I know this upsets a lot of people and it feels like the staff and fans in Korea are purposely trying to not include international fans but honestly this is NOT the case at all. This rule is not at all motivated by any desire to not share things or not include anyone. As an example; the fansites in Korea make their money selling their goods to mostly international fans, so of course they're all about spreading photos online when it's allowed. But here's some reasons photo taking is generally forbidden:
1. Venue Policy
In the case of a lot of private venues, one of the conditions SM must agree to is that media is restricted. SM might be able to post photos that are screened by the venue owners because they do not want their venue to be publicly portrayed in a negative light. Basically if fans post too many photos online they no longer have control of what is being distributed publicly and the venue owners may no longer wish to host events with SHINee any longer. Depending on the legal issues, they may even charge SM a fine. Obviously I'm not privy to details, but this is a likely reason.
2. Copyright Issues
In the case of Key's musicals there are severe fines placed on the musical production company if the content is distributed outside the terms stipulated in the contract between the musical company and the original owners of the musical. This was especially true of Key's Bonnie and Clyde performances. The musical company were very strict about photo distribution since they could get in huge trouble with the original American owners of the musical, to the point that I heard Key's manager actually begged fans not to take photos because it was causing Key and the company a lot of trouble. All of Key's musicals have been bought from foreign copyright owners and reproduced in Korean. Which means all of his musicals are under very strict copyright licensing laws that strictly prohibit their filming and distribution outside stipulated terms.
3. Spoilers
Photos at recordings are completely forbidden because recordings are done in advance so any photos taken are going to pre-release the content of the broadcast. Not to mention camera's would interfere with the production crews shots, delay filming, cause excessive noise and disturbance and reveal the inside workings of the recording studio without their express permission or consent.
4. Impaired visibility
If photos are allowed it means everyone and their mom will be holding up their cameras and absolutely no one will be able to see anything. At Gangnam Festival photos were allowed and during SHINee's performance there were people around me who had waited in line for 3 days to attend the concert and suddenly were completely unable to see anything because everyone was holding up cameras. Imagine lining up for three days and not being able to see anything because someone's dslr/ipad/smart phone was in the way. It's completely devastating and awful. The same thing happened at the DDP festival. You see all these lovely photos online but I know I for one was waiting at the venue from 6 oclock in the morning until very late at night waiting to see SHINee perform and I would have committed a felony if someone had held a camera in my face after all that. Luckily I was slightly elevated where I was sitting and could see fine but that was not the case for a lot of people in the middle who had to stand on stools to see over the camera's on tripods and being held up over heads.
5. Image control
SHINee are gorgeous human beings, completely beautiful. But I've said this before and I will continue to say it: the camera does them completely no justice. They are hundreds of times more attractive than they appear on tv and in photos. So SM need to control what photos are released when they can, especially from events where the lighting quality is completely awful. The fan meet venue as an example yesterday, had high strung florescent bulbs which were completely and truly awful. They were meant as lighting for a casual sports match. I wouldn't take a sel-ka in that room and send it to my own mother the lighting was so terrible. Of course SM don't want photos of SHINee looking like blue pale monsters thanks to the lighting circulating online. Fansites have beautiful lenses and the talent required to combat bad lighting, but there are tonnes of people in that room who would have happily taken awful quality cell phone pictures and posted them online if you allowed them.
6. SHINee's experience
SHINee spend nearly all their time while at work posing for camera's. Day in, day out they have to pose and smile and make sure they're perfect for the camera. In events were photography is banned like mini fan meets and anniversary parties they get to look out into their fans faces instead of looking into hundreds of camera's and cell phones for once in their lives.
7. Media control
I've mentioned this before, but back in the 5th Anniversary party in 2013, a particularly disgusting media entity got it's hands on a fan cam from the event and proceeded to write vile filth about SHINee based on it's contents. Not only was the video quality awful, but the event and performance was meant to be something fun and light-hearted between SHINee and fans and the media twisted that into something it wasn't and used it against SHINee. Personally this is why I think personally that SM were so strict about fancams and photos at the 7th Anniversary, but obviously I can only guess.
