M2 Consideration of ethical issues

In the creation of this music video I must also consider the ethicalities of the content it features and messages behind it. I want to ensure that my music video is ethical and isn't deemed as offensive by viewers. I covered the laws I must follow relating to representation and equal opportunities in my M2 Consideration of legal issues post. 

Representation: In media studies, representation is the way aspects of society, such as gender, age or ethnicity, are presented to audiences. It is important that in the creation of my music video I do not offensively or inaccurately represent any group of people or demographic. Mis-representing a group of people can lead to many problems and just make your video less popular. A disrespectful music video may mean the artist loses loyal followers and could just corrupt their iconography in general. There isn't much imagery in my video that could be perceived as offensive or misrepresentation. There is one scene in which the actor looks as if he is smoking cannabis (won't be cannabis as is illegal,) however this will not be directed at any group of people and is just to represent some consequences often associated with boredom and depression. It doesn't mean that all people who are bored or who suffer from depression take drugs but they are often seen together. This scene will only last for a few seconds. There is no imagery that could be perceived as stereotypical white male teenage behaviour as the shots don't outline any racial or gender based stereotypes. Part of this video will be shot inside of a church to allude to the religious connotations of rain (theme of the song,) the church and religion will not be represented in any negative manor and instead will be made to look beautiful - only positive religious connotations. Furthermore there will be no sort of actions which could be seen as mimicry such as prayer hands etc. because the actor and the character he plays are not necessarily religious and therefore it could be deemed as disrespectful, instead a sort of curiosity is shown towards religion and the beauty of this location is portrayed. In addition no logos or road signs which make this church identifiable will be seen as this means that this location cannot be misrepresented as people don't know where it is. 

Stuart Hall's theory on representation and reception: Stuart Hall was a Jamaican-born British sociologist, cultural theorist and political activist. He was born in Kingston in 1932 then came to the UK in the 1950s and was later dubbed the “godfather of multiculturalism” for his contributions to Sociology. One of his most famous theories - reception theory is very relevant to myself as a filmmaker and music video director and I will be explaining the ways in which I can use it to help me in the production process. This theory states that media productions are always encoded by the producer, this means that whoever produces the media product fills it with values and messages. The audience of this product then decode it, different consumers will decode it in different ways, this is often not in the way the producer intended. 

Hall said that a text can be received in one of three different ways; Dominant or preferred reading, Negotiated reading and Oppositional reading. Dominant or preferred reading is when the text is read in the way the producer intended and the audiences agree with the ideologies and messages the producer encoded. This is positive for the producer as it means their product was effective in the way they intended. There are many factors which could lead to audiences having a dominant reading; Relevant to society, Audiences choose to consume it, From the same culture, Same age, Narrative is easily understandable, Clear message. As my music video is aimed more towards the reformers in society these messages do not have to be as clear and I have purposefully ensured that there is room for variations in audience perception in my music video as it is conceptual and I want everyone to interpret with raw emotion and their current unaffected state of mind (this matches with the song as it is also open for interpretation.) However there should still be a fair amount of dominant reading as the audience's ideologies may align with the artist's iconography and they are choosing to consume the video. I instead feel that my video will probably lean more towards negotiated reading, where the audience accepts the views of the producer but has their own understanding of the text - a compromise between dominant and oppositional reading. This is still positive as it means the message has been valued and considered, it can even lead to increased viewership as it could be a bit controversial which warrants shares. Some factors that lead to negotiated reading are; Audiences not having the same life experiences, Differences in age, Don't understand all messages or narrative. In contrast to dominant reading, oppositional reading occurs when the audience rejects the producers encoded messages and ideologies, often interpreting a media product in the opposite manor to how the producer intended. This could be caused by; Audiences disliking the genre, Differences in culture, Doesn't portray society accurately, Controversial themes and imagery. For a media product such as an advertisement this is often seen as a negative thing as it means their media product was unsuccessful. However many people say that 'there is no such thing as bad publicity' , with some producers even using it as a form of marketing and promotion (fast tracks virality.) 

Laura Mulvey's theories on the male gaze and the representation of women in media: Laura Mulvey (born 15 August 1941) is a British feminist film theorist most famous for her theories on the 'male gaze'. This was first introduced in her 'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema' essay of 1975. She stated that women were objectified in films because heterosexual men where in control of the camera, plot etc. "Hollywood films played to the models of voyeurism and scopophilia" Scopophilia is an aesthetic pleasure drawn from looking at an object or person. The male gaze is seen to occur when the camera puts the audience in the perspective of a heterosexual man, this could be focussing on a body part. It can also be created when in the plot the man is seen as a dominant character whilst the woman is passive and submissive. Mulvey said that the female gaze is the same as the male gaze and that women look at other women in media from the perspective of a straight man. She argues that in the mainstream media the male gaze is larger in proportion to the female gaze which creates this 'underlying power asymmetry'. It will be easy for me to avoid the male gaze as my music video only features one actor who is male - female gaze will be avoided by not lingering over certain features or portraying the actor in a way which could be seen as stereotypically appealing to a heterosexual woman. If my music video were to feature women I would follow the same practices, avoiding frames or plots which objectify anyone - unless necessary for the message. Many people have contradicted Laura Mulvey's male gaze theories in the past such as Ann Friedman who wrote the 'Sometimes a little objectification can be a good thing' essay. In this essay she acknowledges that the objectification of women has very negative cultural consequences but says that it's a 'far trickier matter within a relationship'. Tiffany Hoyt defined objectifiers as people who frequently survey their partner's bodies and appearances. Friedman argued that everyone who is in a sexual relationship does this and that it is necessary in the long-run for keeping a relationship healthy. 

Stereotyping: In social psychology, a stereotype is an over-generalised belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. Stereotyping can be a useful tool in the production of any media product as it allows you to attempt to direct your media product at a specific group of people and create a consistent style which runs throughout your video. It also makes it easier to create characters and develop their personalities/ interests in a production. However stereotyping can create many problems - often offending large groups of people and bringing negative backlash upon a video and the crew behind it. There is no stereotyping intended in my music video as the imagery and messages are relevant to all types of people, whilst this video may be aimed at Gen-Z (makes up the majority of the artist's following.) It is aimed at being relatable for all viewers, with older references such as card games and the nostalgic film look accompanied by current intertextuality referencing modern publications such as 'Queens Gambit.' In the proposal for this music video we did stereotype the audience, outlining the likely demographics and psychographics in addition to assuming their interests based on genre conventions. However this is important as it adds continuity and purpose to the video, helping us as producers to better determine the effect it may have on the viewers - so that we can avoid inefficient or traumatising imagery.