BTEC LEVEL 3 CREATIVE MEDIA
PRODUCTION
UNIT 8: UNDERSTANDING THE
TELEVISION AND FILM INDUSTRIES
LO3: UNDERSTANDING CONTRACTUAL,
LEGAL AND ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS IN THE TELEVISION AND FILM INDUSTRIES
By: Sophie Samengo-Turner
Teacher: Ms Ahmadian
When making a film, the producer/film company needs
to be aware of various obligations they have to ensure that the film produced
fits within various levels of legislation and ethical considerations. Depending
on where the film is made the legislation will change, for instance if it is
made in France it will be done under French employment laws and French
contractual law, in England it will be done under English employment and
contractual law. In certain territories there will be union rules as well which
will govern employment contracts and working practices. In the US the unions
are very strong, film producers will use standard contracts which have been
negotiated between the unions and the film and TV industries and which also are
current to US employment legislation. The main film union in America is
SAG-AFTRA. One of Britain’s media unions is BECTU. ‘BECTU is the independent trade union for those working in
broadcasting, film, theatre, entertainment, leisure, interactive media and
allied areas’ (BECTU 1, 16/01/13). In Europe the situation is more
difficult because each European country has its own legislation but also has to
take account of European legislation from the EEC such as the working time
directive all of which has to be included in an employment contract.
Ethical considerations also are regional however the
mainstream film industry because it is so global normally follows roughly the
same rules, throughout the western film industry (West, US, Europe) for
instance the ethical treatment of animals on set.
I have been commissioned to right a report on the
different types of the different types of contracts and ethical considerations
that producers/film companies need to think about and consider when planning on
creating a film or television programme.
Employment legislation
Employment legislation ‘are laws which control and police the relationships
between employers and employees […] and it is the responsibility of the
employer to ensure that they are following the instructions and requirements of
each of the laws in their day-to-day business activities’ (Canwell, Sutherland, 2005, p 161). This
means that the relationship between an employer and their employee is
controlled by different laws and acts which govern the way people can act.
‘The health and safety
executive is the UK government body responsible for enforcing health and safety
at work legislation’
(Healthy Working lives, 13/01/13). The
basic legislation governing health and safety is the Health and Safety at Work
Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work act 1999 among others,
including some European legislations. ‘The
1974 act requires all employees to ensure so far as it is reasonably
practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees
among other provisions the act also requires
o
safe operation and maintenance of the
working environment, plant and systems
o
Maintenance of safe access and egress to
the work place
o
Safe use, handling and storage of
dangerous substances
o
Adequate training of staff to ensure
health and safety
o
Adequate welfare provision for staff at
work’
(Healthy
Working lives, 13/01/13)
There will be a nominated health and safety
supervisor at all locations where the production is being made. In addition,
for every location that a film is shot in, the producer should have a written
Risk Assessment if they are going on location which will include any
information necessary, for instance if they are going to the North Pole do the
cast and crew have proper clothing, can they be rescued if something happens,
where is the nearest hospital?
If there are children involved there will be
different considerations taken into account depending on the age of the
children and how they are involved in the production of the film. Children will
need to be protected from sexual predator. This may require the people who
directly work with them to be CRB (criminal record bureau) checked (this is
what all teachers have to do) to ensure that they have no criminal record. In
addition there needs to be provision for teaching and for looking after
children depending on their age and if their parents are not present. For
example, in the earlier Harry Potter films,
it would have been more important for the children to have someone watching
them all the time. The children’s time on set would have been limited to about
an hour each time if they were 10 years old.
Other policies which need to be considered are:
- […]
- Trade unions’
(Advice Guide, 13/01/13)
Trade unions
If there is something wrong with an employee
contract, whether it is discriminating the person, e.g. giving a female worker
lower pay then her male co-worker although they do exactly the same job, or if
a person is working over-time with no extra pay then the employee/contractors
can consult with their trade union on action that they can take. This can
result in suing a company for discrimination or fining them the extra money
which they should have paid in compensation for their actions. In each industry there are trade
unions.
In Britain, two trade
unions for film and television are BECTU and PACT. ‘The
Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematography and Theatre Union (BECTU) is the
trade union for people working in broadcasting, film and interactive media […].
