M2-Legal and Ethical Issues

 Legal Issues:

What is Ofcom:

Ofcom (or the office of communications) is a government approved regulator for most of the telecommunications media seen in the UK. Its regulates and sets rules for what can and cannot be shown on TV and at what times, so to protect younger and more impressional audiences from more adult content.

After reading through Ofcom's rules and restrictions on what can be broadcast I believe that although some aspects of the video may come close to certain themes, they are all presented in such a way that doesn't violate any of the regulations that Ofcom puts out.

For example, despite my video having paranormal theming, the video never attempts to claim that these things are real, and instead only is used as a way to tell the intended story.

Despite using under 18s as the main actors in the video, special care was ensured to keep them safe and to protect their emotional welfare throughout the entire filming process.

What is the BBFC:

The BBFC ( or British board of film classification) is a non government organisation which has classified every movie from1912 into specific age groups to limit who can watch them when, as well as using censorship to help place movies into different age groups.

 

After Looking over the BBFC regulations for 12A movies (which is what we were instructed to land under in the brief), I am confident that we never go over the line into a higher category in any of the categories in which they judge a piece of media. Although the storyline may be horror focused, the tone itself is meant to be more lighthearted and stylised, which is also reflected in the incredibly occasional use of more slapstick focused, light violence. Although the lyrics of the original video may include slight sexual reference, these are incredibly brief and easily able to be looked at through a non-sexual lens, which the video tries to do. Although the video does contain sections with flashing lights, which may trigger photosensitive epilepsy, I made sure to include a disclaimer at the beginning of the video which is a long time before any of this content appears, so that anyone who may be effected can close the video without seeing it.

Ethical Issues:

Representation theory:

Although my video only shows a very narrow amount of groups, due to the small cast of characters, I also tried to approach multiple themes and concepts which I hoped to handle and represent fairly. For the main character of the scientist, I leaned into the stereotype of being overly analytical and boring, however tried to keep this in a light and fun way which makes the character seem more cartoonish than outright insulting. This is similar to the themes of the spiritual and supernatural, which although I presented it in an incredibly stylised and unrealistic way, I tried hard not to mock or belittle these beliefs, instead simply using them to drive the plot forwards.

Reception theory:

Through my video the messages that I am attempting to encode into the text are a few key concepts, specifically a belief or at least an interest in the spiritual, a fear of the unknown, and a belief that not everything has been explained yet. However I believe that even if the audience decides this and has an oppositional reading that the video can still be enjoyed, and I took care throughout the video to not make this viewpoint necessary for a nuanced or enjoyable reading and understanding of the product.