MEDIA OBJECTIVE
Create an authorial Telegram media platform focused on photography, film, and music videos that helps viewers understand the connection between visual execution, feeling, and meaning. The goal is to transform our visual literacy—from passively accumulating references—into a tool for visual thinking and creative practice.
MEDIA THEMES.
Telegram channel focused on visual language in film, photography, and music videos.Segment — media covering visual culture. Topics — film, photography, music videosNiche focus — analyzing specific images by asking: why does this image evoke a particular feeling, and what creates that sensation? Light, color, composition, space, movement, time, and mise-en-scène become tools for examining the image.At the core of every piece is a specific, authorial observation of a particular image.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS.
First, I looked for competitors among Russian-language and international Telegram channels, YouTube projects, and media covering photography, cinema, and visual culture in general.
The main selection criterion was that the project needed to publish not just visual content, but also an author’s selection, analysis, and interpretation of the material.
I divided the competitors into three groups:
Direct — closely related in topic, format, and audience. Indirect — tackle the same goal of developing visual literacy and understanding visual language, but they do so in a different format or on a different platform. Potential — educational and cultural projects with a relevant audience, experts, and resources for creating one’s own media on the topic.Comparison Criteria:
1. What the media discusses. 2. The importance of authorial selection. 3. Whether image analysis is present. 4. What formats are used. 5. How the visual material is presented. 6. Tone of voice. 7. How the project engages with its audience and utilizes the platform.THREE MAIN COMPETITORS:
dazed and amazed
Polina Varfolomeeva’s Telegram channel dedicated to music videos, directors, visual discoveries, and her own professional practice.Intersection: music videos, cinema, directing, visual solutions, and a strong authorial presence.Strength: Readers come not just for specific works, but for the personality behind them.Distinction: A more systemic analysis of imagery, extending the scope beyond music videos and film into photography.f/64
A Telegram channel about visual culture: photography, cinema, fashion, contemporary art, music, and architecture.Intersections: photography and cinema, developing visual literacy, visual culture, authorial/editorial curation.Strength: a broad cultural context and high-quality selection of artists, series, and visual phenomena.Distinction: f/64 often starts from the author, the series, or the cultural phenomenon. In my project, the starting point is a specific image and the question of why it evokes a particular feeling.
Viewing and Seeing
A Telegram channel about cinematic language, directing, and cinematography.
Intersection: attentive viewing, analysis of visual and directorial choices, and developing the ability to comprehend film language.
Strength: Educational function—aiding the viewer in understanding how a film is constructed.
Distinction: The object of study is broader than cinema—photography and music videos are examined alongside filmmaking. The focus is not the work as a whole, but a specific image and the sensation it evokes.
3 INDIRECT COMPETITORS:
Every Frame a Painting
A YouTube project about cinematic language and directing, structured as a video essay.Why it is a competitor: it addresses a similar goal—teaching viewers to watch films more closely and understand how visual decisions create an effect.The difference: the analysis is focused on film and is built through video essays, whereas my project works with individual images and exists on Telegram.The Beauty Of
A YouTube video project with over 700K views dedicated to cinematic excerpts.Why it’s competitive: It engages with cinematic visual literacy and expressive power.
The difference: The project’s primary tool is visual curation. My media imagery is accompanied by original observation and analysis.
MUBI
A curated media outlet focused on cinema, filmmakers, and contemporary film culture.Why it’s a competitor: It competes for the attention of an audience eager to understand film and visual culture more deeply.Distinction: MUBI Notebook primarily features essays, criticism, interviews, and cultural context. My project, however, is built around the analysis of a specific image.POTENTIAL COMPETITORS:
1. Moscow School of Cinema
An educational program with an audience interested in directing, cinematography, and visual language.2. Rodchenko School
A school for photography, video, and contemporary art whose visual audience aligns closely with my project.3. British School of Design
An educational program in the fields of design, fashion, and creative industries with an audience interested in visual culture.Why I view them as potential competitors:
These programs possess a relevant audience, professional expertise, and the infrastructure to create original content about visual language.Findings of the Competitive Analysis
Curatorial selection is a vital component of competitive projects. In f/64, Dazed and Amazed, and «Look and See, ” there is a noticeable proprietary system for selecting material. For my media project, authorial curation also forms the foundation of the content.
Visual language analysis is already utilized as a standalone format. „Look and See“ and Every Frame a Painting build their content around deconstructing visual and directorial choices. This confirms for my project the potential to regularly create publications centered on image analysis.
Competitors often specialize in specific media. Some projects focus on photography, others on film or music videos. In my media project, I examine all three directions as parts of a unified visual language.
The analysis format depends on the platform. Telegram allows for the combination of imagery, brief observations, and detailed text. YouTube projects use editing and frame sequencing as an integral part of the analysis itself.
Authorial presence influences the Tone of Voice. Author-driven channels exhibit a distinct personal voice and professional stance. In my project, I will speak from a first-person perspective, avoiding excessive academic jargon while maintaining a professional framework.
What I Can Borrow:
From f/64: strong selection of visual material and engagement with cultural context. From Dazed and Amazed: pronounced authorial presence and the connection between media and professional practice and author expertise. From «See and See»: clear explanation of complex visual and directorial choices. From Every Frame a Painting: structuring a single piece around one clear visual principle.For my project, I would like to combine these approaches.DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL:
The primary distribution channel is Telegram.
Telegram allows me to combine images, videos, and text within a single post, which makes it ideal for my media. The platform supports working with materials of varying scope: from a brief observation of a single image to a detailed analysis of a series of frames or a scene.
Key Formats:
• Single image analysis • Series of frames • Video • Visual compilations • Short personal observations • Comparison of multiple imagesFor audience engagement, I can utilize reactions, comments, and polls. Initially, I will focus on a single platform to establish a consistent publishing schedule and a unified media format.
TARGET AUDIENCE DESCRIPTION:
Audience Type — B2CI identify four main client segments:1. Photographers and Visual Creators They work with imagery and regularly use references in their own practice.2. Students and Emerging Creators They study photography, film, design, fashion, and other visual disciplines, developing their own visual language.3. Photography and Film Enthusiasts They actively consume visual culture, save interesting works, and want to understand what they see on a deeper level.4. Creative Industry Professionals Producers, creators, stylists, designers, editors, and other specialists who need to work with visual references and discuss them with their teams.
