Getting Into The Industry

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

The Legal Side: Contracts

A contract is an agreement that is intended to be enforced by rule, so breaking a contract would be illegal. The media industry use many various types of contracts to keep themselves and their employees safe.

One type of contract is the confidentiality contract, which its purpose is to protect information by keeping it confidential. This does not only keep employees safe by keeping their personal information safe (E.g. – phone number, email address, house address), but also the employers safe because an employee will not tell anyone about a companies "trading secrets". One reason why this type of contract is needed in the media industry in order to keep the spoilers of upcoming films and TV shows confidential until release. If everyone knew what happened in a film before it was released, this could affect how many people watch it, hindering a films success. So for this reason, confidentiality contracts are needed to guarantee that production ideas within the media industry remain a secret until their official (released or announced at a press conference).

Another type of contract is the exclusivity contract. This contract means that an employee can work with one company and one company only while contracted to them. This type of contract is beneficial to the employer as it makes sure that they stay loyal to the company and do not help out any rival companies. An example of this in the media industry would be the BBC and ITV. No one would be allowed to work at both at the same time because they are rival companies, so a company like ITV would not want their payed employee helping out a rival company like the BBC as that may hinder ITV's success. So overall, an exclusivity contract is needed so employees will stay loyal to a company and will not help out rivals by telling a rival company about your companies secrets.

If a contract is breached, the first step in any case where a contract is breached is to notify the other party and resolve the issue. If that fails, then it is possible to take legal action.

Sources

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/breach-of-contract

The Legal Side: Employment Legislation

Health & Safety

Health and safety is in place to make sure everyone is safe in a working environment. Usually this act is kept in place with everyone contributing, the boss making sure the working location is safe, and employees being organised and not leaving items that could be harmful unattended. An example of this being in the industry is if a studio has wires everywhere. This is a safety hazard as people could potentially trip, making it against health and safety.

Equal Opportunities

Equal opportunities is where as an employer you are not allowed to hinder peoples careers down to something like their race, sex or age. So you would not be allowed to reject anyone for a job for being a certain race. An example of this being in the media industry is an employer rejected an applicant for a job down to the fact that they are pregnant.

Employee Rights

Employee rights are part of your contract, meaning rights can't be taken away from you unless it is agreed by both parties. Employee rights are basically a load of requirements in a contract. An example of some of these contracts are how much you are paid. This protects the employee because it means the company cannot unfairly give them a pay cut while they are serving a contract.

Copyright prevents people from copying your content, and also means you cannot use anyone else's content without their permission. For example, you could not use any music for your film unless it is yours or you have written permission from the artist to use it. This helps the industry as it means no one can make money off of their own content, and protects the owners of the content. Copyright infringement is illegal, and people that commit copyright infringement can actually be sued by the content holders.

Trade Unions

A trade union is a group of people that work in the same trade and whose goal is to address the common industry related issues that happen on a daily basis. An example of what a trade union does is fight for fair payment. A union for the TV and Film industry is known as BECTU. Being part of a Union is not a requirement but they do offer huge benefits to their members.

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The Legal Side: Ethical Obligations In The TV & Film Industry

Who are the BBFC?

The BBFC is an organisation funded by the film industry and they are responsible for the film classification in the UK. The BBFC also have the power to censor and even ban films in the UK within reason. Although this may be a pain to people who want to see a film, but are underage, it does indeed protect the general public. It protects the public as it will prevent children from watching harmful inappropriate content. With this system in place, parents can always be satisfied about what sort of content their child is watching due to the film rating. In order to rate content, the BBFC have to watch it first, and then review it coming up to a final conclusion on what the film should be rated as. For example, if a film was rated U, it'd mean there was absolutely nothing inappropriate or offensive in the feature, and it is safe for everyone to watch. If a film got an 18 rating, then it would probably contain violence, drug use and sexual related content in the feature, basically content that is inappropriate for children.

However, these ratings can also be argued too. An example very recently in the news was about the film Paddington. The BBFC gave the film a final rating of PG due to 'mild language' yet quite a lot of people disagree and believe it should be rated a U.

