Vernallis' 'The Kindest Cut'

1. Carol Vernallis’ mentions the importance of the editing within a music
video. Not only does it direct the flow of the narrative in the video , it can
underscore non-narrative visual structures and form such structures on
its own.
Also that much of the particularity of music video editing lies in the
responsiveness to the music itself. The editing is key as it enables
relations between the song and the image shown to be formed.

2. Shots and edits:
Vernallis states that the continuity system forms the basis of film editing but it is much
less common in music videos. Continuity editing seeks to preserve the flow of time
and the coherence of spaces. This form of editing serves different functions and
govern only isolated sections of a video.
Vernallis says that music videos may avoid the continuity editing because these
techniques would give a visual track too strong a forward trajectory and the image
might seem to overtake the song. Which is something a music video will try to avoid
because its purpose is to provide a visual image that will support the song used and
enhance the audience’s experience whilst expanding the artist into subsidiary media
platforms.

3. Meaning, narrativity and continuity
Usually the images shown in music videos are relatively discontinuous, however this
may vary from genre to genre. Generally a video will hint at a character’s personality,
mood, goals and or desires but will never fully disclose them.
Vernallis talks about how within music videos, editing plays an interesting role in
producing this effect of discontinuity. Edits can literalise the discontinuity by making us
aware of the spaces between images.
In music videos, the precarious relation of shot to shot and the varied bases for this
relations affects a video’s larger structures of meaning. The polysemic image track can
create expectations and frequently leave them unfulfilled; we don’t always know
where- or how- a video is going. Films teach us to assume that we gain information as
the narrative progresses, that we move steadily closer to revelation. However music
videos work within this assumption but play against it by progressing haltingly and
unpredictability. Also by contradicting what has already been shown.

4. Image and sound
Vernallis says that music video editing exceeds the functions of film editing largely through
its responsiveness to musical features- rhythmic, timbral, melodic and formal.
Many music videos exploit our curiosity about how a song might sound in the actual space
of the music video: walls, floors and ceilings are placed at odd angles and covered with
materials that imply specific acoustical properties: objects that resemble speakers and
baffles may be distributed throughout the space. Despite the fact that the camera may
never quite reach the sides or the back of the setting, these videos encourage us to
imagine the sound waves rolling into the walls and bouncing off of them.

5. Showcasting the star
A focus on editing can help us to understand the relation between a music video’s star-making
dimension and its modes of continuity and signification. Close ups of the star, and
the ways they are edited into the flow of a video, provide useful cases to study. Music
videos break down visual, lyrical and musical elements to their smallest constituent parts.
A close up of the singer’s face in a music video is often shot and edited in such a way as
to leave us with a way of grasping hold of some musical element, which might be the
main hook or a small detail.
Music videos often present a flow of images that are too rich and materials that seem to
dissolve too quickly. The use of a close up gives the audience something to commit to
memory and the intense isolation of the shot keeps the viewer present.