M2

 M2- legal and ethical issues 

 

Legal issues 

 Ofcom 

Ofcom is the regulator and competition authority for UK communications industries. Ofcom regulates the tv and radio sectors., fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services. Ofcom allows people to make complaints about TV, radio, mobile broadband or anything seen on a video sharing platform. Ocom cannot however handle individual disputes with service providers, advertising on TV radio or the internet, newspapers or what people write or post on the internet. Ofcom has certain policies over protecting under 18s, crime and abuse as well as the watershed. Some of the ways that Ofcom protects under 18s is by the use of drugs and alcohol. Ofcom states that drugs or alcohol must not be featured in shows made for children and must be avoided unless necessary as well as must not be condoned or encouraged under any circumstances. As well as this, Ofcom has strict regulations over how crime and abuse are portrayed as well as how hate speech is used. Ofcom states that hate speech must not be included in television in a way that is justified or seen as good. Crime must not be encouraged as well and should not be justified. 

BBFC 

The BBFC is an independent, non-profit, non-government board who classify films Tv and music videos. The job of the BBFC is to assign age ratings for TV, films and music videos so that people of certain ages can be protected from forms of content. The BBFC has power to request scenes in content to be cut out or edited as well as offer advice to parents about TV film or music videos. The brief I have been given says that my music video must abide to the 12A age rating meaning graphic scenes of sex and violence will not be shown, however the films will be more graphic than the PG and U-rated film classification that children under 12 have previously been able to watch. The BBFC state nudity is allowed but will be brief and discreet if shown in a sexual context. My music video has complied with the rules and regulations of a 12A by avoiding including any scenes of graphic violence that have copious amounts of gore. This was difficult to do since this subverted the conventions of my genre meaning I changed the plot to match. 

Ethical issues 

Stuart halls representation theory 

Stuart halls representation theory argues that a media text is not a true representation of events, people, places or theories. Stuart halls representation theory applies to my music video because the way I portray the concept and theme of robbery it will never be truly accurate. The way I will represent this theme is by having the ending of the narrative to be ambiguous therefore we don’t know if the robbers fail or get away with it. However, the representation of robbers in my music video may be overly positive due to the ambiguous ending. To be more in line with the legal and ethical issues it would be better to show them failing. In my music video I will abide to the stereotypes of a robber to make the characters easily identifiable by having them dressed in all black with balaclavas which is very stereotypical. As well as this I will somewhat break the stereotypes by having them use a typically “normal” car that is common on the road which breaks the stereotype of robbers typically using fast cars to escape 

 

Laura Mulvey 

Laura Mulvey’s theory refers to the way women are objectified by the camera lens and suggests they are a spectacle. Mulvey wrote that women are characterised by their "to be looked at ness”. My music video will likely contain no female characters, is coincidental that there are no female characters in my music video as male actors were easier to find for the video. 

D1

D1 

Mise en scene: 

In my mise-en-scene (what's on screen) I was trying to represent a storyline somewhat from a crime drama/ film to create meaning.

The lighting of my music video in the robbing storyline was all natural lighting to create a raw feel to my music video. The choice of using lighting in this way creates meaning since it upholds the narrative that the story is believable. Natural lighting makes a media product similar to real life (verisimilitude), therefore the audience can become more deeply engaged with the video, this meant that the storyline in my music video was more believable to the audience which proved to be effective as a way to make the story seem like real life. As well as this, natural light is symbolic of hope, this is juxta posed with the costumes that the robbers wear.

This is a juxtaposition since having the all black robbers in natural light are to polar opposites, each with different meanings. The costumes I decided to use featured all black attire as well as a balaclava, this creates meaning by instantly showing the robbers as the villains of the storyline. The reason for this is due to the negative stereotypes that are on display. This is linked to Stuart Halls representation theory which states that stereotypes create negative connotations about characters, this creates meaning in my music video since I wanted the robbers to have negative connotations around them to uphold the narrative as a way to show the audience that what they are watching is inline with the crime genre. The colour of black is usually linked to death and pain which made it a good choice for the characters of the robber since I wanted them to be negatively portrayed. As well as this, these costumes are very conventional of the genre which similarly to the lighting, eases the viewer due to Steve Neal's genre theory which states that audiences enjoy repetition of genre which makes the storyline believable.

Editing techniques 

Cut on action

Some of the editing techniques I used were different cuts and transitions. Most notably in the beginning of my music video before the music comes in, I used the technique cutting on action a lot as a way to set the scene before the music starts. Cutting on action in this example creates effect by adding drama to the story by adding a faster pace to the narrative. This creates meaning in my music video by dramatizing the action when it realistically is relatively simple and easy to follow.

J cut

Another cut I used in the video is the J cut. The J cut is an audio-based cut where diegetic sound is used to link two shots together. In my music video the audio is the music where the drum beat changes and the visual shot only changes slightly after the music does as well as in the opening scene where the robbers press play and the guitar is only shown being played later . I used this shot in my music video to create an unpredictable feel which aligns with the narrative of the robber's story. This creates meaning by interlinking the 2 separate narratives to show how the lyrics and the storyline relate to each other. Another way in which the lip syncing and the instrument playing narrative matches the storyline is due to me adding a filter which darkened the frame of the shot, this created meaning in the music video by matching the 2 narratives therefore creating an easier watch experience by making the music video flow as one.

Colour correction

An editing technique I used in the burglary storyline was to match the shots using filters and changing the exposure and saturation of certain shots. I did this to once again make the music video flow better, so it was not obvious that there was a change in time in the filming of the shots. This meant that the music video seemed more chronological and flows better. The colour correction I used was adding a filter to all of the burglary narrative to create a blue/orange tone to the shots, this allows for better distinction to each narrative. The blue tone to these shots demonstrates the success of the burglary due to the blue of the shot connoting calmness and ease, this is different to if say I used red which would connote danger. This blue tone therefore symbolises that the robbers have been successful in their burglary.

Camera techniques 

In my music video I used camera work to once again make a pleasant watching experience. The camera work I used was stabilised in order to make it easier to watch, as well as this the stabilised footage it creates meaning by portraying the robber's burglary as successful whereas if the footage was bumpy, it would imply that the robbers were unsuccessful therefore foreshadowing their defeat.  Some camera shots I used were shots such as close ups in the music narrative and wide shots in the burglary narrative. I used this to create meaning since it allows for differentiation of the two narratives showing how each narrative is equally important.

However I also used close ups in the burglary narrative, this links back to the editing techniques denoting how the narrative are also somewhat linked. This links to Goodwin's music video theory which denotes how stories are represented by visuals and how there must be link between music lyrics and visuals on screen.

In the beginning of the music video, I used a wide shot to establish the scene of the narrative to the viewer. The use of a wide shot has meaning since it introduces the geographical location to the viewer as well as show them the overall feel of the music video as well as symbolising the scale of the event in question since a big shot denotes that the robbery is very significant. This is useful to the audience since it subverts the typical conventions of a rock music video by immediately signify a narrative instead of a performance based music video. Steve Neal's genre theory states that audiences enjoy repetition as well as a subversion of genre, this means in my music video since it excites the audience by showing a subversion of genre.

Target audience  

I hoped that my product will be perceived as interesting to my target audience of males aged 35-60 since this will increase the viewership of my music video. The target audience of the song, I am using is an older audience meaning I will have to conform to their needs as well as the needs of younger people. My postproduction appeals to my younger target audience by providing escapism (Uses & Gratification) due to the fast-paced shots emphasising the excitement of the storyline narrative. The editing technique to make the lip-syncing shots darker using the filter will appeal to them