Carol Vernallis's Music Video Theory- 'The Kindest Cut'

Carol Vernallis theory is based around 4 key concepts that all relate to the way a music video is manufactured, these concepts are:
- Narrative
- Editing
- Camera Movement and Framing
- Diegesis

Narrative
When describing her theory particularly the narrative aspect, Vernallis suggests that the video is a visual response to the narrative. Therefore whatever is happening onscreen reflects the choice of lyrics that the artist is singing. She then goes on to say how the narrative may not always be completed,  and can be only partial. The video can appear to be: disjointed, disconnected and fragmented.  The video has a driving force, but this may not necessarily be the narrative. It could be the music itself or intriguing elements in the video.
However if the video is left incomplete, it can lead to many questions about the narrative that wont always be answered throughout the video. Finally, although the video may have a theme or narrative, as it could be presented in a montage, rather than in one clear focus.

Editing
Vernallis states that a clear convention of music video editing is that the video may disrupt or break the conventions of continuity editing, unlike film. The editing may also be bought to the foreground, become visible and not hidden, apposed to the invisible style of continuity editing. This means that  the video will have a style of editing continuing throughout, that is distinctive to the video. For example you may see:
- Jump Cuts
- Breaks of the 30’ Degree Rule
- Cutting with the lyrics
- Extreme changes in pace
- Juxtaposed Frames
- Graphic Matches

Camera Movements and Framing
Vernallis states that establishing shots are one of the key camera features of a music video and are used frequently throughout a music video (as well as close up shots). The style of framing of the video, again, is quite distinctive to the video and also the camera may move in time with the lyrics. Extreme shots also known as master shots are also very common.

Diegesis
In terms of media, the diegesis is the world of the music video. Vernallis explains how the diegesis will be revealed slowly. The actions in the video won't always be completed and may be disrupted in some way. There will be repetitions throughout the video and some frames will appear more important than others, due to the way they have been shot/framed.