To bring about local, national or global change:
Sometimes media can be used to bring about change, this is usually referred to as persuasive media. Persuasive media can be used for campaigns such as rallying the community on a local project, raising money for a crisis somewhere else in the world, or in the case of the project we are working on to be able to make people more aware of a common issue and what is being done to fix it.
To change attitudes
Media can be used to change attitudes but this is not always for the better, in social action and community media projects though there is usually a goal to change attitudes towards an issue or cause for the better. Examples of this include: Videos about taboo subjects and trying to educate people about them and make them less difficult to talk about, Videos that take a certain stereotype such as the attitudes of people with tattoos and piercings and tries to show people that they are misunderstanding what these people are like because they are relying on just the stereotype and media hype to know people, Videos such as the one we are creating that take an issue and educate people on it to make people aware of how easy it can be to make everyday experiences easier for people with hearing difficulties.
To Raise awareness
Many different types of people and groups create videos to raise awareness and generally they are about a charity or an issue that is not usually breached or is something that is only just developing into a problem. Videos that raise awareness can be anything from something that has been commissioned by the government or council right down to something produced by a small local group. Examples of videos that raise awareness include: Videos related to charities e.g.. Girl Guiding who create videos that are mainly distributed on the internet to raise awareness of what they do and persuade more people to join the organisation, Videos/Adverts created about issues e.g.. Domestic violence, smoking, obesity, and videos such as the one that we are creating to raise awareness about hearing loops.
To create access to media production for non-traditional groups
Many groups and organisations wouldn’t traditionally have access to media or the equipment to create videos, obviously as technology becomes more widely available many groups and organisations have found themselves able to get hold of some form of technology to make their lives easier but at the same time if they haven’t there are a lot more people out there willing to make social action/community media videos now so more people are able to create videos as a form of information or promotion. Examples include: More small community groups having access to video technology, Charities focusing on making sure that their smaller branches or areas are equally promoting themselves and the video we are creating is giving access to promote and inform about a local project.
To challenge dominant representations and agendas
As I have stated above many of the videos that are produced for social action and community media challenge attitudes and in the same way some of them are able to challenge dominant representations. Examples of these videos include: Videos by organisations such as Girl Guiding who show that girls don’t have to take on the stereotypical roles of women and that they can do more and do the same as boys, videos were also created by groups around the time of the Paralympics which showed the athletes training and working hard so that they could win gold, another example would be indie films where they are generally breaking conventions of other genres to make something stand out or different.
To create or strengthen community ties
Social Action and Community Media Productions can create or strengthen community ties because if a filmmaker is willing to help out local organisations they may inspire others to do the same. Examples of how this occurs include: The community coming together to help make the video, Local businesses donating to or sponsoring the video and the people who the video is being made for becoming more active in the community because of it.
To Provide information
Social Action and community media films can provide information, usually when they are giving information it is on a lesser know or controversial issue that people may be misunderstanding through a lack of information. Examples of videos that provide information are: videos created by charities to promote the work that they do and how they help or do work in the local community for example local wildlife organisations and the companies who are working to restore the canals in Wiltshire, videos that inform people about an event that might be coming up whether it is to get people to attend the event, persuade people to volunteer at the event or to advertise the event to their friends and videos like the one we are creating which includes sections to inform people about hearing loops and how they can be helpful.
To campaign
Social Action and Community Media videos can be used to campaign in several different forms, this can be taken literally like for a video to be used to aid a political or class rep election or could be a campaign for help for a charity event, project or group. Whilst campaigning is not the most common purpose of these videos it is often used by companies organisations and charities who are in need of help and want to get their name out there because they are in need.
To change voting behaviour
Once again ‘to change voting behaviour’ is one of the least common purposes of these videos. This is vastly due to the fact that voting behaviour usually refers to voting in elections and these are spread out so promotion and campaigning does not usually take place for more than just the year before. The use of social or community media in changing voting behaviour would only really be relevant in the few months leading up to an election because that is when the party/candidate is going to need to be doing the hardcore campaigning rather than in the time that leads up to the vital times to change people’s votes.
To infiltrate mainstream media
Sometimes if social action and community media videos are produced in the correct format they may be picked up by mainstream programmes to go on as a little extra section. Although they don’t always use the original version it is a good way of suggesting something for the mainstream media to focus on. A good example of less common organisations and community projects being in the mainstream media would be when they have the 4 minute local interest sections on the one show, another example would be the BBC video educating people about hearing loops which there is a link to further down my blog (with write-up explaining the different sections of the video).
To build relationships with subjects
Many film makers who are looking for experience create social action and community media productions as a way of showcasing what they can do. Whilst this is a good thing in itself, giving free publicity to those who may not have gotten it otherwise it can also be a good way to make contacts who may be useful later on in their careers. The contacts may include anyone from something as simple as a group of people willing to be actors, someone working in carpentry or an antique shop through to photographers and studio owners.
Unit 31: Social action and community media production 