MERGE DOCUMENT LO2: Issues and Risks (Legal/Ethical, Location Issues, Regulatory bodies, contingencies)

CONTINGENCY

The contingency plans for each of these issues and risks are typed below each section, marked with this blue text. These are the actions I would take if these issues and risks affect me during the production of my audiovisual trailer. This is so that production on the project will not slow down and the issue will be able to be resolved much easier if I plan for what I would do to avoid it.

LEGAL

Laws of contempt: In the media you produce you can't have a strict agenda aimed to create prejudice and change the public's mind on a person/group that is not released as a fact. For example; it is illegal to report on a current legal court case in my teaser. As part of 'Freedom of Information' I can access and report on the facts but can not give my opinion. You also cannot post anything that is too sensationalist about a criminal case. Contingency- if i run into this issue i will edit my teaser in a way in which any agenda with/against people or groups remains unbiased, however my teaser depicts a story of fiction, so is unlikely i will include any agendas aimed against people/groups. 

Slander Law: Illegal to publish defamatory content about a person or publish untrue information. It is spoken. This (as well as laws of contempt) should not apply to me because my teaser trailer will be purely fictional and won't include depictions of any real life people or their lives. Contingency- If this issue arises, i will edit out the scenes that include the defamatory content. If they are needed for the teaser, i will schedule are re-shooting of the scene instead.

Copyright: Ensures that intellectual property is protected from being plagiarised without permission from the original creator. In my teaser I will have to ensure that I don't show any brands/products and present them as my own creation. I will try to not include any brands (such as coke cans or branded clothing in the background) and I will edit any I missed out in post production as a contingency. 

Obscene publications Act: Obscene; something which is not acceptable to be seen for the general population- Nudity, Pornography, Graphic Violence, Drug abuse. Content can't coherse or encourage these acts. It is illegal to publish content that may negatively influence audiences. Examples of this are performance enhancing drugs in gym media. As my horror teaser is meant for mature audiences, It could include violence and scary imagery. This could not be suitable for general audiences as it would scare children so I will include an age certificate at the beginning of the trailer as to warn parents/children. Contingency- If my teaser gets tagged for obscene publications act i will edit out the scenes that encourage these acts.

 

ETHICAL

Ethical issues are more to do with morals and values. 

Being unethical when creating media products may not cause you to face legal trouble but may cause the peoples/audiences opinions of your product to decrease and reduce sales. 

Ethical issues i have to be aware of are:

- Whether the content i'm including in my product is age appropriate. My teaser trailer will include an age certificate as part of the trailer. As my trailer is in the horror genre, I will have to include a certificate for 15-18 so young children don't watch it and get too disturbed. 

- How my product is representing certain groups or causing harm to certain groups. 

- Whether my product mistreats animals. My product will not include animals at all meaning they won't be harmed. If I were to use animals in my product, I would have to make sure they are properly fed and housed during the filming of the teaser. 

- My product not having an editorial bias. This is a fictional trailer meaning this issue doesn't apply here. 

- Whether my product uses accurate/factual information. This is a fictional trailer meaning this issue doesn't apply here. 

 ETHICAL Issues: consequences

- Reputation of the organisation 

- Loss of business 

- In some cases legal action against the organisation

- Product being banned from platforms

To avoid these consequences I will listen to feedback from audiences so that I can understand the issue and remove it/edit it the controversial scene out from the trailer. If the scene is important I will re-shoot the scene with my actors but without the controversial element.

Location Issues 

Whilst filming my audiovisual promo I must be aware of the issues associated with where I am filming. 

Laws: Filming on property 

If I wanted to film on public/personal property I would need to gain permissions from the property owner. As I am filming in someones house which is their private property, I will make sure to get permission from the owner to use the property in my promotional video. If there are any outside shots of the street i would have to make sure i blur out any house names/addresses.

Contingency- when filming my teaser i will use a permission form to gain permission to shoot on location, meaning i should not run into any issues regarding laws of filming on property. If i cannot shoot on location, i will edit and improve my script instead until a new time slot is made available and work on visualisation diagrams of planned shots. If I am no longer able to shoot on location because of any location issues, I will do location recce to find other suitable alternatives.

Why does the media industry in the UK need to be regulated?

1) Code of practice: How you should behave in a professional setting

2) Protect 'public interest'. 

Regulatory Bodies

1. ASA: Advertising Standards Authority.

2. BBFC: British board of film classification.

3. PEGI: Pan European Game Information.

4. OFCOM: Regulates TV.

5. PRS: Performing Right Society For Music.

6. IPSO: Independent press Standards Organisation.

7. W3C:  World Wide Web Consortium.

The regulatory body that effects me is ASA, in my horror teaser trailer i will have to make sure i don't include any sensitive content that would lead to the trailer to be taken down or removed from TV.

Another regulatory body that I have to consider is BBFC as they decide what age rating movies are given. 

A 15 rated movie (as described by the BBFC website) regulation that applies to me: 

- 'Involves dangerous behavior (suicide, self-harming) but doesn't dwell on the details.' Although it is a horror trailer, issues like this doesn't apply to my trailer as themes like this are not included.

- 'There may be a strong threat and horror. A sustained focus on sadistic threat is unlikely to be accepted". My teaser will include the presence of threat, but it will not be shown to be explicitly violent in the scenes showed. 

This means my teaser trailer is suitable for the 15 rated certificate. 

This contrasts to the 18 certificate which includes much more heavy gore, and explicit depictions of violence. An 18 movie is given its certificate if its content breaches the 15 rated rules put in place by the BBFC, its given the 18 certificate. 

As such I believe my teaser should fall into the 15 rated category as it contains much more tame threat and violence that fall in line with the BBFC rules and is much more child friendly than the requirements of an 18. 

Contingency: if my teaser does get tagged for 18 by the BBFC, I will look at the feedback to re-edit it in a way in which it more falls in line with the 15 requirements by removing, blurring or re-shooting scenes deemed too violent or explicit for a 15 audience.