What is or isn’t ethically acceptable to include in documentary content is fluid. Although one thing is certain, the film maker has the trust of the social actor who may experience consequences from whatever is shown on screen. There is also another layer to consider, that audiences watch documentary with a common understanding that they are experiencing a rendition of reality. However, persuasive techniques have the ability to toy with viewers values and beliefs and to evoke a certain response about a person place or event, this response is based on emotion instead of fact which can be problematic. The reading states “A code of documentary ethics needs to focus on protecting the well-being of two groups 1) film subjects 2) actual viewers. I believe this is important as the power balance between filmmaker, subject and audience isn’t evenly splayed, risking misrepresentation and exploitation.

There are ethical implications we need to consider while producing our piece on the Museum’s history. As a group we’ve discussed that it is our top priority to ensure our social actors are not misrepresented and that it’s their vision and understanding of the museum that we’ll be exhibiting. To maintain an ethical representation of the museum and it’s volunteers, we’ll be asking them questions like “What would you like the outcome of this documentary to be for the museum?” This way we are all united in working together towards one desired goal and there are no surprises when our social actors see the work. There is also a risk of using images of people who are no longer alive or of subjects who’ve not given permission for their image to be shown. For this reason we are attempting to only used images of the building or places and images where the figures are unidentifiable. Furthermore, we need to ensure these images are juxtaposed against audio that correctly depicts what is going on in the frame. For example if the staff are talking about a particular person or period of time, we wouldn’t use a photo of a different person or different time and place, as this would be historically inaccurate. The audience is trusting we are revealing an accurate historical evolution of the museum, we don’t want to break that trust by presenting them with a half truth.

Reference- Nichols, B 2012, Speaking Truths With Film: Evidence, Ethics, Politics in Documentary, 1st edn, University of California Press.