8. Noise Pollution
A million DSLR cameras firing off in rapid succession is really really noisy. I know from experience. It's like a vicious swarm of bugs in your ears continuously.
9. The Moment
Honestly, camera's ruin the moment. Especially at fan meets and Anniversary parties. SHINee are trying to build emotion in the room, trying to create a bond between fans and themselves. They can trust fans to accept them at their goofiest. They can not worry about their hair or make up or expression and just let go and be crazy and have fun because the media that's released is controlled by the company. I very much doubt SHINee would have been fooling around and parodying all their own solos at the 7th Anniversary Party if it wasn't a closed private venue. Not taking photos gives them the freedom to open themselves to an audience that will not judge them. In no way do I think I-fans online are going to judge SHINee, but I do know that in giving online access to video and photos it's not just fans that are able to see it. As I mentioned above it gives access to the media, trolls, antis, fans from other fandoms; people who are happy to criticize SHINee without reserve because they don't know them, care about them or understand them.
The Consequences
We have been banned from recordings because of photo taking. Staff are not afraid to punish us for taking photos where we're not supposed to. I don't know if all the drama about photo taking at recordings filtered out online much, but given how furious fans were about it I'm sure it spread. That's why if someone is caught taking photos they will try and pretend to be from another fandom so they don't get their own people banned. Other fandoms have often pretended to be SHINee fans and it is the scummiest fandom move ever.
SBS, MBC and KBS are all more than willing to ban fans from attending recordings because of photo taking. And more importantly for English speakers, companies have actually banned ONLY foreigners for this. I am not joking, you did not read incorrectly. Foreign fans have been caught taking photos and the next week only foreigners were banned from entering the music shows. And it's not like it's hard to find us. We need to show ID at most of these events and all foreigners will have to use either their passport or Foreign Registration Card.
If SHINee's fans are banned they perform for an empty studio. No fan chants. OR they perform for another group's fans who will not cheer enthusiastically. Generally the culture is that you only cheer loudly for your own group and only ever politely for everyone else.
On top of that there is definitely a faction of Korean fans who do not like foreign fans. And we've given them good reason not to. Because of the nature of attending recordings and events it's really easy for foreign fans to make mistakes just because they aren't aware of the rules. Or they just don't care or don't believe the rules apply to them. It's not like there's a manual in place. This is why it's really important you do your research online before you try attending events. Because when you break rules it's really easy for people to figure out whether you're foreign or not. And when one foreigner makes a mistake it's also easy for people to fall into this: 'man all these foreigner's screwing up, they're all so useless' mentality. It's not fair to people who do the right thing, but honestly how often do we as human's make huge generalizations like that in a day.
Furthermore, who's to say SM will continue allowing SHINee the opportunity to have fan meetings if fans are just going to break the 1 little rule they give them.
Here's the one I always think about too: SHINee are in the room. At the fan meet yesterday there were fan staff sprinting across the room and confiscating camera's from people doing the wrong thing. They have eyes. They can see when their fans are doing something wrong. I don't know about anyone else but being caught doing something wrong and being escorted out of the room while SHINee are watching sounds like my worst nightmare. I don't think of them as particularly judgmental guys but I can't see them feeling proud of you for breaking the rules put in place by their fan staff and managers. So even if you don't care about other fans or the fan staff at least know that SHINee aren't blind or stupid; they can see you doing the wrong thing.
In any case at the end of the day I'm going to ask SHAWols online to continue to do the right thing and ignore photos taken at events where photography is banned. As long as we don't create a market and we don't give the people who take these photos the attention or retweets they're looking for, maybe they'll finally get the hint and stop doing it.