Pact is the UK trade association representing and promoting the commercial
interests of independent feature film, television, digital, children’s and
animation media companies’
(Baylis etal, 2010, p 151). If there is a breach in a contract
agreement between an employer and their employee the employee can seek help and
advice at their trade union. Similarly, if there is an incident or accident at
work and a person needed advice or legal help then they can get assistance and
advice from their trade union. For example, if a researcher’s contract stated
that they only had to work from eight in the morning until six o'clock in the
evening but they worked from eight o'clock in the morning until eight o'clock
in the evening with no overtime payment then the researcher can go to his/her
trade union and ask for advice on how to complain and get the money they
deserve. There is a small fee for being part of a trade union although it is
not very much. If a freelance signs up for a membership at BECTU their first
year of membership costs £120 (BECTU 2,
21/01/13). After that, BECTU is obliged to help its members when they need
it and if there is a problem such as the government wanting to cut down funding
or the amount a person gets paid then BECTU is meant to get involved to help
resolve the problem with the interest of its members as a top priority.
Harassment or discrimination, this includes sexual
and racial discrimination. ‘Employees and workers
are protected by sex and race discrimination in the work place by virtue of the
Equality Act 2010’
(HR Bullets, 13/01/13). ‘Protection from
discrimination applies to recruitment; terms of employment; access to training
and promotion; access to benefits, facilities/services; dismissal and certain
post-termination situations’
(HR Bullets, 13/01/13). Since the Equality Act 2010 contains points on all
aspects that are regarded as discrimination the Race Relations Act 1976 and
other amendments are covered through this. This does not make the Race
Relations Act irrelevant, the act is just covered by other means, and so,
instead of one act helping one group of people, there is an act that protects
everyone from discrimination for reasons such as age, ethnicity, gender,
background and race.
Employee rights are ‘the
rights that an employee has to be treated in a fair, morally acceptable, or
legal way’ (Online Dictionary, 21/01/13). This
means that if an employee feels they are being treated unfairly they can
complain. If the accusations are just and severe enough then there is a
possibility of taking the problem to court. Although an employee may have a
lower status then their superiors, it does not give the superiors the ability
to push or over-work the employee.
Contracts
I shall be looking at the contracts that will be
required, the first one will be the contracts for the rights to the story of
the film including contracts for the music, the script, the financing and if
there are advance sales, contracts for that as well. These contracts are all
individual contracts based on local law, in the UK, the laws of England and
Wales. The contracts need to specify who the parties involved are, who is
buying/selling a product to/from whom. The contract also needs to include what
is being purchased or sold in the agreement (e.g. script, rights to the story,
music, and territorial rights to show the film). In the case of financing, the
contract would need to explain how repayment will be made and in what order
(normally the banks get repaid first followed by producers and other
investors). A contract needs to be specific about its value; the contract needs
to say how much is being paid for e.g. the script, and also needs to say when
the money is due. Almost all contracts will have an end of date. This means
that if a contract hasn’t started by a certain date then it will lapse. This
concept is especially important in the film business because, if pre-production
has started but the financing has not been raised the film will have to be abandoned
even though some contracts have been signed. There is often a penalty payment
involved but this will be less than the full value of the full contract.
One of the most significant contracts is the
employment contract for staff and talent. Normally, in the case of actors, the
contract is negotiated between an actor’s agent/s and the producer. Meanwhile,
in the case of the crew and supporting actors, there is a normal standard
format which is followed. As mentioned above, these contracts have to conform
with local employment laws and now in the UK, some European employment Laws as
well. Contracts in a job consist of information specifying what a person will
be doing in their job, for example, a contract will state that a person’s job
is a cameraman and that they are doing piece work on a certain salary per day
or week. The contract will also state what the responsibilities of this person
are and any further duties they have to their employer. ‘If you are offered any contract, read it carefully. You need to be
clear about:
·
What you are being asked to do
·
When you will be required to work
·
Payment you will receive
·
What is included and what is not’
(Baylis etal,
2010, P. 151)
All employment contracts should be in writing
stating the main terms and conditions of employment. They must include details
on wages, holidays and holiday pay, sickness benefits and notice period. As a
film this is often a short term employment. The employment contract will be for
a fixed term. The main employment acts are the National Minimum Wage Act 1998,
Working Time Regulations 1998, and Employment Rights Act 1996. These Acts
regulate the minimum wage a person can get paid, regulations in the hours they
work, e.g. it is illegal for people to be told to work for a period of time
without a break.
There are two different
types of employee contracts; permanent and fixed term contracts. If someone is
employed through a permanent contract then they do not have an end date to
their contract. They are employed by a company until they either decide to move
on or get made redundant from that company. On the other hand, if an employee
was on a fixed term contract then they would have a fixed starting and
finishing date and would work throughout that period of time as their contract
stated.
