The thing about Jason’s essay (which I think is fantastic) is that it is not especially insightful or cinematically literate. There are very few discussions of the jargon of the craft, or the outlying context of Playtime, or really any of the deeper disciplines of creating movies.
But what it does do is use the form of the video essay in such a succinct and absorbing way. Jason’s editing is sharp and gives you the sense that his excitable voice is commanding the images swiftly shifting before you. Take the introduction of the first shot, where Jason uses editing in multiple ways to communicate the atmosphere of the movie.
We first are shown some rote footage of a few classic films. Then, when we cut to our main subject, it is cropped to the smallest fragment of the screen. Then the cropping retracts, bringing into focus this expansive and bustling frame, accompanied with the sound of a mechanic lens zooming out, and Jason’s commentary on the effect of the shot. The combination of these aspects of the medium, edited in such fast succession, create this immediate effect of understanding.
A similar effect is achieved at 4:54- Jason’s language becomes breathless as he describes this scene, and these descriptions punctuate cuts of different scenarios, all while the sounds and music grow more frantic. Then, at 4:54, all of that cuts out to emphasize the sudden passage of time. While Jason is not delving into some impenetrable subtext or element of craft, he is invoking the message of the film that is not outright stated to the viewer. The layered editing of the essay keeps the audience invested and, most importantly, following the threads of logic Jason wants them to.
Jason uses the essay to sweep us up in his passion and share with us the boundless ideas Playtime is brimming with that the audience might never have came upon themselves.