1. Venue Policy
In the case of a lot of private venues, one of the conditions SM must agree to is that media is restricted. SM might be able to post photos that are screened by the venue owners because they do not want their venue to be publicly portrayed in a negative light. Basically if fans post too many photos online they no longer have control of what is being distributed publicly and the venue owners may no longer wish to host events with SHINee any longer. Depending on the legal issues, they may even charge SM a fine. Obviously I'm not privy to details, but this is a likely reason.
2. Copyright Issues
In the case of Key's musicals there are severe fines placed on the musical production company if the content is distributed outside the terms stipulated in the contract between the musical company and the original owners of the musical. This was especially true of Key's Bonnie and Clyde performances. The musical company were very strict about photo distribution since they could get in huge trouble with the original American owners of the musical, to the point that I heard Key's manager actually begged fans not to take photos because it was causing Key and the company a lot of trouble. All of Key's musicals have been bought from foreign copyright owners and reproduced in Korean. Which means all of his musicals are under very strict copyright licensing laws that strictly prohibit their filming and distribution outside stipulated terms.
3. Spoilers
Photos at recordings are completely forbidden because recordings are done in advance so any photos taken are going to pre-release the content of the broadcast. Not to mention camera's would interfere with the production crews shots, delay filming, cause excessive noise and disturbance and reveal the inside workings of the recording studio without their express permission or consent.
4. Impaired visibility
If photos are allowed it means everyone and their mom will be holding up their cameras and absolutely no one will be able to see anything. At Gangnam Festival photos were allowed and during SHINee's performance there were people around me who had waited in line for 3 days to attend the concert and suddenly were completely unable to see anything because everyone was holding up cameras. Imagine lining up for three days and not being able to see anything because someone's dslr/ipad/smart phone was in the way. It's completely devastating and awful. The same thing happened at the DDP festival. You see all these lovely photos online but I know I for one was waiting at the venue from 6 oclock in the morning until very late at night waiting to see SHINee perform and I would have committed a felony if someone had held a camera in my face after all that. Luckily I was slightly elevated where I was sitting and could see fine but that was not the case for a lot of people in the middle who had to stand on stools to see over the camera's on tripods and being held up over heads.
5. Image control
SHINee are gorgeous human beings, completely beautiful. But I've said this before and I will continue to say it: the camera does them completely no justice. They are hundreds of times more attractive than they appear on tv and in photos. So SM need to control what photos are released when they can, especially from events where the lighting quality is completely awful. The fan meet venue as an example yesterday, had high strung florescent bulbs which were completely and truly awful. They were meant as lighting for a casual sports match. I wouldn't take a sel-ka in that room and send it to my own mother the lighting was so terrible. Of course SM don't want photos of SHINee looking like blue pale monsters thanks to the lighting circulating online. Fansites have beautiful lenses and the talent required to combat bad lighting, but there are tonnes of people in that room who would have happily taken awful quality cell phone pictures and posted them online if you allowed them.
6. SHINee's experience
SHINee spend nearly all their time while at work posing for camera's. Day in, day out they have to pose and smile and make sure they're perfect for the camera. In events were photography is banned like mini fan meets and anniversary parties they get to look out into their fans faces instead of looking into hundreds of camera's and cell phones for once in their lives.
7. Media control
I've mentioned this before, but back in the 5th Anniversary party in 2013, a particularly disgusting media entity got it's hands on a fan cam from the event and proceeded to write vile filth about SHINee based on it's contents. Not only was the video quality awful, but the event and performance was meant to be something fun and light-hearted between SHINee and fans and the media twisted that into something it wasn't and used it against SHINee. Personally this is why I think personally that SM were so strict about fancams and photos at the 7th Anniversary, but obviously I can only guess.
8. Noise Pollution
A million DSLR cameras firing off in rapid succession is really really noisy. I know from experience. It's like a vicious swarm of bugs in your ears continuously.
