Carol Vernallis's Theory of a Music Video

Vernallis believed that in a music video our attention to the song shapes the way we see the video. The video therefore shapes the way you hear the song.

For example, in most videos time, character and narrative are not fully revealed or revealed slowly. This clip from Rhinanna's song 'Where have you been'. She is slowly revealed and the shots cut away from each other so the audience is never aware of a specific time and focus on her features that are revealed.



Furthermore multiple shots create the music video, they are often obscure cutaways and then left incomplete. This is very different to a film, as a film is one complete clear path throughout. This example from Groove Armarda's 'Superstylin'.



There is no specific order of the shots in a music video, it does not have to create a story unlike a film that has to have a thorough narrative. Beginning, middle and end. You can see by this example from Foster the People 'Pumped Up Kicks' that a music video does not have to be in chronological order to make sense.



Finally it's clear that in music videos there has to be a focus on the artist or band that created the song. Discontinuity is used in music videos to cut away from the narrative and focus on the performance of the band or artist themselves. They want the audience to focus on them. This is shown in Panic at the Disco's 'Ballad of Mona Lisa'.