Confidentiality is incredibly important in any
agreement. ‘Here
are some examples of confidential information:
ØPersonal
details about employees (their addresses, bank account details and telephone
numbers)
Ø[…]
ØPayroll
details (salaries and pay scales)’
(Canwell, Sutherland, 2005, p 123).
It is important to keep
an employee’s information such as payroll confidential since some people get
paid more than others and it is a private agreement between the employer and
their employee. This agreement builds up trust between the employee and
employer. It is also important that if the company keeps the employees
documents confidential, then the employee is to keep their work confidential.
Keeping things private prevents people from becoming jealous and prevents
people from being discriminated or categorized by the other workers due to
different payment or background information.
Exclusivity means that
if someone works for a contract and they have signed the exclusivity clause
then that person works for that company and cannot work for another company. An
example of this is the case where a boy joined two different singing
competition programmes, X Factor and
one other. When you join one of these programmes you have to sign an
exclusivity form stating that the rights to any songs made or sung by this
person belong to the programme. This boy had signed this twice and once he was
no longer in one programme X Factor
found out about his involvement with the other programme. X Factor had to get the exclusivity contract from the other
programme to allow him to compete continue competing in the X Factor.
Legal
Obligations
The producer/film company has to be aware of various
acts governing the creation of product which will be seen, heard or read by the
wider public. The basic rules are that the content must not be obscene, too
violent or offend public morals. The Broadcasting Act 1990, amended by the
Broadcasting Act 1996 to include digital contents, covers all aspects of the
television industry in the UK including the operation of ITV franchises and the
BBC charter. The Broadcasting Act ‘is a series of laws, that relate to
what is legal and illegal to broadcast on TV and radio in the UK. For example,
if a TV station decided to show of a pornographic nature, then this would be in
breach of the broadcasting act’ (Blog Spot,
23/01/13). Any content shown on British television
has to comply with this Act. From the point of view of independent producers,
the Broadcast Act mandated that the new ITV franchises ‘give
25% of the production to independent producers’
(Media, 13/01/13). Also ‘the
Obscene Publications Act 1959 applied to broadcast services […] the criminal
justice and public order act 1986 (racial hatred) is modified to ensure it
applies to program services’
(Media, 13/01/13). It also set up the broadcasting standards
commission which includes complaints from viewers.
A film or TV programme is made up of a series of
intellectual properties ranging from the original idea to the finished. At
every level, the person buying the intellectual property whether it is the
producer/film company buying the idea through to the local film distributor
buying the finished product, their lawyers will want to prove ‘Chain of Title’.
‘Chain of Title’ is the name given to the documentary evidence that the
producer/film company has the right to sell this intellectual property in
his/her film. This includes everything from the script, music and sometimes,
any special technical innovations that have been made. Intellectual property is
an asset and film piracy, taking someone’s intellectual property e.g. via the
internet or taping a film in a cinema on a hand held device is a crime. ‘Intellectual property rights, very
broadly, are rights granted to creators and owners of works that are the result
of human intellectual creativity. The main Intellectual Property Rights;
copyright, patents, trademarks, design rights, protection from passing off and
the protection of confidential information’
(JISC legal, 13/01/13). In the film
and TV world Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection is taken extremely
seriously. In the UK the maximum penalty of breaching copyright through piracy
or any other unlawful copying, is ten years in jail and an unlimited fine.
If you were to create a franchise (James Bond, Harry Potter) or merchandise
which you want to protect as belonging you as the originator, you can copyright
it. The UK copyright service, for instance, allows you to register your
property ‘for
international copyright protection by securing independent evidence that will
help prove originality and ownership in future claims or disputes.’
(Copyright Service, 13/01/13). UK
copyright law is governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. There
is a problem with any copyright or intellectual property. The problem is that
each territory, especially the US, has its own laws and often, just because you
have copyright claims in one country, does not mean you can sue for
infringement in another country. It is advisable, if the copyright is suitably
international, to register for copyright in each of the main territories you
intend to sell in. Since most films are sold internationally it is important
that they are copyrighted in any country they are supposed to be sold in.
‘A “trade mark” means any sign capable of being represented
graphically which is capable of distinguishing goods or services […]. A trade mark may […] consist of words (including
personal names), designs, letters, numerals or the shape of goods or their
packaging’ (Legislation, 17/01/13). Companies can pay to have their trademarks
legally belong to them; therefore, if someone tries to copy a trademark or make
profit out of selling something that is branded with a company’s trademark
without a company’s consent then you can be sued. A trademark is what makes a
company recognizable for everyone.