9. The Moment
Honestly, camera's ruin the moment. Especially at fan meets and Anniversary parties. SHINee are trying to build emotion in the room, trying to create a bond between fans and themselves. They can trust fans to accept them at their goofiest. They can not worry about their hair or make up or expression and just let go and be crazy and have fun because the media that's released is controlled by the company. I very much doubt SHINee would have been fooling around and parodying all their own solos at the 7th Anniversary Party if it wasn't a closed private venue. Not taking photos gives them the freedom to open themselves to an audience that will not judge them. In no way do I think I-fans online are going to judge SHINee, but I do know that in giving online access to video and photos it's not just fans that are able to see it. As I mentioned above it gives access to the media, trolls, antis, fans from other fandoms; people who are happy to criticize SHINee without reserve because they don't know them, care about them or understand them.
The Consequences
We have been banned from recordings because of photo taking. Staff are not afraid to punish us for taking photos where we're not supposed to. I don't know if all the drama about photo taking at recordings filtered out online much, but given how furious fans were about it I'm sure it spread. That's why if someone is caught taking photos they will try and pretend to be from another fandom so they don't get their own people banned. Other fandoms have often pretended to be SHINee fans and it is the scummiest fandom move ever.
SBS, MBC and KBS are all more than willing to ban fans from attending recordings because of photo taking. And more importantly for English speakers, companies have actually banned ONLY foreigners for this. I am not joking, you did not read incorrectly. Foreign fans have been caught taking photos and the next week only foreigners were banned from entering the music shows. And it's not like it's hard to find us. We need to show ID at most of these events and all foreigners will have to use either their passport or Foreign Registration Card.
If SHINee's fans are banned they perform for an empty studio. No fan chants. OR they perform for another group's fans who will not cheer enthusiastically. Generally the culture is that you only cheer loudly for your own group and only ever politely for everyone else.
On top of that there is definitely a faction of Korean fans who do not like foreign fans. And we've given them good reason not to. Because of the nature of attending recordings and events it's really easy for foreign fans to make mistakes just because they aren't aware of the rules. Or they just don't care or don't believe the rules apply to them. It's not like there's a manual in place. This is why it's really important you do your research online before you try attending events. Because when you break rules it's really easy for people to figure out whether you're foreign or not. And when one foreigner makes a mistake it's also easy for people to fall into this: 'man all these foreigner's screwing up, they're all so useless' mentality. It's not fair to people who do the right thing, but honestly how often do we as human's make huge generalizations like that in a day.
Furthermore, who's to say SM will continue allowing SHINee the opportunity to have fan meetings if fans are just going to break the 1 little rule they give them.
Here's the one I always think about too: SHINee are in the room. At the fan meet yesterday there were fan staff sprinting across the room and confiscating camera's from people doing the wrong thing. They have eyes. They can see when their fans are doing something wrong. I don't know about anyone else but being caught doing something wrong and being escorted out of the room while SHINee are watching sounds like my worst nightmare. I don't think of them as particularly judgmental guys but I can't see them feeling proud of you for breaking the rules put in place by their fan staff and managers. So even if you don't care about other fans or the fan staff at least know that SHINee aren't blind or stupid; they can see you doing the wrong thing.
In any case at the end of the day I'm going to ask SHAWols online to continue to do the right thing and ignore photos taken at events where photography is banned. As long as we don't create a market and we don't give the people who take these photos the attention or retweets they're looking for, maybe they'll finally get the hint and stop doing it.
Thank you for that post, I hope more people will understand now why it's forbidden to take photos during some kind of events. I was sitting between fansite masters during Blue Night with SHINee and the noise from all those cameras is really no joke XD Thank you again~
ReplyDeleteOh wow I didn't know it was that strict of a system. I have heard of fans getting banned from recordings and pretending to be from other fandoms, but I never understood why. I also believed that they wanted to exclude international fans,but now I see why it is the way it is. I feel enlightened. Thank you for the information.
ReplyDeleteThat does change how I feel about a certain (unnamed) fandom though -_-