Corporate and Promotional Video Analysis + Current Practices task

Legal Issues

Define libel and copyright and apply in a corporate/promotional video context.

Libel is defamation that is either written or published. This can lead to legal action as it can harm an image or reputation of an individual who has been misrepresented in a newspaper as an example. Copyright is when someone creates a product, they then can create legal rights to that product as for example if a person or group make a song and sell it mainly to a record company, if someone else uses their song within a video without any permission, this can cause the company to block or take the revenue from that video due to them owning the rights of the song. If the person who created the video with the music, they can peruse legal action if the person wants to prove it their right to use the song as an example.

What is the current legislation relating to race relations, disability and discrimination on the grounds of protected characteristics? Summarise the act and find an applicable media example to relate to.

The current legislation related to race relations, disability and discrimination on protected characteristics is the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act is there to protect people against discriminations, harassment or victimisation within work places, based around the protected characteristics; age, marriage, gender reassignment, disability, maternity and pregnancy, religion or beliefs, sex and sexuality.   

Example of this act within media is when in October of 2019, Samira Ahmed, a journalist came out and filed legal act against the BBC about how she was paid £465 per episode when on the show, Newswatch while on another show called Points of View, the presenter Jeremy Vine was earning £3,000 per episode up (until 2018 where it was reduced down £1,300 on which Jeremy Vine accepted after hearing about the pay gap). The BBC stated that 'their jobs were different' even though the court mentioned that the two presenters where basically doing the same job. This wasn't the first this happened as the China editor for the BBC, Carrie Gracie resigned over the gender pay gap, however BBC apologised for the underpayment and received the money she should've earned. In January of 2020, Samira won the case as the court mentioned about how the BBC didn't have the right amount of evidence to back up their claims of their pay gap wasn't because of gender.

BBC News, 2020. Samira Ahmed wins BBC equal pay tribunal. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50599080> [Accessed 24th March 2021]

What law relates to obscenity and why can it be problematic/variable in media?

The law that relates to obscenity is the Obscene Publications Act 1959. It can be problematic within the media is because the law is about censoring anything obscene, so publishing something with explicit content (an example being pornography distribution) which can lead to charges of obscenity in court.

What bodies are responsible for television and film regulation and ensuring content is appropriate for viewers? How does this relate to the unit?

Ofcom and the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) regulates for television and film as BBFC gives out appropriate age ratings for programmes and films by reviewing the content. Example of age rating for a film is 2019’s Avengers Endgame, the movie is rated a 12 for scenes involving moderate violence which may not be suitable for children under the age of 12.

Meanwhile for what Ofcom does is to regulate what is shown on television so for example, if an television programme shows explicit content before the 9pm watershed, with the inclusion of possible complaints from the viewers, could lead to the programme being reviewed by Ofcom to see if it done whatever people had said it shown. 

Example of Ofcom situation involving complaints was with 5th September’s episode of Britain’s Got Talent where the dancing group, Diversity performed a dance routine related to the recent topic of the Black Lives Matter campaign. After the episode was aired, it drew in over 21,000 complaints, as some people thought it was inappropriate platform to showcase a political statement but, in the end, Ofcom decided that it didn’t need investigating as it didn’t raise any issues with its broadcasting rules. The reason for why it is related to the unit as when it comes to process of making the corporate/promotional video, it is important to understand that the video being made should be appropriate to show and view to a variety of people, online or even on television.

BBFC, 2019. Avengers: Endgame. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/avengers-endgame-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00mde4oda> [Accessed 24th March 2021]

The Guardian, 2020. Ofcom dismisses complaints over BLM dance on Britain's Got Talent. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/sep/17/ofcom-dismisses-complaints-over-blm-dance-on-britains-got-talent> [Accessed 24th March 2021]

Ethical Issues

Why do you have to consider representation as media students, in regards to the portrayal of people, places and events?

The reason for why we have to consider representation as media students is because overall we do not want to misrepresent or be disrespectful anyone when portraying people, places or events in any of our works/projects. If we did so, as the students would most likely be in trouble for doing so (example, if you were working for a client and you misrepresent someone within a video they commissioned/asked for, this would overall put a bad image on the client or/and the people who worked on the video).

Find a selection of case studies/examples of where representation/mispresentation has been problematic/even harmful in the media.

An example of using stereotypes within media is back in 2019, Philadelphia released an advertisement featuring two new dads who have been given the task to look after their babies, they then spot some bagels and mistakenly places the babies onto the conveyor belt to then realise and react with comedic effect, adding in the quote from one of the dads about 'not telling mum'. The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) then got over 128 complaints from people commenting on the harmful stereotypes featured in the advert, which gave the idea that men were incapable of taking care of children. The ASA then banned the advert due to breaking it's recently updated rules about stereotyping as the advert reinforced the gender stereotype of men being ineffective of looking after children, despite it's original comedic and lighthearted intention. Mondelez, the company behind Philadelphia, commented on how the advert chose new dads instead of mums in order to not spark controversy with the general stereotype if the advert shown new mothers instead.