For example, Paramount Pictures is displayed as a mountain
surrounded by stars, that picture is a trademark. Paramount Pictures has had to
legally enforce that this is their trademark each time they sell new
merchandise. This picture shows that more clearly. Each of the logos are owned
by Paramount Pictures but each sells a different thing. The first enlisted
Paramount in the picture sells clothing, the next sells toys and game followed
by the one that sells motion picture films and next is the beverage glassware.
This means that no one can sell any of these products with the Paramount
Pictures logo on it. If Paramount Pictures was to open up a sector that sold
tables with their logo on it, Paramount would need to sign up again to have
their trademark legal recognisable for that product too.
Another
form of IPR infringement is passing off. This is where you make something which
looks and feels exactly like something that has already been created and that
is protected by copyright. For instance, if you were to create a 3D animation
staring a cowboy and a spaceman and call it Toy Tales, this could be considered
passing off of the Pixar animation Toy
Story 1995. If Pixar felt that
the look and feel of Toy Tales was so close to Toy Story it could take legal action to force the producer of Toy
Tales to withdraw it from the cinema and TV and also possibly claim damages for
infringement of copyright.
To
prevent discrimination when people try to get jobs there is the Race Relations
Act 1976. ‘The
Race Relations Act 1976 makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment against
men or women on the ground of race, colour or ethnic background.’ (Surridge etal, 2005, p 85). Therefore, an employer cannot
discriminate when choosing who to employ because a person has a certain colour
of skin or follows certain ethnic beliefs without good reason. If a film being
created is based on a true story about an Asian man finding redemption after
committing crime or an African man trying to find love then it is acceptable
for auditions for these parts to exclude certain people to keep to the plot. It
would not be right to hire an American man to play the part of the African man
just like it would not be acceptable to hire an Asian man to play the part of a
white British in a film based on a true story about a historical event
involving a white British man. ‘The Race
Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 went further, by prohibiting race discrimination
in all public functions.’ (Care
and the Law, 21/01/13). The Act was later amended in 2003 to enhance ‘definition of indirect discrimination and changing the way in
which the burden of proof applies, as well as removing a number of exceptions
from the legislation’ (Care
and the Law, 21/01/13).
Individuals can sue for
libel if a person, e.g. a reporter, has released information that ruins another
person, e.g. a celebrity, representation without evidence. After doing some
research I found that celebrities are constantly suing papers and magazines for
libel. Kate Winslet ‘filed legal
papers in response to a January article entitled "Should Kate Winslet win
an Oscar for the world's most irritating actress?" which she said
"hurt and embarrassed" her’ (USmagazine.com, 21/01/13). Some say
that celebrities take their claims too far. Catherine
Zeta Jones sued a magazine for printing wedding pictures that they weren’t
allowed because she claimed that they made her ‘look
fat’ (News,
21/01/13). Last year there was a debate about how extreme people have
become over libel. Now, ‘libel
claimants should have to demonstrate "substantial harm" to their
reputations if they want to sue successfully in the courts’ (Telegraph,
21/01/13). The main reason there were these changes is because people have
been campaigning against people suing for libel. They do this because it is a
massive dent in the right to freedom of speech. There is no freedom of speech
if someone can just get fined for saying/showing something that another person
doesn’t like, such as a picture which makes them look fat in their opinion.
Ofcom (Office of Communications) regulates
television as well as other media sectors. Ofcom checks that ‘people are
protected from being treated unfairly in television […], and from having their
privacy invaded’ (Ofcom), Ofcom also prevents harmful or inappropriate language
when it is not needed, for example, in a children’s programme. If people find
something offensive and contact Ofcom or if Ofcom notices something
inappropriate before a programme is televised and it is not removed, the
programme can be cancelled or fined.
