Carol Vernallis TheoryMolly Robinson

What she is known for

• The theorist named Carol Vernallis is most known for her theories which are based on music editing. There are 4 key concepts in which Vernallis says relate to the ay a music video is made, the four concepts include:• Narrative• Diegesis• Editing• Camera Movement and Framing

Narrative

When Vernallis describes her theory, in the narrative aspects she says that the music video is the visual response of the narrative in the song. This means that the lyrics in the song should effect what is happening on the screen. The narrative might not be completed and may not be complete because there can be disjointed and fragments of different clips. The video might not necessarily have a narrative to move it forward, and instead it could be the music itself which has the narrative or other things in the video could make up for it. If the video is incomplete it can make many questions about the narrative which will not be answered.

Diegesis

‘A narrative or plot, typically in a film’ – Definition

Carol Vernallis explains that diegesis should be revealed very slowly in music videos. However the actions in the music video may not always be completely finished and could be disrupted throughout. There could also be repetition in the video and some of the frames could be repeated more than others, this depends on how important the shot is because of how they have been shot and framed.

Editing

Vernallis states that in music videos can break the rules of editing, which may apply for other videos, like films, they can break the conventions of continuity editing. The editing should be brought to the foreground and be more visible than you would usually expect and not so hidden, this means that the editing will usually have a certain style of editing which goes through the whole video so that it is distinctive. In music videos you will often see:• Graphic matches• Jump cuts• Cutting with the lyrics• Breaking of the 360 degree rule• Extreme changes in pace

Camera Movements and Framing

She states that the establishing shot in the music video could be one of the most important shots out of the whole music video, this is because it pulls viewers in. The style of the framing in the video should be distinctive to the video and the camera should move in time to the lyrics so that it all flows and doesn’t feel jumpy. Extreme shots are also known as master shots and they are also very common in music videos.