Assess film and media

Animals are portrayed in many different ways around the world. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• Social media
• Advertisements (e.g. Digital or physical)
• Interpretation of animals by artificial intelligence*

* We have purposefully used artificial intelligence throughout this activity to see whether you can spot any red flags in the images.

Use our worksheet to complete the welfare checklist for each domain, noting: 

• Positive signs - things that suggest the animal may have good welfare
• Negative signs - things that suggest the animal may have poor welfare

Many welfare issues happen behind the scenes and may not be visible. As part of your analysis, think about these “hidden elements” that could affect the animal’s welfare.

• Time of day - e.g., are nocturnal animals shown active during daylight?
• Surrounding smells and environment – could there be predators or stressful stimuli nearby?
• Conspecifics (other animals) – is the animal alone, with suitable companions, or placed near unsuitable species?
• Context – are wild animals shown in unrealistic or captive settings (e.g., circuses)?
• Unnatural behaviours – are they being made to perform tricks, wear clothes, ride bikes, or act in ways that aren’t natural to them?
• Duration of work – if this is part of filming, how long might they have been working?
• Behind-the-scenes factors – transport to/from set, training methods, the animal’s home environment, and frequency of media work.

Use these prompts to think beyond what is shown on screen and consider what welfare issues might be happening out of sight for your summary (Can you spot the small cage in the AI generated image?).

Write a summary of your findings:

• Which domain showed the most positive welfare indicators?
• Which domain raised the most concerns? Why?
• Include a brief reflection on the hidden elements you considered and how these might influence the animal’s welfare behind the scenes.
• Overall, how do you think the animal felt in this situation?