Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis Theory

Narrative: Vernallis says 'The visual should be based upon the lyrics'. Whether it is through the performance or narrative or a mix of both she feels as it is always relevant to the lyrics. She also says regardless to the narrative everything will draw you to the performer for example if the song is a literal story the shots of the artist/performer will be more dominant to idiolise the performer. This is commonly found in music videos however Ed Sheeran - Don't is a good example of how artists can use actors as the main focus of the video and not idiolise themselves.

Diegesis: 'How a story is created with in a video' ' The world within the music video'. These views can be shown through repetition, gaps in time, performance and narrative.

Camera shots: Music videos try to avoid mid shots. Adopted speed of filming and camera movements. Meaning that the camera movements will be at the speed of the music. I think a good video to disprove this theory is Frank Ocean - Novacane as almost the whole video uses mid shots.

Editing: 'Will be left in a state of disjuncture'. This meaning that the editing is disconnected and can cut back to shots already featured or the used of fast cuts between various shots

Much like Goodwin's theory, Vernallis is backed up by the large majority of music videos. However i think that they do not allow for the more abstract videos that challenge convention with unusual music videos.

I think it is important to look at the theorists as it helps me look deeper into what makes up a music video and I will have to plan my own narrative and will have to think about Goodwin's theory. I will also have to plan the ways in which Carol vernallis' theory is going to apply to my video as the large majority of videos do. 

Andrew Goodwin

"Music videos are simply and extension of its lyrics" - Andrew Goodwin.

We felt this statement meant that the music video conveys similar themes to the lyrics, with what we expect to see based on the words in the lyrics but also some connotations that help the audience understand and find entertainment from the video.

A way of this theory being proved is to view the video or listen to the lyrics individually and consider whether the other could be guessed, also we felt the extension doesn't have to be positive.

We felt the music video isn't always an extension of the lyrics but sometimes of just the artist this is prevalent in the rap genre to show the riches of the male artists and the female attention they receive.

Stuart Halls theory of encoding and decoding is relevant because the artist has creates a meaning based on there contexts but it may not necessarily be interpreted by the audience in the intended way.

There are videos that prove and disprove this theory. Some music videos such as Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me, have a very literal interpretation of the lyrics as what you are seeing on the video is exactly the story being told in the song. Some videos can take a more metaphorical approach to Goodwin's theory and reflect the lyrics through connotations of imagery. Justin Timberlake - Cry Me a River is a good example of this as the dark colouring and the rain reflects the emotions of the lyrics rather than the lyrics directly narrating the video. However, some videos seem to bare no relation to the lyrics of the song. This is a strong convention of dance music and Duke Dumont - Won't Look Back is a good example. The majority of the time, Andrew Goodwin's theory can be applied however it is not always true as videos can purposely try to go against this convention in an artistic or abstract way.

Lip Syncing Workshop + Narrative Workshop

We experimented with composition and framing whilst testing our lip syncing skills in groups of three. Post production and screening highlighted the things that worked such as matching the precise position of each actor in the shot so it gives a seeming less cut whilst editing. Also the fact that a confident performance can make the video authentic.


Composition and Framing

- We used negative space effectively although we feel we need to fill the space with interesting backgrounds, colors and patterns which reflects the narrative.

- We also incorporated some leading lines and matched the precise position when changing performer.

Equipment

- Some issues with memory card which cost us some time, now we realise we should check our equipment before going to film at a location.

Editing

- We didn't use clip markers that effectively which meant some of the lip syncing was out.

- In future we are leaving the recorded audio in place to make it easier to match because it is more clear that you cannot cut during a line or verse.

Location

- Has to be carefully considered to include an interesting and relevant to the genre/song; whilst including techniques such as symmetry, depth of field, negative space and rule of thirds.

- We also realised that we should have filmed the same shot from various angles because it adds a really good effect.



We experimented with creating a narrative and we found it worked when a variety of shots were used and a mix of connotations were created through props to create meaning and mood to be more explicit you would have to use the typical ie. Rose for love.