Carol Vernallis's Theory

Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context

Carol Vernallis studied editing and camerawork in music videos, she observed the edits in the music videos come more frequently than in films and stand out to be a disjuncture, which seems to have a rhythmic basis closely connected to the song.

She also notices that:

·         The usual rules of continuity editing that would be found in videos or film is broken purposely to draw attention to what is on the screen.

·         Edit may be made really obvious to draw attention to the edits themselves, For example, wipe, special effects and jump cuts.

·         She also notes that music videos use a base track editing in which helps music videos have a structure

·         Also, the camera may move in time with the music.

Carol Vernallis theory and the elements she discusses can be found in many music videos:

Jump Cuts:

Jennifer Lopez – On The Floor Ft Pitbull:

  
Special Effects:

 Michael Jackson – Leave me Alone

Use of base tracks in the edit :

Lady Gaga - Born this way

This music video out of the three is a very obvious example that illustrates all the points that Vernallis had about music videos. A lot of editing is used, the special effects are used often at the start of the video, this draw attention to the audience as they are very obvious. Jump cuts are also used regularly. The main base track is mostly used through out the video to give it a structure, where all the dancing is shown.