your chosen fancam to the chapter's description of Mireille and TheresaK's fancam production practice. Does your fancam fit that description?

Exercise 20.6 — AMV Aesthetics (Individual, Creative)

Without necessarily making a video (though you may if you choose), design an AMV concept paper for an anime series you know well. Your paper should include:

  • The anime series and the music track you would use
  • The argument your AMV would make
  • A rough "storyboard" description: which scenes/moments from the anime, placed where in the song, making what contribution to the argument
  • A discussion of what you would do to avoid simply "illustrating the lyrics" — how would you create productive dissonance?
  • A 200-word reflection: does designing this AMV give you insight into the form that simply watching AMVs did not?

Choose one of the following fan films and research its legal and production history:

  • Star Wars: Revelations (2005)
  • Star Trek: Axanar (2016) — Note: this film resulted in actual litigation; research the case
  • Batman: Dead End (2003)
  • Troops (1997)

Write a 600–800 word group analysis addressing: What was the legal status of this production? Did it receive any official response from the rights-holder? What does this case reveal about the legal gray zone that fan films occupy? Would you say this film is "fair use"? Why or why not?

Exercise 20.8 — Community Comparison (Individual, Writing)

Compare the vidding community's development of critical vocabulary (as described in Section 20.2) with the development of critical vocabulary in another creative community you are familiar with — this could be literary fiction, visual art, music performance, or another fan creative community. What does the comparison suggest about how creative communities develop shared aesthetic standards? What institutional structures (if any) support that development in each community? Write 500–700 words.