Ofcom receive many
complaints about different television programmes. An example of this is Eastenders. Eastenders showed an episode where a mother loses her child. In her
grief she then switched her dead baby with another woman’s child. People
complained about the nature of this episode. A ‘spokesperson for the regulator said:
"We assess whether programmes have gone against the Broadcasting Code. At
the moment, we don't think that's the case. The clause it might go against
would be 'general harm and offence'."’ (Digital
Spy, 21/01/13)
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) ‘is an independent, non-governmental
body. We’ve classified cinema films since 1912, videos, DVDs and some video
games since 1984. Accountable to parliament our primary aims are to protect
children and other vulnerable groups from harm through legally enforceable
classification decisions and to empower parents and children through content
information and education’ (Parent Port, 13/01/13). This means that
the government do not control or fund the BBFC but the government can vouch
that they are helping protect children and other vulnerable groups from seeing
or hearing things through the means of films or games. The BBFC classification
applies to all moving picture contents for showing on DVD or in cinema, it does
not apply to television. The BBFC regulates films by giving them a rating of
either; U, PG, 12/12A, 15 or 18.For a film to fit into one of these categories
it is graded for the different aspects in the film. Here is a description for
each category:
U (universal): It
should be a positive story with no reference to illegal drugs or misuse of
drugs with minimal violence. If violence is present then any weapons should be
unrealistic or hard to acquire. The only sexual behaviour present should be
kissing and the only allowed reference should be ‘making love’ (BBFC)
PG (Parental
Guidance): These films ‘should
not disturb a child aged around eight or older’ (BBFC).
There should only be mild bad language and sexual activity can be implied but
only infrequently and innuendoes may be present. Violence is allowed but not in
detail. Any discrimination present only if there is a clear message of
disapproval present and illegal drug us/misuse is only present if there is a
clear anti-drug message
12A/12
(suitable for children over 12): 12A is only relevant for films in cinema
whilst 12 is for DVDs and video games, they mean that a child under the age of
12 is able to go and see a film in cinema while a 12 means that you have to be
above the age of 12 to buy or rent a 12 rated DVD or game. ‘Discriminatory language or
behaviour must not be endorsed by the work as a whole. Aggressive
discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless
clearly condemned’ (BBFC). Drug misuse must be in infrequent and cannot be given in
detail. Any suicide or self-harming should not be given in detail because it
could be copied. Stronger language is allowed, including swear words but they
should be infrequent. Whilst nudity is allowed, sexual contents must be
discreet and not in detail and should be appropriate for young teenagers to
watch. Any violence should not be focused on in detail. There should not be
huge amounts of blood but some gore is acceptable if it is justified15 (suitable for
teenagers 15 and over): the film should not focus on discrimination as the main
picture and any drug misuse should not be promoted. Any horror in the film must
not be sadistic or sexualised but behaviour can include self-harm and suicide
although, not in too much detail. There can be frequently strong language and
any sexual activity should not be in strong detail. Gore is acceptable.
18 (Suitable for 18 and
over): ‘In line with the consistent findings of the BBFC’s
public consultations and The Human Rights Act 1998, at ‘18’ the BBFC’s
guideline concerns will not normally override the principle that adults should
be free to choose their own entertainment’ (BBFC).
There are exceptions such as anything that breaches the law or if it could
affect behaviour in society.
If people attempt to enter a film which
they are not in a criterion for, for example a 13 year old attempting to enter
a 15 rated film, then that person can be banned from a cinema/ cinema chain if
they are caught. These film guidelines have been put there for a reason. An example of what can go wrong by breaking
these rules is the James Bulger case. Two year old James Bulger was killed
after he was ‘splashed with paint and battered to death’ (Daily Mail). This is
the same fate that befalls Chucky in Child’s
Play 3 (1991). Apparently, the two killers, aged 10, had seen the film
within a month of killing the 2 year old boy and it seems that they decided to
re-enact the killing of Chucky on this little boy.
Unfortunately, even when some people
follow the guidelines it can still go wrong. Two women, a 24 and 26 year old,
were charged with the murder of a 16 year old girl. Suzanne Capper was tortured
and murdered in 1992. During the trial one of the killers, ‘Bernadette McNeilly, 24, who was jailed for Suzanne's
murder had said 'I'm Chucky, Chucky wants to play' as she injected Miss Capper
with amphetamine’ (Daily Mail). Not all people respond to films in the
appropriate manner but because of the Human Rights Act 1998, ‘the right to freedom of expression’ (BBFC), this
film breaches no rules to have it banned. Also, this film and these crimes were
committed before this became relevant.
Although BBFC does not regulate
television, there is a restriction called watershed. This means that there is
no show with adult content before what is called the 9 o’clock watershed in the
evening. After this any programme, be it PG or 18 can be shown. From the point
of view of the independent producer, the classification is often a key
consideration, if their target audience is pre-teen, then it is obviously not
right to show content that gets a 15 classification. On the other hand, a PG
classification will offer deter some teenagers going to see it because they
believe it is too childish. As ever, commercial considerations come into play
at all levels of the film making process.
