Legal and Ethical Constraints in factual television production

Filing In Public:
 In pubic i will be faced with many constraints. I will have to make sure i do not film  on private property and if i do make sure i get the owners permission to do so. Also in public other people will be around so when i am going a public recording such as vox pox make sure i do not film any people who do not want to be in it and if i do make sure i blur them out if i do not get there permission to film them ans use them in my documentary.
UK screen agencies will help me get into contact with private land owners, where i may want to film: http://film.britishcouncil.org/resources/uk-regional-organisations

How the constraint will impact my documentary:
This will impact my documentary a bit, but will not have a real impact. This is because most of my filming will be done in private places, such as homes and schools. When filing in schools i will make sure i will do it in a private room where i do not get the public in shots, allowing me to use the footage in my documentary. I will also be filming in clinics where they do so speech and language therapy. Even though this is a public building i will make sure that i only film in a private room, with the permission of the owners. By doing this i do not need to worry about filing anyone else who does not want to be part of the documentary. But one big problem that i could face when filming will happen when doing vox pops. This is because i may film in front of a private building that does not allow camera to come in such as primary schools or nurseries, which could cause them to ask me to re film or get rid of footage that i have filmed. But on the other hand filing in public will have a positive impact on my documentary. This is because it will make it be more real and allow me to get quick opinions of other people, on stammering, which will show the viewers that i have actually done out my way to get the opinions of other people.  

Clearances and permissions (Copy right law):
Copyright protection exists from the moment a piece of work is created. The copyright immediately becomes the property of the person or team that made the product. Only the maker or those involved can give their rights for other people to use their material. It is away for the creator to be sure that no other person is using their material for their own benefit to make money or get fame out of their hard work. Copy right is the main type of Intellectual property; it allows someone to own things that they have create, just like how someone would own something physical, like a T.V. It is the right to prevent and stopping others copying or reproducing someone's work. I will need to make sure that i can film everything i am, and make sure i do not use any other person work and, if i do make sure i am allowed and get their permission to do so.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/checklist

How the constraint will impact my documentary:
This constraint will effect you when ever you are producing a piece of work about something. It will directly effect me because i was planning on having music playing in the back ground at the start, but now i have to make sure that i am allowed to use the music that i was going to use and make sure it is not private but is available for the public to use, when will then allow me to use it in my documentary.

Media Privacy Law:
 In this section it relates to how the broadcaster treats the person or group affected by the programme, than to what the pubic see or hears. Overall this section is to insure that broadcaster avoid any unwarranted infringements of privacy in programmes, or anything that will be aired on TV or radio. If the broadcaster does not stick to the principle, the programmes must be warranted which means that the broadcaster has to justify the infringement of privacy, and show why it was acceptable for them to use it. Also it states that when you are in public place, you may think that you can film there due to it being public, but you have to be careful because people out and about may still want privacy. For example you can’t show information that will lead to someone knowing where someone lives. Also when filming at an event, people still have the option to being kept private, when it airs on the news or any later programs.

How the constraint will impact my documentary:
This will have a positive impact on my work, because it will, allow people to know that i had to keep to this rule which will connote to the viewers that everything they are watching, is all true and nothing is made up or faked, which will then make the viewers stay watching my show, which will boost viewing figures. But on the other hand, this rule will bring difficulties to my production. This is because this means that i will have to make sure that all of my facts that i give are true and make sure that I know the sources i got the information from. This will take up from time, which may affect the outcome of my final documentary. Also before i interview someone i will have to do a pre interview with them, just to make sure it will represent the person in the correct and truthful way. If i don't this will not be sticking to the media privacy law. So for example i will have to interview people on the street, and ask them what they think about stammering and, who they would react to someone who had it. Before doing this i will have to ask them the question of camera and make sure they have time to think of an answer, so that they can give a truthful answer.

