Ethics of Filming

When filming a visual media product, one must take in to account a number of ethical considerations. The music industry  has set in place multiple rules, that are important to adhere too. These rules and help prevent members of the public to take issue with the material, this includes discrimination, offensive stereotypes and other issues that are not enforced by law. Media industries must ensure that they do not generalise any particular, group or race, this is due to the fact that people can be easily influenced, meaning their thoughts and feelings towards certain groups of people may be changed due to what they see, which should be avoided by the majority of media companies, at any costs. This includes not giving across any discriminatory views against any race, whether it is meant to be influential or not. They must also not include any factors that can give people the wrong idea of certain groups, as this may also increase the chances of racism against different cultures and ethnicity's , as this may make certain audience members feel uncomfortable and discriminated against when watching the media product, this could lead to  issues which could lead to the whole music video being taken down, and the artist getting a lot of negative backlash which can contribute to them getting "cancelled" - which means to stop giving support to that person. The act of canceling could entail boycotting an actor's movies or no longer listening to a signers song. My group and I have taken this into consideration when planning our video, meaning there will be no acts of racism, shown in this music video, this will be controlled by only have two characters within the video, reducing the chances of people becoming uncomfortable with the storyline, as everyone can relate to this, regarding a persons cultural group, this is how have overcome this possible issue, as there is not discriminatory acts to each other. 

Gender can raise ethical issues, as this is a subject that tends to be overlooked, and exploited, as there are so many well-known gender stereotypes. This is because casual sexism often through stereotypes is unusually common within society.  This could involve films or programs portraying women in stereotypical roles such as cleaners and housewives, or being shown as being less physically able as a man and therefore shown to do the more menial tasks. This can also be the case for men, however it is a lot less common in the media. This will not be an issue within our music video as, there is only one gender taking place within it (female), there will be no stereotypes that need to matched as there will be no storyline involving a man. There will be no sexism between the genders shown within this music video as the storyline involves two teenage girls, whom are trying to get on with their friendship, and one move on from the sad passing of the other friend.

We gained permission from the actors in order for us to utilise the videos we recorded. The actors have the choice for the clips not to be used, as they have the right to withdraw. We also took into account the privacy of those of who have passed away and they're graves, we did this by not showing any names or any person that may have been in cemetery to respect their privacy. We did not encourage any criminal behaviour or risk the actors getting injured when filming, as this may have been a hazard if there was a different storyline. 

Age Classifications for Music Videos:

• The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) have previously done research which helped them discover that 70% of parents of under 12 years olds are concerned that their child is being exposed to inappropriate content in music videos. When given the choice 86% of parents would encourage their children o follow the age rating, which could also link to parental controls, meaning there needs to be permission to watch videos above a certain age rating. 
• The BBFC issues either a 12, 15 or 18 rating to online music videos, in line with BBFC Classification Guidelines. Once given an age rating, the labels pass on the rating and guidance when releasing their videos to the two digital service providers – Vevo and YouTube 
• For the age rating of 12/ 12A - There must be no promotion of potentially dangerous behaviour which children are likely to copy. There must be no glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons which may increase the risk of children carrying out anti-social behaviour. Discriminatory language or behaviour must not be endorsed at all as children have a higher chance of being influenced. Misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be glamorised or given in detailed instructions which can be carried out. There may be moderate bad language. Strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language. There may be moderate violence but it should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood. Examples of this form of music is: Taylor Swift - Lover or Little Mix - Black Magic, as it follows the guidelines, by not promoting any form of inappropriate behaviour or language.

• For the age rating of 15 - Dangerous behaviour (for example, suicide) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour, although there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory themes and language. Drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. There may be strong language. Very strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. Sexual nudity may be permitted but strong detail is likely to be brief. There may be strong verbal references to sexual violence but any depiction of the stronger forms of sexual violence, including rape, must not be detailed or prolonged. Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. Examples of this of age rating in music video is Calvin Harris - Open Wide.

 

• For the age rating of 18 - there is only a few music videos that have this specific age rating. This is when there is material that is in breach of the criminal law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence. The most well-known music video with this rating is called Couple of Stacks by Dizzee Rascal. 
• My music video will be within the age rating of 12, as it follows these guidelines by being appropriate for people of this age group.