In my opinion the BBFC are a very important organisation as they protect everyone from unsuitable content. Without their organisation, film ratings wouldn't exist in the UK so the film industry would be a mess. It would exist with lots of inappropriate and offensive content with no restrictions on anything, meaning even children could gain access to highly inappropriate and highly offensive content easily. So the BBFC play a huge role in the act of protecting the public when it comes to film.

Who are Ofcom?

Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK which protect the UK public when it comes to communication services. These are the people you speak to if you want to make a complaint about a TV show. So for example, if you were offended by a TV news broadcast, you'd get in contact with Ofcom if you wanted to complain about it. To make sure broadcasters do not offend people who could complain, they implement a broadcasting code that all broadcasters must follow for legal reasons (http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/broadcast-codes/broadcast-code/). Breaking the code is illegal so if a broadcaster breaks this code they could be sued.

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The Legal Side: Other Obligations

BBC Code of Practice

The BBC code of practice is a type of contract that agrees that relations between the BBC and independent producers are legally fair for both parties. The code has also been approved by Ofcom. The code of practice states that the BBC will "agree its ‘Terms of Trade’ with Pact prior to publication."

This basically means that the BBC have certain guidelines in order to be fair to the independent producer. This is a massive advantage to all independent producers because if they ever want to do business with a big co-operation like the BBC, they can make sure that they are treated equally and fair.

Want to find out more about the code of practice?

Visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tv/articles/how-we-do-business

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is a legal term that protects the property of production creators, especially in the Media industry and other creative fields. Examples of intellectual property include music, images, and film. So for example, no one but the intellectual property owner would be allowed to use music, without the creators written permission. Although intellectual property is not just production work, this may also apply to trade secrets as well. So in the media industry, you would not be allowed to share any secrets about the film before it is released, which could very well destroy the success of a film.

In my opinion intellectual property is very important as it protects the rights to films in the media industry, and protects copyright owners to save them a lot of money.

Watershed Policy

The Watershed policy is a broadcasting code set up by Ofcom with applies to television and radio shows. The watershed in the UK is at 9pm, and the policy contains all the information about what broadcasting companies are allowed and not allowed to do before the watershed, and after it.

This watershed has been put in place to control the amount of unsuitable material that is broadcast at certain times. Unsuitable material could apply to many things, such as violence, graphic/distressing imagery, or even swearing. For example, swearing is not allowed on TV during the day regardless. However, after 9pm, swearing can be used depending on its nature. This system is in place to protect children from unsuitable content, and the reason why it is allowed to be broadcast after 9pm is because it is uncommon for children to be watching TV at the time compared to in the day, which is why the watershed is at 9pm.

However, just because you can do certain things as a broadcasting company after 9pm, doesn't mean you can't do everything. Things like adult content are still not allowed on at 9pm, and depending on its content are not allowed on until even later or not on TV at all!

Ofcom have dealt with over 300 cases of the watershed policy being broken. If it is broken, Ofcom will take action. The most recent case of the watershed policy being broken regards inappropriate music videos like Rihanna’s S&M (which was once shown in the early afternoon).

Controversies & Social Concerns in TV

There have been many cases of social concerns and controversies in the media industry. Controversies and social concerns can take many forms, such as ethical issues such as discrimination and stereotyping.

A good example of a TV show that has had quite a lot of controversies in the past is the popular car entertainment show 'Top Gear'. For example, in November 2008, TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson once joked about lorry drivers murdering prostitutes in a stereotypical way. This got over 500 complaints from viewers and even a member of parliament complained to the BBC with an order for Clarkson to be sacked. Although Clarkson was never sacked, it does prove that if the wrong things are broadcasted on TV, the public will take action if the broadcasters don't, and broadcasters usually tackle these social concerns in many ways.

If a broadcasting company is getting complaints, the best thing they can do is perhaps write out a public apology to those effected, and fine/sack those responsible. If anyone was hurt or anything was damaged, the broadcasters could also pay compensation to deal with the issue. The BBC have done this many times in the past.

