The Technique of Film and Video Editing, 5th Edition

 

 

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 ...