CHAPTER 12

The MTV Influence on Editing II

 

 

In the previous chapter, we explored the characteristics of the MTV style in editing. Whereas linear narratives proceed by focusing a viewer’s identification with a main character, the MTV approach proceeds using a less specific focus. Consequently, pace, subjectivity, and the close-up are not used to build an identification with the main character. In the MTV style, they are used to generate a less specific intensity. Pace and subjectivity in general are not used to move us up a dramatic arc; instead, they are used to intensify in effect a set-piece that may or may not contribute to a dramatic arc.

The MTV style is more clearly understood if the developmental narrative structure of the linear ...

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