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What The Future Holds: The Internet

The Internet is an amazing invention as it allows millions of computers to connect near and far. However, the Internet is also heavily affecting the media industry.

The Internet is heavily affecting the media industry from a production perspective due to the high amount of online piracy. Today, nearly every film is a few clicks away on Google for free usually uploaded on websites like Putlocker (a website where you can watch films for free, illegally). Due to piracy, the production companies within media are heavily loosing out on a lot of money, and if it carries on at this rate, production companies will not have enough funding to be able to produce content. So in a way, it can be said that the online piracy is killing the media industry.

But it can also be said that the Internet helps the media industry massively from a production perspective as well. Today, the Internet is responsible for creating some of the worlds most iconic people. Internet personalities like YouTubers have mostly the Internet to thank for their success as no where near as many people would watch their videos if it wasn't for YouTube. So overall, the Internet can be a brilliant marketing tool if used properly as you can market your media production to millions online from the comfort of your own home.

It isn't just the production of media that the Internet is changing, media is also being changed from an audience perspective as well. Before the Internet, the stereotypical person who watches films would go to cinemas on Friday and Saturday nights or perhaps pop down to their local Blockbuster and rent out a film for a few days. The Internet has changed this, as now the audience have access to films on streaming websites like Netflix and Love Film, and can also watch it on YouTube too. And in some cases, result to online piracy. This can be seen as a good thing because if the audience want to watch a film, it is a few clicks away and can be accessed easily, it also saves time instead of renting a movie or going to the cinema.

The Internet can also be a bad thing for the audience of media productions. It can be said that the internet is taking away the traditional experience of going to the cinema, and the traditional experience of going to your local film store. Blockbuster, a former movie store, very popular in the 1980's and 1990's, just recently went bankrupt because of less people using film stores. So overall, it can be said that the Internet has taken away the tradition of cinema and film. A tradition that sadly at this rate looks like it is lost forever.

In my personal opinion though I do think the internet can be a very good thing for the media industry, as it has made it a lot easier for new independent producers to break through. If you are an independent producer today all you need to do to promote your film online is just upload the trailer (or maybe upload it into a short film) to YouTube. Then from there you could set up a Twitter and Facebook page, and you'll gradually gain a following. All this can be done in one morning from the comfort of your own home, and if done right you could gain quite a huge following in such a short time. The best part about this is you are promoting your film 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The trailer and Twitter/Facebook profiles remain there at all times, promoting your film. Whereas 20 years ago before the Internet, to even have a slight chance of making something as an independent producer, you'd have to take months out of your life to go to loads of events to hope that people will watch your film and like it at the same time, which could be very risky and tedious. So in my opinion, it does allow new talent break through a lot easier, so with a lot more opportunities for independent producers and with a lot more film makers today, it can only make the industry and the quality of films better.

However, although we have discussed how piracy is affecting the media industry, in my opinion, the police are definitely getting a lot better with online piracy. For example, the City of London Police's specialist piracy unit were just very recently given more fundings from the government to combat online digital piracy, which will keep them running until at least 2016. The department was also set up in 2013, and in that time has suspended 2,359 internet domain names and seized more than £1.29m worth of suspected fake goods. So as long as piracy is being dealt with by law enforcement (which at this rate it certainly is being dealt with), there should be nothing stopping the media industry when it comes to the internet.

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What The Future Holds: CGI

CGI (Computer-Generated Image) is a form of graphic design that creates and/or contributes to images in films, video games, television programs, videos, simulators and commercials.

CGI is changing media forever from a production perspective. With technology like CGI only getting better daily, it gives media producers the opportunity to use CGI to make the impossible, possible. One of the big positives of CGI is that it allows a media producer to create events that would not be possible via real life recordings or would be a lot more expensive to stage in real life, saving production money. Another advantage is that CGI makes the film look a lot more attractive to the viewer. This helps the production of films because it means more people are likely to watch it, helping the media industry from a production perspective.

Although CGI may work out cheaper than setting up the event in real life (depending on what you want to feature in your media production), that by no means that it is cheap. If you want CGI done to the best possible standard, then it will be expensive, and it will also take a lot of time. So if you have a tight deadline, then CGI would probably not be the best option.

