Carol Vernallis says that there are four stages in the creation of music Videos. These four stages are narrative, editing, camera work and diegesis .
Narrative
- The music video suits the style and genre of the song and the artists look.
- The music video also must cut in time and in rhythm with the soundtrack.
- The video does not necessarily always have to have a balance between narrative and performance and the narrative is not always complete - it may be a partial, fragmented narrative.
- The structure of the music video may appear disjointed. This is common in music videos for the genre of pop because it relies heavily on the artist's performance rather than the storyline. Also, the different scenes are incomplete/disjointed and do not really tell a story, which makes it conform to the 'quirky' indie pop genre.
- Also, something drives the video forward, but this is not often the narrative. It could be the music, the performance, a mixture, or some other element.
- There may not always be a clear resolution (closure) at the end of the music video and the music video may pose questions that are not really answered.
- There may be a narrative or theme running through the video, but in the style of a montage
- Editing may match the musical phrases or beat.
- The video may disrupt/break many of the 'rules' of continuity editing. This is a clear convention of music video editing.
- Editing may become 'foregrounded'. The edits may be really obvious, to draw attention to themselves as opposed to invisible, continuity editing.
- A style of editing that runs through the video and is distinctive to that video.
- When it comes to shot types, extremes are very common.
- Extreme shots are common (extreme close ups) however aren't as common as mid shots and close ups, familiarising the audience with the face and look of the artist.
- The style of framing and movement may run through the video and be distinctive to that video.
- The camera may move in time with the music and may move on the lyrics.
- The master shot (or other establishing shots) is used frequently, as are the close-ups.
- The diegesis my be revealed quite slowly.
- Actions are not necessarily completed - they may be disrupted or interrupted in some way.
- Character or object movements may move to the music in the music video.
- There may be gaps in the audience's understanding of the diegesis - in time and space, music, performance and narrative.
- Some frames may be more important than others.
- There may be many repetitions, e.g. musical phrases, the beat, other musical elements, themes, lyrics, performance, colour, images, camera positions, etc.