RESEARCH: Summary of Vernalis's Theory

Carol Vernallis studied camera work and editing in music and has observed that edits in music come more often than in films. Many of the edits stand out as disjuncture and at times the editing seems to be quite rhythmic according to the song. 

Some of Vernallis's main points are:

·         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 used often

·         A master shot (base track) is frequently used to give the video a structure

·         The camera may move in time with the music

An example of Carol Vernallis's theory is Beyonce's song 'Love on Top'. There are many shots types and the timing of the editing matches the beat of the song. This video also has various base tracks. There is a wide shot base track every time Beyonce changes outfits alongside the dancers. These base tracks are constantly referred back to throughout the music video. Although there are not too many edits in this video, it looks as if some of the spot lights may have been added in or brightened during the editing process. There are also a few jump cuts throughout the video making Carol Vernallis's theory that editing and camera work happens more often in music videos than films confirmed.