Carol Vernallis' Theory

Carol Vernallis

• She studied editing and camerawork, specifically within music videos.
• She recognised that edits in music videos occur much more frequently than in film.
• Many edits in music videos stand out as disjuncture.
• They also seem to have a rhythmic basis closely connected to the song.

Carol Vernallis' Main Observations

• The usual rules of continuity editing (editing usually found in classic broadcast fiction) are broken in order to draw attention to what is on screen.
• Edits may be really obvious to draw attention to themselves, such as wipes and special effects added.
• Jump cuts are often used.
• A master shot (base track) is frequently used to give the video a structure.
• The camera may move in time with the music.

Example of Jump Cut

Rizzle Kicks - Lost Generation

As you can see, these images are examples of a jump cut (within the video at approximately 02:56) as they are convey an abrupt transitions in action and movement within the same scene.

Example of Slow Motion

Mark Ronson & The Business Intl - The Bike Song

At approximately 3:36, the women on the bikes are shown for the first time on screen in slow motion. This has the effect of emphasising the men's infatuation with these women, portraying the females as objects, merely for the visual pleasure of the male. This is done with the intention of attracting a male audience as they also enjoy looking at the women. 

Example of Special Effects in Editing

Mark Ronson & The Business Intl - The Bike Song

At the beginning of the video (0:09), credits are shown which were made through special effects in post-production. The use of credits in music videos is slowly becoming more common for the purpose of increasing publicity through the name of the artist and title of the song being included through editing.

Example of a Base Track

Rizzle Kicks - Lost Generation

Throughout the music video, the 'Big Brother' scene is used as a base track as it was filmed from one shot/angle all the way throughout the video. However, it was edited in post-production by editing out parts of the shot that were not needed.