Kylie’s New Video Has A Bit Too Much Wow For TV

The spacey video for Kylie Minogue’s “Wow,” which leaked online the other day, has had its “world premiere” showing^* on Britain’s Channel 4 pulled because it violated guidelines set by Ofcom, the organization that regulate’s the UK’s communications companies. The broken rules had nothing to do with interspecies dancefloor grinding–instead, the strobe effects in the video were judged as being “potentially harmful” based on the organization’s guidelines, which have very detailed descriptions of how long images can flash and how bright those flashes can be. From Ofcom’s rulebook:

2. Television is by nature a flickering medium. In Europe each transmitted picture is refreshed 50 times each second and interlaced scanning generates flicker 25 times each second. It is therefore impossible to eliminate the risk of television causing convulsions in viewers with photosensitive epilepsy. To reduce risk the following guidelines on visual content should be applied when flashing or regular patterns are clearly discernible in normal domestic viewing conditions. It should be noted that the level of any cumulative risk arising from successive sequences of ‘potentially harmful’ flashes over a prolonged period is unknown. If, as medical opinion suggests, the risk of seizures increases with the duration of flashing, broadcasters should note that it is possible that a sequence of flashing images lasting more than 5 seconds might constitute a risk even when it complies with the guidelines below.

3. A potentially harmful flash occurs when there is a pair of op occurs when there is a pair of opposing changes in luminance (i.e., an increase in luminance followed by a decrease, or a decrease followed by an increase) of 20 candelas per square metre (cd.m-2) or more (see notes 1 and 2). This applies only when the screen luminance of the darker image is below 160 cd.m-2. Irrespective of luminance, a transition to or from a saturated red is also potentially harmful.

3.1.1. Isolated single, double, or triple flashes are acceptable, but a sequence of flashes is not permitted when both the following occur: i. the combined area of flashes occurring concurrently occupies more than one quarter of the displayed (see note 3) screen area; and ii. there are more than three flashes within any one-second period. For clarification, successive flashes for which the leading edges are separated by 9 frames or more are acceptable, irrespective of their brightness or screen area.

No word on how Kylie’s camp is planning on re-editing the video, but I’m guessing that there won’t be an uptick in scenes that were shot in front of that all-neon background. Which is good, because it reminded me a little bit too much of the marketing behind Madonna’s last album upon repeated viewings.

OfcomGuidance Note on Flashing Images and Regular Patterns: Luminance Measurement [Ofcom; PDF translation via Google] Kylie’s Wow video is pulled [The Sun]

^* It’s always so cute when media companies hang on to the past!