Libel and Defamation law:
There are two versions of defamation, libel and slander. Libel is when the defamation is written down (including email, bulletin boards and websites), and slander is when the incident relates to words spoken. Depending on who you are talking about, it is up to them to bring the case of incorrect facts and damaging reputations. If the person you are damaging has nothing to be damaged such as a murder, it is most likely that no law suit will be created, but if you are damaging a famous or high end person who has to keep up their reputation they are likely to make a law suit from it. 

How the constraint will impact my documentary:

This will impact my documentary in many ways. One way is that i must make sure that i do not tell the audience any incorrect facts about stammering, which could lead them to think something which is wrong. So for example if i say that a stammer only happens to children and adults are not effected by it. Another problem i face is make sure that i represent people i will use in my documentary in the right way and make sure i portray them in a damaging way. So for example if i interview someone from the BSA and make them out to look like they just do it for the money and, don't really care about people who stammer will be damaging their reputation, which would lead them to them taking legal action. Also because this is a very sensative topic i have to make sure that i do not represent anyone with a stammer in a funny way, which will lead to them feeling bullied. So for example when i interview Paul who is a friend of mine with a stammer i have to make sure that i do not play any humorous music while he is talking, and make sure i show the viewers all of the important parts of the interview, But one positive impact this constraint can have is making my documentary much more interesting for viewers to watch. This is because i will have to know make sure that i represent everyone in the right way, and also give more information about people and the topic, which will clearly make viewers watch the documentary more.    

BBC editorial guidelines

Ofcom:  Protecting under 18s - The principle Ofcom is to ensure that all under 18s are protected from material that might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of their lifestyle. Ofcom also under 18s by, using appropriate scheduling, this is when you taking into account the nature of the content, the likely number and age range of the audience, taking into account school, times and week. Also the start and finish time of the content and the channel the content will be aired on. This is all controlled by the 9pm Watershed. This is a rule that you cannot show any graphic violence, horror, strong language, nudity sexual intercourse, or reference drug use and sexually suggestive themes. But from 9pm until 5:30am you cans show this content because it is when most under 18 and children should and will be in bed, and have no access to media outlets.

Harm and offence - Ofcom ensure that only accepted standards are to televisions and radios services, in order to provide protection to the general public from harmful for offence materials. Also factually programmes shown on T.V have to be true and can not mislead the viewers to think something that is not. time barrier. Any dangerous behaviour shown i.e. a physical fight is also easily imitable by people under the age of 18.This kind of behaviour cannot be shown in programmes which are predominantly made for children and must not be broadcasted before watershed in the case of watching any behaviour on a television.

Crime - Ofcom principle is to ensure that material likely to encourage crime or lead to discorded behavior is not shown to viewers through TV or radio. Also they say you cannot show techniques or essential details to how to commit a crime, unless editorially justified.

Analysing the Competition

The first show that I have found that is similar to my documentary is Educating Yorkshire. This show was shown on channel 4, every Thursday at 9 o'clock for 1 hour. The opening episode drew an average audience of 3.3 million last night, making it the highest rated programme of the evening in that slot among 16-34-year-old viewers.
This show is similar to mine because it focuses of students who have problems with there lives, but in particular, this episode focused on a student who had a stammer, and it looked at how it was affecting his life and school life and exams.

In order to make my documentary beat educating Yorkshire viewing figures, i will  make the documentary just focuses on one or two people so that the viewers can attach to the people appearing on the show, so that they carry on watching, and want to see if they overcome the stammer at the end of the show. Also i will only be talking about stammering, and not other problems such as stress in people and how it affects there lives. So by just focusing on stammering, it will not be confusing for the viewers, which will allow them to understand what is going on, the whole way though the documentary. I will also be educating the viewers on what a stammer is, and how it affects peoples lives and actually go into detail about it. It will hopefully be better than educating Yorkshire, because they just looked at how the student will over come it and did not explain what an actual stammer is, which i think the viewers actually wanted to know. 

