Regulation Research

As I have chosen to do a short film I will be researching the BBFC. BBFC stands for British Board of Film Classification which means that this is the company that decides what age group each media product should be so that no harm comes to the public, especially children. They also have to realise and respond to what the public think about different issues in life and then change there classification rules around that so that nobody will get offended when watching something in the media.

There are many issues in film now because of age restrictions in real life and how people are now reacting to different issues and subjects in regular life. One of the main subjects is how sex is shown in films and TV. This is a problem because the legal age that somebody can have sex is 16 so by showing any sexual content in a film or on TV it could be seen as encouraging this behaviour and would be frowned upon by parents so the BBFC would ban any inappropriate material like this. Another problem is showing any form of drug use. Again by showing any of this to the age that is below the age that are allowed to see it then it could be seen as encouraging them to do this type of thing which would be really bad because drugs are illegal. The BBFC bans any content that has discriminatory, racist or sexist because this could be very offensive to anybody who watches that programme so they don't allow it to be shown on TV.

There are 6 different certifications in film and TV. These are U, PG, 12A and 12, 15 and 18. The U and PG categories are mainly aimed at children because they lack detail in everything from horror, sex, drug use and any violent behaviour. This is to protect the children watching it so that no harm comes to them when they are watching it. 12A stands for children who are 12 years old but still need to be accompanied by an adult. This is because there is still something in there that isn't entirely suitable for the child but it still isn't bad enough to be classed as a normal 12 or a 15 because the sex, language and violence content could still scare or offend younger kids. 15 and 18 are for more mature people who are used to the horror and violence in films. This has lots of detail on horror, sex, violence and drug use. also the use of language in there is a lot stronger and more frequent.

 



An example of a film trailer that is rated 12 would be Avengers Assemble. This i chose because it is also a thriller film which i like mine and i think it had a very similar sense of humour and direction to it as mine does. Also it is a 12 because as i said in the above paragraph the sexual, language and violence content isn't enough to put any kids of but it could still manage to upset or offend anyone below 12 who is watching it. Another reason why i think it is a 12 is because the whole idea of super heroes and evil taking over the world is obviously made up so this would bring the age down as the viewers would know that none of this would ever happen. Here is the trailer to it below.

Another film trailer that i have found is classed as a 15. This is the same rating that i have given my short film because of the language that we have used in it and the violence that we have used in it with the hammer to the guys head. This is to graphic for any younger than 15 because it could upset some viewers by watching this. So by showing you this trailer it will give you an idea of what a 15 should look like. I think it is a 15 because there is a little bit of sexual content in this but it isn't in very much detail which is suitable and also throughout the film there is a lot of violence and in some parts it shows the main character in some pain and with a lot of blood around his body. This is the trailer below.

I think the certification that i would choose for my short film would be a 15 because of the violence that we have put into it. The violence that we have used is the part when the man stops in the woods and hits the man in the head with a hammer. We were thinking about emphasising the wound so this would then straight away put the certification up to a 15. Also because we have uses of strong language in it, it has to be a 15 because in a 12 there isn't any bad language allowed.

In a 15 rated film there is no limit to strong language so it can be used within reason. Also the language that is racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language can be used but it can not be glamorised in any way so that people would copy it. At 15 sex scenes can be shown as long as there is no strong or graphic detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long and may involve some nudity and movement. Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there should be no strong detail. In 15 rated films there can be lots of strong threat and menace as long as it is not sexualised or sadistic. Drug use can be shown but it must no be promoted in any way.

 

This would affect my own material because when the person kills the man in cannot be shown in horrific detail and when it is done he can not be shown to be sadistic in any way as it is banned by the BBFC. There is no limit on how much strong language we can use in our 15 rated film however if our film was rated any lower we would have to cut right back on the amount that we use it and what words we use when we are saying it.