Ethical
Obligations
Ethical obligations and
considerations are a list of rules and paperwork that need to be taken into
consideration when working in the film and television industries. Ethical
obligations range from scandals to protecting children. A person’s ethics are
what they consider to be right and wrong. What also needs to be considered is
representation, how people are shown and represented in film and television.
In a work place there
are ethical obligations which a company must follow. ‘There are more than 60 000 disabled people of
working age in the UK, but only 30,000 of them are in employment. On average
they are paid 20 per cent less than able-bodied people’ (Adams,
2003, p 286). At the BBC they are ethically obliged to hire disabled
people. When researching I came across a video on a disabled man who was hired
by the BBC. Rikki Singh, an assistant producer in a wheel chair, found a paid
work experience scheme for disabled graduates and gained a job after someone in
the office was promoted. BBC has other schemes to involve disabled people such
as Diversity. ‘We have our own BBC Disability Access Service that provides
assessments and support for disabled people throughout the recruitment process
and during their employment with us. […] we regularly audit our systems and
buildings to ensure accessibility for all staff and visitors with disabilities.’ (BBC,
21/01/13). Many people view ethical obligations and employee equality as
the same thing. This is because people should already know that it is ethically
wrong to discriminate and should already treat everyone equally.
Representation
is often taken into consideration when creating a film or programme. A director
or producer will consciously consider how a person should act/behave to display
a representation of other people like him/her. This can help stray away from
stereotyping. BBC has a representations policy to prevent wrongly stereotyping.
When discussing how they include and portray tribal people they ‘should take care over the use of terms
that have the potential to be misleading or discriminatory, such as
‘primitive’, ‘backward’, ‘savage’ or ‘stone-age’’ (BBC
2, 24/01/13). Anyone with a television licence has the ability to watch the
BBC and so the BBC needs to be responsible and not show discrimination to
prevent the audience from thinking that, for example, tribal people in the
Amazon are primitive and savage. By
misrepresenting people in television or film, it can upset people. For example,
in the film Keith Lemon: The Film
2012, many people were upset by the representation set about the people in
Leeds. This could have been prevented if all the people in Leeds had not been
depicted as immature and weird.
Ethical obligations in this day and age are
paramount to the TV and film industries. Following certain scandals such as the
Ant and Dec phone in scandal in which the two presenters ‘cheated viewers out of £7.8million by ignoring phone votes
[…]Winners in Takeaway's Jiggy Bank
contest during 2005 and 2006 were rigged. Only viewers who lived within an hour
of that week's location would be eligible, ignoring calls worth £4million.
Winners were also fixed for Ant and Dec's Game show Marathon Prize Mountain in 2005, ignoring calls worth £2.3million’ (Mirror,
14/01/13). Other shows rigged were X
Factor (December 2005), Dancing on
Ice (March 2007) and I’m a Celebrity,
Get Me Out of Here (2011). Phone callers were charged for voting yet their
votes were not counted. There were also 30 ITV game programmes which had
similar scams. There have also been other things such as explorers pretending
to tour the wild whilst they were really next to hotels. All these are defying
their viewers and lying to the public. In addition to this there are also basic
human rights (sex, age and race discrimination) and health and safety
regulation which is designed to ensure everyone on set or in studio is working
in a safe environment. It is advised that the producer/film company has a
written statement covering all the issues that will be issued to the employee
and contractors (including actors) when they are taken on and sign their
contracts.
Other ethical consideration will arise depending on
the location, type of shooting, environment and should be identified and
quantified at the risk assessment stage. For example, if a company was filming
in Cornwall, in the sea, the producer/film company would need to take into
consideration contacting wildlife companies to ensure that they have a right to
film there without disturbing the natural habitat. This could mean that they
learn they are not allowed to swim within 100 metres of a sea bed or they are
not allowed to touch it.
In conclusion, after doing much research
on the legal, ethical and contractual obligations in the film and television
industries, I have learnt that things are done the way they are done because of
the Acts and restrictions set in place. I now understand the difference between
fixed term and permanent contracts. Were one is full time employment and the
other is only for a fixed period of time, normally the person only does piece
work. There are also many legal obligations which need to be taken into
consideration when employing people to prevent discrimination in every form
(age, gender, disabilities, race, background) and when deciding where to shoot,
for example, whether there are any regulations to preserve wildlife. There are
also regulations to prevent younger people from seeing/hearing things that may
be disturbing for their age.
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