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-09-06/educating-yorkshire-starts-new-term-with-3-million-viewers

When looking at educating Yorkshire I feel as if my documentary will best appeal to viewers at 9 on a Friday night, which is one day after Educating Yorkshire is on. By doing this viewers will want to watch my documentary because they will want to find out more information about stammering, in order to understand what the student in Educating Yorkshire is doing through. So hopefully I can get most of the 3.3 million Educating Yorkshire have, because they would have had a taster of what a stammer is and want to find out more about it, which is why they will want to watch my documentary. 



















The second show that is like mine is Embarrassing Bodies. This show is shown on channel 4 at 9:00pm for 1 hour, normally on a Tuesday. The show regularly hovers around the 3million barrier, but last night edged ahead of its previous best, when 3.5m watched on 10 June 2009.
This show is similar to mine due to the fact that, it focuses on treating people with a condition that they are shy about and want to cure. It also focuses on a few people very deeply and follow them on their journey, which is what i am going to do in my documentary. 
To try and get my documentary to beat this show in term of viewing figures, i will make my show just focus on one topic which is stammering and not a lot of different problems from different people, which is what embarrassing bodies does. By doing this it will make my documentary more personal to the viewers and will allow them to want to learn more about stammering, and see if the people in the documentary over come the stammer. 

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/ratings/embarrassing-bodies-reaches-record-high/5010410.article

Looking at my research i feel as if i would like my show to be a Monday even starting at 8:00pm. This is one day before embarrassing. I have chosen to put air it at 8:00pm because this will allow younger people to watch it, and then will allow the older teenager viewers to still watch programs that they are into such as TOWIE and Geordie Shore, which they will watch on a weekly basis. 
Also i can show my show at 8:00pm because this is before the watershed and will then be more appealing to the under 18s, due to the fact that they are allowed to watch it.






















The last show that is similar to the one i am making is called "The Undateables"  This show was shown on channel 4, every Tuesday at 9 o'clock for 1 hour. In one episode it The Undateables ended its series with about 2.7 million viewers on Tuesday night. 
This show is similar to mine because it focuses on people with a problem, that they want to overcome in order to live a normal life. It is also educating the viewing on what it is like to life with a certain condition, which will be similar to mine.
In order to make my documentary beat the Undateables, i will make sure that i allow the audience to see the actual distress a stammer has on a persons life. This is different to the Undateables because i feel as if they show the audience a lighter and funnier side to the persons disorder. So by showing the serious side to a stammer in my documentary, i will hopefully get the viewer emotionally attached to the documentary, which will make them stay watching the whole show, which will boost my viewing figures, and beat The Undateables. 

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/apr/18/undateables-tv-ratings

When looking at The UnDateable i feel as if my program will best aired at the same time. This is because the 9pm till 10pm slot is the best time to show a documentary, due to the fact that it is when most people and especially my target audience will have had dinner and will be resting, which is the time you want to watch sometime different and entertaining, which i feel my documentary is. By putting my show at this time i will hope to get most of The UnDatebales viewers, by hoping they want to watch something more serious and different but still relating to people with a condition.   


Overall I feel as if my show will best suit to appear on channel 4 and air at 9pm. This is because when doing my research  i found that most of the shows that are similar to mine all are on channel 4 and air about 9pm, so i feel as if, if i do the same i will will appealing to my target audience much more than if i put my show on bbc 1 where they do not really have a lot of health problem documentary.

5 Key Questions- Content Research

1. What is a stammer?
Stuttering is a speech disorder in which sounds, syllables, or words are repeated or prolonged, disrupting the normal flow of speech. These speech disruptions may be accompanied by struggling behaviors, such as rapid eye blinks or tremors of the lips. Also people with a stammer will speak with sudden involuntary pauses and a tendency to repeat the initial letters of words. 

