Unit 3- M2

Resolving Legal and Ethical Issues:

There are several legal and ethical issues that arose in the production of 'The Space Guard'. One of the legal issues that arose was about consent for the actors. All the actors had to sign to say that they gave their permission for the use of their face and voice in the marking of the product and in the product itself. Because all of the actors are over the age of 16, they were all able to sign the consent form themselves, if the actor was under the age of 16, then that would have meant that a parent or guardian would have also had to sign the permission form. 

Another legal issue that came up was the idea of using copyrighted images or sound effects. In the production of 'The Space Guard' there were several images that were used in the VFX of the product, such as the stars and space backgrounds that were used to show that the space station was actually in space. To make sure that we did not use copyrighted images, we sourced the images from a copyright free image website called Pixabay. We also had to make sure that none of the sourced sound effects that we used were copyrighted, such as the sound effect that came with the explosion. To make sure that none of the sound effects were copyrighted, we made sure to get them from a copyright free sound effects website by the BBC called BBC Sound Effects. 

One ethical issue that comes up is the rating. The programme is to be distributed on BBC3 which is an online streaming site. Streaming sites are difficult to regulate as there is no way to stop someone underage from watching age restricted products. Therefore the question is raised as to whether it is appropriate to distribute age restricted products. The BBFC rating of the video will be a 15. We think that the rating of the video will be this as the show will contain lots of threat and danger as the characters will be under threat of extra-terrestrial invasion. Under the BBFC guidelines for media products suitable for 15s and over, threat or horror is acceptable as long as there is no prolonged focus on sadistic threat; therefore, the video will be age appropriate for 15-year olds as none of the threat is sadistic. The BBFC guidelines for 15 rated media products also state that dangerous behaviour should not be dwelt upon so that it could be copied, and that it depends on how realistic the dangerous actions are as to if they would be deemed copiable. As the product is set in space, it is unrealistic for the general audiences to be able to copy the sort of behaviour as space travel is not yet accessible to the majority. In terms of the opening credits, there will be no dialogue therefore foul language will not be a problem, but as part of the whole television show, the language may be cause moderate offence, which is justified under the BBFC guidelines for a 15 rated media product. Therefore, I would say that it is suitable to distribute the product as it is.

Another ethical issue that is a problem is the use of SPFX make-up. Latex is a common allergy, therefore it would unethical to make an actor have liquid latex applied to their body if there is a possibility of there being a reaction. Therefore to solve this, a patch test was done on the actors who would be wearing the liquid latex, where a small patch of latex gets put on the back of the actor's hand. After an hour it would be known whether the actor has an allergy to the latex and therefore be forced to find alternative methods of SPFX make-up.