Walking in the woods

 It was a good conversation this morning about the tree project.   It was good as I held my ground and was clear about my position in relation to my role.  I had made the decision about making films with young people in after the last Odd film making process. It seemed unethical as we couldn't show any of the films at the conference even though that was actually why we told the kids we were making them- the reason for them.

I have also spent far too long worrying a circula problem when the situation is actually very clear :-

Any images that includes a young person face is considered sensitive data and has to be treated legally as such. This makes the kind of film making I do with young people very difficult .  In a very real way the protection of what is considered data makes a free flow of ideas communication and sharing in co-produced video impossible. 

If some young people are given a real choice, for example a decision about how something is used then they will often decide to say 'no' for very legitimate reasons.  One reason could be that they are very rarely asked for permission about anything so if they are asked its a sensible answer to say no - it asserts the position.  I like this and it is something interesting to not write about but it makes all the effort I put into making the films - including the reason for making it in the first place redundant.  The work becomes like painting coal white.

What I am now doing is trying to work out what is possible within the constraints of the legal position of MMU and other research institutions and what is an ethical way of working with young people in relation to actually offering a real choice and some level of control. It is a process of helping to build a set of relations where this choice is informed and real.  It seems to me that this is what you are also interested in.

This is not the situation  for each individual work package on trees. They may want to make a co-produced participatory film with young people as a mode of research or simply as one of many outcomes within their work package.  I think each work package can develop this and seek ethical consents on their own terms which are specific to each group.  I don't think I should be in charge of film making across the project or be a technician.  I think there will be a lot of ups and downs and difficult bits on the trees-scape project but we have learnt from bitter experience that we should never make ethics our battleground.