Producing Responsibly: AI Tools, Rights, Consent, Testing and Revision

Remember from Grade 11

In Grade 11 you produced a media text: recording with good levels, ethical editing, consent, copyright and fair dealing, Creative Commons, accessibility, and testing and revising with an audience.

Grade 12 (expectation 3.4) asks you to produce media texts, including increasingly complex texts, for different purposes and audiences, using the most appropriate forms, conventions and techniques. This lesson adds producing a multi-form project, using AI tools responsibly in production, and revising from test data against an objective.

Hook: the rough cut

Amira's first rough cut is 60 seconds. She shows it to six teens at the library. Before watching, only 2 of 6 can name a way to check a suspicious image. After watching, 4 of 6 can name two strategies. Her SMART objective was at least 4 of 6. She met it, just. But four of the six viewers said the middle felt slow, and one asked, Wait, which picture was the fake? Is the project finished?

Producing well: practical reminders

• Framing: shoot in the frame shape of the final form (vertical for vertical video). Leave room for captions.
• Light: face a window for soft, even light; avoid a bright window behind you.
• Sound: record close to the mouth in a quiet, soft-furnished room; do a level test; record 10 seconds of room tone.
• Screen recordings: clear personal information, notifications and browser history from the screen first.
• File management: name files clearly, back up, and keep originals.

Using AI tools responsibly in production

AI tools can help with captions, noise removal, brainstorming and example images. Guidelines:

1. Follow the rules: your school's and the platform's policies on AI use.
2. Disclose how AI was used, in the caption or credits.
3. No real people's likeness or voice without consent, and never to deceive.
4. No synthetic versions of real events, news or public figures. Amira's examples show only invented, harmless scenes.
5. Label synthetic examples permanently inside the image, so the label travels with screenshots.
6. Verify every fact an AI tool suggests.
7. Keep a provenance log: which tool made which element, and when.

Rights and consent

• Consent: get written permission from anyone recognizable on camera; for people under 18, also from a parent or guardian. Respect a person's right to withdraw.
• Copyright and fair dealing: Canada's Copyright Act allows fair dealing for purposes including research, private study, education, parody, satire, criticism, review and news reporting, but the use must also be fair (amount, purpose, effect on the original). Publishing online is different from using material in a classroom; when in doubt, use your own material or licensed material.
• Music: use tracks whose licence clearly allows your use (many platforms offer licensed libraries); credit as required.
• Creative Commons: read the licence elements and attribute properly.

Testing and revising

A test is useful only if it measures the objective and collects specific feedback. Good test questions:

• Objective check: Name two ways to check whether an image is real. (Before and after.)
• Attention check: Where did you feel like swiping away?
• Clarity check: What was the main message, in your own words?
• Accessibility check: watch once with sound off.

Look for patterns. One viewer's opinion is a data point; four out of six saying the same thing is a pattern. Keep a revision log: problem, evidence, change, result.

Producing a multi-form project

Produce the lead form first, then adapt it. Re-check each supporting form's conventions (the carousel needs its own hook and alt text) and make sure the key message survives every adaptation.