BBFC Research (Abigail Odum)

  The British board of film classification (BBFC) are the people who decide what certificate movies and some DVD’s and video games should be. This is very important and started when young people began to watch films which were inappropriate for their age. The BBFC was set up in 1912 for cinema screening however it also started to put age certificates on videos and DVD’s since 1984. They take many factors into consideration when classifying a film. They look at Language, Horror, Drugs, Imitable behaviour, Nudity, Sex, Discrimination, Theme and Violence.

We have decided our film is best suited to a 15 certificate. We reached this decision after examining each of the factors below:

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

- Our film does not contain any descrimination.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

- We are aware that drugs are are allowed however there will be no drugs in our film.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

- As our film is a thriller it will not contain any elements of horror.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

- The mysterious person shown in our sequence will not have any weapons, there will be no dangerous behaviour.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

- There may be minor use of language in our film however there will be none in our sequence making our film suitable for a 15 certificate.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

- There will be no nudity in our film.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

- There will not be any sex scenes in our sequence nor our film.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

- As all themes are allowed our film will be suitable for our 15+ audience.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
- Our film contains one scene of violence however it's not particularly strong. There are no verbal references to sexual violence; there will be no portrayal of sexual violence in our film.

Some of the above information was collected from the BBFC'S classification guideline publication which can be found on http://www.bbfc.co.uk/