. 

BBC News, 2019. Philadelphia and VW ads banned for gender stereotyping. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49332640> [Accessed 24th March 2021]

The Guardian, 2019. First ads banned for contravening UK gender stereotyping rules. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/aug/14/first-ads-banned-for-contravening-gender-stereotyping-rules> [Accessed 24th March 2021]

Current Practices

What equipment is required to produce a corporate/promotional video and why?

The equipment required to produce a corporate/promotional video is a camera as you most definitely need to capture the footage for the video, tripod for holding the camera in place as if it’s handheld, some shots might look jittery due to the person who is holding the camera can keep as still as what a
tripod would. Microphone needs to be used to produce the video as for example if you want to capture an interview, you would need a mic in order to get clearer audio as a result because if you just used the camera with no mic, the camera might record audio with the video but result will not be clear and could capture surrounding sounds, this could either be noises from the crew or other people in the area to trees, wind or various other natural sources of noise. Editing software is important to use as you need to merge for all what you have filmed and captured into the final video. 

What formats and distribution methods are required to reach the intended audience?

The format and distribution methods that are required to reach the intended audience are on the internet via social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook or YouTube as the intended audience (which would be younger people to young adults, age ranging from 10 to 25 year olds) is more likely to see it online rather than any place else such as outside on a digital billboard to on the television as an

advertisement, Example of a advert playing before a YouTube video these would advertise either
before, between or after a video (most likely not related to the video it is advertised on) or as it's own individual video on a social media or on it's own website. Advertisement on the Television might also work as it would open up more range in terms of an audience, though most of the intended audience may not have/watch the television (due to most of the intended audience primarily using streaming services such as Netflix rather than cable TV).

What are the common methods/conventions would you expect to see in a corporate/promotional video?

The common method/conventions that would be expected to be shown in a corporate/promotional video is the framing/composition as you would need a video to look appealing so for example, if you filmed a interview you would need the person to be positioned properly so the interviewee themselves is in frame and in focus rather than the opposite. An example being 'the rule of thirds' which is a guideline commonly used in media which composites visual imagery on which I used in my corporate video as when filming the interviews, it was important to line up the interviewee with the grid on screen so overall it looked aligned properly. 

In regards to pre-production what should all corporate/promotional videos begin with and why?

Some sort of concept or brief should be given from the company that is commissioning the video. reason for why is because if you were given no information on what the company wants for their video, this would lead to confusion amongst the people producing the video as they would have no clue on what their client wants, which could resolve in producing a video that is not accurate to the company or for what they wanted. Example is when I made the Corporate/Promotional video for East Norfolk, as I needed a brief from the clients in order to understand what they wanted to be and not included into the specific video by writing down areas such as the duration of the video, what type of information and most importantly, the deadline of when this needed to be completed. 

Why is client liaison important?

The reason for why client liaison is important because they are communicators for clients and companies, which is important as communication is key when creating a promotional/corporate video as you need to discuss ideas and concepts which would contribute to the video.

What documentation could/should be completed before production starts and why?

Talent releases should be completed before production because you should also have permission from the talent themselves for them to feature in or take part for the video. Location Releases are important as if you could get into legal trouble if you have not signed off that you were allowed to film in that particular location. Risk assessments should be completed beforehand as it's a written form about what could occur during filming such as any possible health and safety risks and what to do if any of the incidents happen, this would then be signed off by a higher up if they agree with what could happen. Production schedule is also important as if you do not set out certain dates for various locations and talent, the production would be a mess and most likely be delayed because of it. This documentation was used through various assignments, especially with the Depict video for example as everything had to be filled out in order to have the correct permissions for locations and talents along with it to overall organise the entire process when planning, filming and editing the final product. 

Example of production paperwork; Location Release, Adult Talent Release, Shot List and Production Schedule.

What is the difference between a script and a shooting script?

The difference between a script and a shooting script is that a script is written more simple by having just the characters' lines alongside the actions or emotions they need to portray on-screen. While with a shooting script, it goes into more detail and organises it into the table consisting of the shot numbers, audio, lighting and description of the scene. 

Example of a Script and Shooting Script

(https://antonyjohnston.com/forwriters/images/ajcomicscripts/AJ-Horror-Sample-Comic-Script.pdf + https://www.slideshare.net/DaniellaMcHugh/shooting-script-73633413)