CGI is also changing media from an audience perspective as well. Popular films that use CGI include Avatar and Jurassic Park, and without the use of CGI these films would not be possible. For example, CGI allowed Avatar to create the fictional world of Pandora and allowed Jurassic Park to create the dinosaurs. So overall the major advantage with CGI is that they are no limits to what can be created visually, meaning many more great films can be created for the audience in the future thanks to CGI. The other alternatives to CGI include actual live recordings (which are impossible for fantasy related films) or paint backdrops (which would look low in quality). So overall, CGI makes films look a lot more realistic, meaning they'll be in better quality for the audience.

A major disadvantage of CGI from an audience perspective is that if it is not to a high enough quality, it will come out looking heavily unrealistic, and may end up ruining the whole entire film. Many almost award winning films have been created over the years that were a let down due to their bad CGI, in fact, it's actually more common than you think, and bad CGI appeared in 'The Mummy Returns' to portray the Scorpion King. To us it just looks more like a plastic king. Overall audience do not like low quality, so if CGI is low quality, the audience will loose interest and may not want to watch the film (this will also harm the content producers as they will not get any money as no one is watching their film).

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imagery

What The Future Holds: 3D

3D technology in the media industry has become a massive thing over the last few years. 3D films date back to the 1915's in some form, and since then they have only got bigger. In 1950's they exited in a few American cinema's, and in the 1980's and 90's they existed worldwide in high end cinemas. And today 3D films can now be found in nearly all cinemas across the globe playing on a daily basis, it is now a huge part of media.

3D technology can be seen as both a good thing and bad thing from a production perspective. It can be a good thing because it means that content producers can now feature their films in 3D, and can mean they can charge more, making them more money. And especially if your film has a lot of special effects, 3D features would make a brilliant selling factor as many people would to watch your film to see these effects in 3D. One film that was very successful with 3D was Avatar. Avatar sold well due to 3D as the film has so many entertaining special effects that really challenged 3D to its maximum. If it wasn't for 3D Avatar wouldn't have been successful, so from a production perspective it can really make a good selling factor.

3D can also be a bad thing from a production perspective. We know 3D can benefit the success of a film, but it can also hinder the success of a film. Making a film for 3D purposes can be expensive, so is it any coincidence that the most successful 3D film of all time is also one of the most expensive film to make of all time? It is the 8th most expensive film made, with $237 million being spent on the production of Avatar. So overall, making a film for 3D purposes can be a gamble, and you could loose millions if your film is a flop.

3D can also be a good and bad thing from an audience perspective as well. It can be a good thing as it means the audience now have the option to watch films come to life to a whole new level. 3D doesn't replace 2D when it comes to cinema, but to have the option there for cinema lovers is always a bonus.

However, a negative to 3D from a audience perspective is that it can make people feel sick. In the UK alone, more than three million people alone have some form a condition hindering them from experiencing 3D as it was intended so it could leave them feeling ill. This is very bad from an audience perspective as the last thing you should have to experience when watching a film is discomfort.

Films are used in 3D due to the special effects and action that takes place, so if a film has loads of action and special effects, they are usually very successful in 3D. So it is no wonder why Jurassic Park and Avatar are successful thanks to 3D. But films that have also been successful in 3D very recently are films like Godzilla and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The reason why these films were made in 3D was all down to the special effect advantage. So overall, 3D films appear to be changing action films in a very good way, as now 3D allows action to come to life instead of just on a flat screen.

Another bad factor about 3D is that ticket prices are more expensive than 2D. From my own personal experience, my local cinema charges customers an extra £2 on top of the general price, so it can be a bit pricey. But this is just not a one off, as many branded Cinema’s like Cineworld also have a 3D price rule, where you have to pay for the 3D glasses, even if you don’t plan on keeping them. So overall, 3D does cost more.

In my opinion 3D is moving film forward, as it allows action films to come to life. Although 3D may not be the full future, it may be a guidance to drive film forward, to make films come even more to life.

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