Video is changing the way we see the world: analysis of Ghostwatch and VICE: Know Your Rights
I ain’t afraid of no ghost!
I walk into the flat. There’s no natural light, not even coming from the front door. I look down the corridor. At the end of it is a silhouette of a tall man. I freeze. Is it Pipes?
No, of course not; it’s a life-size cardboard cut-out of Doctor Who’s Captain Jack Harkness.
A few nights ago, I watched Ghostwatch (1992) for the first time. Firstly on the promise of “it’s so bad it’s good”, but as I started to watch it more, I realised how important Ghostwatch really was for British TV, as well as the horror genre.
Heralded as one of the first pieces of “fictional entertainment masquerading as fact”, or as we now know it: factual entertainment. Viewers were angry that they had been left confused and duped by the BBC, but that was the initial idea for Ghostwatch.
Stephen Volk (the writer) wanted the show to challenge our trust of the media and see whether the public would question what was being said. By using famous presenters/celebrities and “experts” in a documentary-style show without any obvious indication it was a drama, it is no surprise the public were conflicted.
One of the few criticisms I have of the show is the reaction after. Viewers, in programmes such as Bite Back, were allowed to vent their frustrations at the producers. However there was no room for the creators to fight back and explain why the show had been created. Yes Mr Smith from Coventry, you were confused and lied to, but that was the point. It isn’t the fault of the creators that you didn’t question what was happening and try to think for yourself rather than point the finger of blame at someone else.
The complaints from the public meant the BBC had hidden the show away, give the creators a slap on the wrist (rather than defending them) and pretended it never existed. To this day, Ghostwatch has never been shown on national TV, despite the cult following it gained as well as the influence that seeped through to the genre and films such as Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity.
How VICE got shortform videos on social media right
Media and news organisations are now prominently online and engaging with social media. VICE is one of the key examples of how to do it well.
VICE have run an animated series of short videos called ‘Know Your Rights’. They spend a few minutes exploring the rights of the public in certain situations — e.g public transport, border control — but I focused on the video called ‘Filming the Police’.
The Black Lives Matter campaign, as well as other anti-police brutality movement, have heralded the use of the public filming the police. Bodycams are a positive start to this, but many officers have claimed they were “malfunctioning” during controversial arrests. Bystanders and those involved with the police at the time have offered more opportunities to stop the brutality culture, especially towards BME. Shows like Brooklyn 99 have covered this issue in fiction in a way that no news report can, but often the filming of police officers provides a way to see society’s relationship with the police.
The animated style makes it easy to watch as well as making it ‘colour blind’. Pushing the idea that while BME people are more likely to be stopped by the police, everyone should document what the police are doing. It also makes it look professional, while appealing to younger social media users. The dull graphics or PTCs of news reports are not a style of VICE. It can also highlight particular cases and the importance of the issue without directly mentioning the case’s name. However, VICE is known for it’s anti-racist videos and documentaries, so making it more relevant to BLM or these movements would not have damaged their reputation to their current audience but only explained why it is important using USA constitutional rights — not making it relevant to those outside of America.
The video also uses subtitles: a vital tool for making sure users actually watch the video through. Most social media videos are viewed on mobile, but users don’t always want to turn the sound on, especially when in public. Using subtitles means that people will not only watch the video but understand clearly what it is about.
This video could have benefited from directing it to a more worldwide audience. Police brutality is relevant in the USA, but it is an international issue too. Interviews with people who have benefited from the public filming the police, or those in cases where no one did film and it could have helped would have been emotionally hitting, while still providing a human element that extends beyond constitutional rights.
Much like any medium, short and long form videos have drastically changed over the last few years. However, the ‘found footage’ subgenre has been hugely influenced by Ghostwatch, and factual entertainment is as strong as ever on TV. VICE has used social media strongly to their advantage, understanding how viewers use social media and making sure their content fits to that.
