Research: Carol Vernallis' Theory

Carol Vernallis is known for having written the book 'Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context' in 2004.  In music videos she looked closely at the editing and camerawork. Vernallis said that edits in music videos come much more than they do in film, that many stand out as disjuncture and that the editing seems to have a rhythmic basis closely connected.

The main points of her observations are:

• The usual rules of 'continuity' are broken in order to draw attention to what is on screen. 
• Edits may be really obvious to draw attention to themselves, such as wipes and special effects added.
• Jump cuts are often used.
• A master shot (base track) is frequently used to give the video a structure.
• The camera may move in time with the music.

'The Bike Song' by Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.

• From 1:43 to 1:46 there is a master shot used, going back and forth from a close-up of the singer to the front of the bike. 
• There are jump cuts throughout in time with the beat.
• The camera moves in time with the music
• The bikes riding on their own is clearly an edit, however there are not any special effects like animations or lights.