Stammering is characterised by:

• The repetition of sounds or syllables – such as saying ‘mu-mu-mu-mummy’
• Prolonging sounds – for example 'mmmmmmummy'
• Pausing or 'blocking' – when a word gets stuck or doesn't come out at all

There are two main types of stammer:

• Developmental stammering- is the most common type of stammering that many people are familiar with. It develops during childhood as a child is first learning how to speak.
• Acquired or late-onset stammering- can occur in older children and adults as the result of head injury, stroke or a progressive neurological disease. It can also be caused by certain drugs or medication, or psychological or emotional trauma.

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/pages/stutter.aspx
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Stammering/Pages/Introduction.aspx


2. What is it like to live with a stammer?

On a personal level it is very frustrating living with a stammer, because you can never carry on a conversation with someone that you want to talk to. You also feel as if everyone is judging you when you talk to them. A stammer can, roughly, be compared to an iceberg. The 20% above the water that you see is the tension, struggle and embarrassment associated with stammering. The 80% you don’t see is the avoidance of words, avoidance of situations, avoidance of relationships and the self hate, guilt and shame when you can’t even say your own name.

http://www.liberateyourself.co.uk/disabled-students/disabled-experiences/living-with-a-stammer/


3. How to treat a stammer?

There are many different treatments available for stammering, depending on a person's age and their individual circumstances. A speech and language therapist (SLT) will work with you, your child, and educational staff to come up with a suitable treatment plan for your child. An SLT can also work with adults who stammer to help find ways to improve the fluency of their speech, and psychological therapy may be available to help with any emotional difficulties occurring as a result of speech difficulties.

The goal of indirect therapy is to create an environment in which a child feels more relaxed and confident about their use of language. This involves:

• speaking slowly and calmly to the child
• developing a positive parent-child interaction
• avoiding criticising or drawing attention to the child's stammer
• making the family environment as relaxing and calm as possible

Direct therapy

With school-age children, an SLT may be more likely to choose direct therapy, which may include:

• helping to improve fluency
• helping the person understand more about stammering
• sharing experiences with others who stammer
• working on feelings associated with stammering, such as fear and anxiety
• improving communication skills
• developing self-confidence and positive attitudes

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Stammering/Pages/Treatment.aspx

4. Who is affected  by a stammer?

About 5% of young children experience some difficulty with their fluency at some point. Most will achieve normal fluency with or without help, but about 1% continue to stammer into adulthood. By the age of ten, the ratio of boys to girls who stammer may as high as 4 or 5:1. Around one in 20 children will experience a phase of non-fluent speech. In around three in every four cases affecting young children, stammering will resolve over time with or without treatment.
Roughly three million Americans stutter. 

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Stammering/Pages/Introduction.aspx
http://www.stammeringcentre.org/when-does-it-begin
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/pages/stutter.aspx


5. Why does it come and go.

Most people will stammer when they are under pressure or are talking to people they don't know or are scared or anxious around, which will lead to them trying hard not to stammer or avoiding words they they feel they will stammer on. This over thinking process will makes the stammering, stammer more. Also depending on your age and environmental pressure you are put under stammering will come and go. It is likely to go when you are about 8-10 years old due to having a developed language and having not pressure on them. But then it might come back again when they reach the ages of 13-18 when at this age you are put under public speaking pressures, and having to do exams.




http://www.stammeringcentre.org/stammer-disappears-and-returns

Group feedback on inital ideas

Idea 1- Stammering

 In this i spoke about my first idea which was stammering. I told the group everything i wanted in my documentary.

Group feedback on idea 1

They liked the idea and though it will be good because i can relate to it on a personal level. But they think it will not get a lot of views because it has a niche target audience 

Idea 2 - Obedience

I this i told them what i wanted to do and what will be involved in making this. I told them what kind of experiments i will be using in this to show what teenagers actual are like.  

Group feedback on Idea 2

They liked the idea because they said that the target audience that is stated in the brief will be bale to relate to this topic a lot, which will make them carry on watching the show. But they said it may be hard to try and get interviews with experts.  

