Planning For Final Film: BBFC Rating

For this task, we had to find out what our BBFC rating would be for our whole film. We have done this to further our understanding of our whole film in general and to let the audience know of what would roughly be the content shown within our film.(I have used the official BBFC website to gather this information).

 

The different BBFC ratings are - 

Uc/ U - This means that the film is suitable for all. 'The "U" symbol means universal. A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. However, it is impossible to predict what might upset a particular child, especially at this lower end of the category range.'

PG - This stands for parental guidance.This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. 'A PG film should not unsettle a child aged around eight or older. Parents should consider whether the content may upset younger, or more sensitive, children.'

12A/12 - 12 A stands for cinema release suitable for ages 12 years and over and a 12 is for video releases suitable for 12 years and over. 'Films classified 12A and video works classified 12 contain material that is not generally suitable for children aged under 12. No one younger than 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. Adults planning to take a child under 12 to view a 12A film should consider whether the film is suitable for that child.'  

15 -  This means only suitable for 15 years and over. 'No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a 15 rated video. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.'

18 - This means a film that is suitable for adults only. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy / rent an 18 rated video. No 18 rated works are suitable for children.

 Our film BBFC rating - 15

 Typical content shown within a '15' film - 

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or references to sexual             violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

With our film being a psychological thriller, it would most likely fall under either the 15 or 18 certificate (as they often contain strong disturbing themes and graphic violence). We gave it a 15 because we felt that our film would just naturally not exceed anything stated in the list above and therefore that rating would be appropriate. Within our film, we have based our '15' rating on the whole film as opposed to just the opening scene as there are many elements of a '15' film that will not be shown in our opening scene but will be shown throughout our film. For example, no scenes of drug taking or sexual violence will be shown in the opening scene, yet they could be shown within the film itself.






Intended audience

The intended audience for our film is universal, however, the audience would have to be older than 15. We would want to create a film which could be enjoyed by all genders, ethnicities and ages. The film would not be intended for a conventional gender or age, if we were to continue on from the opening scene we would create more of an emphasis on  strong and independent female characters - we would want to create a positive representation of both class, sexuality, gender & ethnicity. This is important because there is a severe lack of positive representation of these groups in cinema and we would want to go against the conventions that are primarily seen amongst films.