RESEARCH: Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis

‘Experiencing Music: Aesthetics and Cultural Context – 2004, Summary

Carol Vernallis studies editing and camerawork in music videos.

In her studies, Vernallis observed that edits in music videos comes much more frequently than in films. She notes that many of these music videos tend to be of a disjuncture form and that the editing appears to have a rhythmic basis closely related to the song.

The main points of Vernallis’ studies are:

• The usual rules of ‘continuity’ editing (usually seen in broadcast fiction) are broken to draw attention to what is on the screen
• Edits may be really obvious, again to draw attention
• Jump cuts are used regularly
• A base track/master shot is frequently used to give the video structure
• And the camera may move in time with the music

Examples:

• An example of a music video that uses obvious edits is Bang Bang Bang by Mark Ronson & The Business Intl

This video uses edits in high-quality way. The addition of the space like features, with the spark of lights pointed out of the fingers at the ‘bang bang bang’ it gives the music video a different  element to that of broadcast television. There are also various wipes, sped up motions (when the music gets faster) and elements of slow motion towards the end.

• An example of a mucsic video that uses a master shot (base track) to give the video structure is Dani California by Red Hot Chilli Peppers

In this video various base tracks are used to imitate the artists as others performing on stage from different genres, the mise en scene is used highly to create this effect which makes a very good video.

• An example of a music video where the camera moves in time with the music is Wings by Little Mix

In this video the camera and actions moves in time with the music and the beat of the music, to give the video an upbeat feel.