Idea 3- Pressure 

In this i again told them everything i wanted in this documentary and who i was going to interview and why i have chosen to choose them. 

Group feedback on idea 3

They though by me interviewing parents about there children i will get a bias interview and the information that i relay to the audience will be untrue because the parents will not say that they treat a child differently. 

Intial Ideas

Idea 1

Documentary Topic:

Does having successful sibling make younger siblings feel under Pressure?

Documentary Angle:

Does having successful sibling make younger siblings feel under?

Documentary Mode and Why? (consider where you will position the documentary in the key issues)

A reflective mode because it will convey to people that this is not necessarily the truth but a reconstruction of it. It sorts of allows the viewers to make up their own mind on the topic, not making them feel pressured to think something they don’t want to.

Appeal to Target Audience? Any clear limitations?

My target audience will either be the younger or older sibling, this is because in my documentary i will be focusing on the older and younger sibling, so that can give their opinion on the theme and how they feel about it, and will give their first hand experience on the topic and how they feel about it and wither they agree with my overall question. But the people watching may not having any siblings so will not be interested in the topic so will not watch it.

How much information will you assume your audience already know? Why?

The audience who have older or younger siblings will have a lot of information on the matter, because it directly affects them. But the people who do not have siblings will have no information on the matter, so I will have to have interviewers in the doc so that they understand what it feels like to be under pressure from siblings.

Key groups you hope to interview:

Family members Older and younger siblings Teachers who taught both siblings             /              vox-pops with general public

Idea 2

Documentary Topic:

Obedience

Documentary Angle:

How teenagers react to different authority figures and are teenagers  actual what the media make them out to be.

Documentary Mode and Why? (consider where you will position the documentary in the key issues)

Why teenagers are seen to be disobedient towards police and to the general public. It will be an interactive documentary because it will allow the audience to get into the show and connect with it on a personal level, which will make them stay watching and enjoy the show more. Also, the film making who is me will actually part of the documentary, and we will also see or hear myself in it, either talking to someone or giving there own opinion of the topic.

Appeal to Target Audience? Any clear limitations?

Use 16-24 in experiments. But they might not want to take part due to not having time. Also the whole documentary is going to be about people aged between 16-24, which is the age of the target audience, By doing this the target audience will then be able to relate to the topic of the show and will stay watching because they are linked in with the show, and will want to find out more about it.

How much information will you assume your audience already know? Why?

They will know a lot about it, because the documentary is based on the target audience. The  Documentary will just show evidence that most teenagers are not how the media portray them, and will not be giving out a lot of facts about teenagers because they target audience will not need to be informed on thing that they already know.

Key groups you hope to interview:

Teenagers 16-24 General public 30+ People in the media. Psychologists.

Idea 3

Documentary Topic:

Stammering

Documentary Angle:

What it is like to live with a stammer, and what treatment there is out there.

Documentary Mode and Why? (consider where you will position the documentary in the key issues)

Ways to overcome it- speech therapy classes  / How you get treated by the public- they don’t know who to react, you get mixed reactions, some stay to listen some walk away.  / How it makes you feel- not normal, embarrassed   Will be an interactive documentary because I will be part of the show and will talk about my experiences. And I will do some door steeping to get interviewers with people. The audience will be able to connect to this better because it will be a personal topic and they could get emotionally attached to see if people I use overcome the stammer.

Appeal to Target Audience? Any clear limitations?

Not everyone has it and are not interested in it. But the people I am using will be 16-24 which is the target audience, so hopefully they will watch it because they will be able to relate to the ages of the people appearing in the show

How much information will you assume your audience already know? Why?

They don’t know very much, just that you can’t talk properly. I will inform them on what it actual is, and how it happens

Key groups you hope to interview:

People with stammer (need to find people with a stammer) Speech and language therapist  ( do not know any) The public and how they respond to stammer My parents, and when they first noticed I had a stammer.