Like audio examples, video examples are forms of evidence, and can be a great way to help your reader follow arguments about operas, films, and performances.
Making Audio and Video Examples with Hijack, Fission, and Camtasia
- Choose from the viewing resources listed here, or get a DVD from the College library. In certain cases (e.g., ethnographic material or a video hosted by an organization like the Curtis Institute or the Philadelphia Orchestra), you might need to draw content from elsewhere. Discuss such exceptions with your professor.
Otherwise, for the sake of accuracy, accessibility, and copyright compliance, do not use YouTube or any other non-listed service in a music essay at Haverford.
- Capture a still or moving image from the streaming service or DVD. Be sure to include only the necessary content. To capture still images, use the screen-shot function on your device, cropping as needed. You can use Camtasia editing software quite effectively for this on the Music Library Mac computers.
- Label the resulting example file as LASTNAME_CLASS_EX# (e.g., FREEDMAN_229_EX3.jpg). If it’s a still image, your example must be a JPEG, TIFF, or PDF file. If it’s a moving image, your example must be an MP4 file.
- If you haven’t already done so for this essay, create an example folder in Google Drive (HC) or OneDrive (BMC), labeled as LASTNAME_CLASS_EXAMPLES (e.g., FREEDMAN_229_EXAMPLES).
- If you haven’t already done so, set your example folder sharing so that anyone with the link may view its contents.
- Upload your image or video example file to your example folder.
- Add a parenthetical reference to the example at the appropriate point in your essay. Be sure to include a time-reference. Unlike audio example timings, which are based on the run-time of a specific track, video example timings are based on the full run-time of the production. Acquire the unique URL of your example file and turn the parenthetical reference into a link:
Video Example 4. In Act I, Scene 5 of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Papageno’s character has had his mouth locked such, and so the singer must manage to hum their way through the ensemble, to hysterical effect (Video Example 4, 29:40-30:05)
- If you haven’t already done so, establish a list of examples at the end of your essay. See the rules for such citations elsewhere in this guide.
List of Video Examples
Video Example 4. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Die Zauberflöte, Act I, Scene 5, Joana Mallwit, Conductor, Vienna Philharmonic and Salzburg Festival Production, Unitel 2022, 29:40-30:05.
Some claims benefit from the support of both a score excerpt and an audio or video segment. When one example supplements another, construct your parenthetical reference as follows:
Jarrett’s arpeggios in the opening of the prelude are especially lyrical (Ex. 1 with Ex. 2, 00:00–00:06).
Although they illustrate the same point, the two examples are numbered and cited separately:
List of Examples
Johann Sebastian Bach, Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, vol. 1 (Leipzig: Peters, 1963), 7.
Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Keith Jarrett, ECM, 1988, disc 1, track 2, 00:00–00:05.