Summary of the Main Points of Carol Vernallis’s Theory

Carol Vernallis Experiencing Music Video:

Aesthetics and Cultural Context (2004) Columbia University Press

Carol Vernallis studied editing and camerawork closely in music videos. She observed that edits in music videos come much more frequently than in film.

The main points of her observations are summarised here:

-  Many edits stand out as disjuncture

- Editing seems to have a rhythmic basis closely connected to the song (cuts are in time with the beat)

- The usual rules of ‘continuity’ editing 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 (follows the artist / not static)

A good example of a music video which supports Vernallis’s theory is Little Mix – Wings.

This is because through out the music video the camera is constantly moving in time with the music as well as the cuts / edits that stand out being in time with the beat of the song. Also there are 10 visible base tracks where jump cuts and obvious editing such as special effects and split screens have been shown.

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