Legal considerations:
There are several legal issues that must be avoided when making a trailer for a film. The six that are of most relevance are below.
- Copyright, designs and patents act 1988.
For our product we will need to gain copyright permission from the owners of the music which we plan to feature in our short film.
- Data protection act.
This law means that we have to be very careful to protect the contact information of the people who we have contacted for this film. It also means that we have to have our actors sign release and consent agreements so that they can appear in our film. This will include the actors in our film such as Joe Facer.
Ethical considerations:
- Discrimination
Discrimination refers to to the hiring policy of our film. We must ensure that the policy of the film does not exclude anyone because of their ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation as well as this we must do everything in our power to make sure that our product is diverse.
- representation
Our film risks being accused of misrepresentation due to the protagonists being portrayed as middle class while the antagonists are to be working class (and are shown in the script to be struggling financially) To this end we will ensure that our characters are portrayed in a grounded and realistic manner which could not be considered offencive.
BBFC AND OFcom:
The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) is responsible for the classification and censorship of films released in the United Kingdom. The promo for The White Room would receive a "12" rating from the BBFC as it would feature a moderate amount of threat and violence with little to no explicit language. We will adhere to the BBFC guidelines by not using an excessive amount of explicit language or any graphic violence.
OFCOM is the UK regulatory authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the united kingdom. OFCOM are relevant to the trailer for The White Room as it is being distributed online. This means that it must abide by OFCOM's regulations if it is to be advertised online on websites such as YouTube. There are rules set by OFCOM (section 3 of the broadcasting code) that state they must prohibit material that is likely to incite crime or disorder. Although our film does show part of a kidnapping taking place; it is not overly graphic and I believe it does not incite violence.
5.) Based on your promo – how could people/ places be MISREPRESENTED? Give examples and state how you avoid/ prevent this.
The cafe that we use in the trailer could be misrepresented as there is a kidnapping the takes place outside of it. Obviously there aren't kidnappings at the cafe (that I am aware of) so this could be a misrepresentation as the cafe as well as the surrounding area. Young men could also be misrepresented as they are shown to be kidnappers, however, we also use other young men in the story who are portrayed as kind and one of them is the person who gets kidnapped. This can help to counter the argument that we are creating a stereotype for young men.
The cafe that we use in the trailer could be misrepresented as there is a kidnapping the takes place outside of it. Obviously there aren't kidnappings at the cafe (that I am aware of) so this could be a misrepresentation as the cafe as well as the surrounding area. Young men could also be misrepresented as they are shown to be kidnappers, however, we also use other young men in the story who are portrayed as kind and one of them is the person who gets kidnapped. This can help to counter the argument that we are creating a stereotype for young men.
6.) Based on your promo – where would you need to seek copyright permission – give examples. Be clear about how you would seek permission.
If we have a scene that features a recognisable brand we would need to ensure that we seek permission from the owner for use of the product. We will also need to get rights to the music that we use (if any) or any sounds as we are intending to use ticking noises in our trailer to create suspense. However, we are planning to use copyright free noises and if we do use any other noises we will try to ensure that they are copyright free. To gain permission for our noises we can find the website/owner and email them for permission to use the content.
- Based on your promo – which assets would need royalties for the intellectual property – Give examples. Be clear about how you would go about this.
We intend on having a ticking clock noise going over the video to build suspense, to avoid requiring to purchasing the royalties we will use royalty free audio track courtesy of creative commons, but may be required to give credit to the artist, this would depend on the terms and conditions of the provider, this must be checked before using the sound track.
- Value orientated frameworks – based on the purpose of your promo ( inform/ educate/ entertain/ promote/ advertise) – give 3 ways that you plan for your product to meet that purpose. How will this attract/ appeal to your audience?
- The trailer will entertain the audience by build suspense up into the climax of the trailer where is gives a great indication towards the style and narrative of the product.
- The video will promote the film by using title graphics to show the release dates and title of the product to build a brand identity and inform the audience on when they can access the product.
- this will advertise the media product "The White Room" a short film about a kidnapped victim through giving an indication of style to the audience to target the demographic.
