Not all video essays serve an analytical purpose. Not all are made by film scholars or by film critics. There is a large and lively contingent of film fans who profess their love for the movies in fan edits.

The fan edit is a video that doesn’t strive (or pretend) to offer any critical insight. These fan videos are merely an audiovisual expression of their maker’s love for (or dissatisfaction with) the subject matter. Often these fan edits use the mash-up or supercut format: these visual strategies seem to best reflect the obsessive fascination that we associate with fan culture. But fan edits come in many different guises, and serve different purposes. There are numerous subgenres, from the FanFix via Extended Editions to the FanMix.

However, the best of these fan edits may well offer insights that make them worthy of the moniker video essay. But in any case, the vitality of this fan community and the dedication that goes into these edits is admirable.

The best place to start exploring this format is the website www.fanedit.org

There are so many examples of fan edits floating around the internet that this format even has its own alternative to IMDB, aptly called Internet Fanedit Database or IFDB. This database also has a useful glossary for the newbie.