Carol Vernallis's Theory

How Have We Used Her Theory In Our Music Video?

About Carol Vernallis

• Carol Vernallis studied editing and camerawork within music videos.
• She found that edits occur much more frequently in music videos than in film.
• Many of the edits in music video appear as disjuncture and seem to have a rhythmic basis closely connected to the song. 

Carol Vernallis's Main Ideas

• The usual rules of 'continuity' editing tend to be broken in order to draw attention to what is on screen.
• Edits are made very blatant and obvious, e.g. the use of wipes, dissolves and special effects, in order to draw attention to themselves and the content of the music video.
• Jump cuts are used.
• Base tracks are frequently used which provides a clear structure for the music video.
• The camera may move in time with the music.

How Have We Applied Her Theory To Our Music Video?

In our music video, we have applied multiple different ideas and editing techniques that Vernallis had highlighted. For example, we included obvious edits which draw attention to themselves and make the music video appear more interesting and eye catching as a whole.

This is a shot that captures the transition of a dissolve during our music video from an over-the-shoulder shot, to a close up shot of the artist.

Another Way?

We also use a jump cut within our music video which is an abrupt transition in the same scene.

This is an example of the clear jump cut in our shot that overlooks London. This shot was used to highlight the artist's feelings of melancholy and loneliness as his partner left him. We decided to use a jump cut here to make this shot more visually interesting to the audience.

Another Way?

We also use multiple base-tracks in our music video which has given us a solid rhythm and base which we can build upon by including more shots that we have filmed.

This shot is from one of many base-tracks in which we have filmed. The photo from Final Cut Pro shows the extra long bar at the bottom which is the base-track.

Another Way?

We also use slow motion within our music video in order to highlight the atmosphere of anguish and melancholy as the artist breaks down after his partner leaves him. Slow motion is commonly used within music videos as it is visually interesting and eye catching to watch. It is also good at highlighting and emphasising the emotion displayed on screen.