Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis says the camera in music video seems to mimic the way we view sonic space... do you agree? Do you think we are conditioned by music video to read sonic space in particular ways?

This term 'Sonic Space' has confuzzled me as I have no idea what it means. This has unfortunately led me to have an incomplete answer for this particular section. I profusely apologise.


She suggests that the jumping camera focus is like the camera in place of our eyes, doing what we do when we listen. However, this is predefined for us by the Director - we have even less choice to look away/outside of the Director's choice than we do in film - do you agree?

I agree to an extent as there are so many cuts in music videos that it is hard to focus one image unless it is repeated many times. Music videos are much more based on the directors vision as he only has a few minutes to pack all he wants in so we are forced to look solely at the directors choices of shots.


She says music video is more like listening than viewing - do you agree?

Not really, because if you wanted to listen you would just listen to the song rather than watch the video. The video generally anchors the lyrics and helps to promote the artist as we can look at them and we are able to easily recognise them.

"We compensate imaginatively for what we do not see in the frame" - Agreed?

Yes it is natural for the human mind to link the things they see and jump to conclusion. This is useful in music videos as there is only a limited amount of time available so you can cut corners by suggesting things rather showing events in detail.

The constant motion in a music video and the variances it shows mean that a strong CU is a stable point. The music video "brings us towards these peaks, holds us against them, and then releases us" - do you agree?

I agree with this statement as it is crucial to see the artist's face as they are the focus of the video. Also the words of the song would be escaping from their vocal chords located inside their mouth.


Is the viewer "sutured (stitched) into the diegesis of the film world through the editing"?

Yes, the viewer is brought into the world of the music video. This is partly due to the gaps in narrative having to be filled by the audience and that there are many CU shots which make the viewer feel more involved.

Music video is freer in terms of viewer identification and perspective - agreed?

It is freer to an extent as not all people would watch some music videos due to the genre of the music and whether they like the song. The director can be freer, however, as he can take his own perspective on the track and the images that go with it.

Carol Vernallis believes the image alone cannot tell the story - do you agree?

I belive she is correct because if you watch a music video on mute it doesn't feel like a complete viewing experience. In my view this would also be pointless as the song is the whole reason the video exists so without it the shots would be rendered pointless.