the bbfc

The BBFC

 The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified films since it was first set up in 1912 and videos/DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984. It was set up to bring a degrees of uniformity to the classification of film nationally. The rate films from U, PG, 12, 12A, 15, 18 based on appropriate, violence, language choices, imagery, sexual content and scenes of a certain nature. These help to set boundaries for film viewers and to guide the audience on what they are seeing and the content that comes alongside with it. This allows the audience to experience a film that is relatable to their age. The BBFC on average views and classifies 600 films, 12,000 DVDs, 200 trailers and 800 adverts and out of all of these only 29 have been rejected in the past 10 years. Overall the BBFC owns a huge place in the film industry.

U (universal) films are based for children as in contains nothing unsuitable for them.  These films primarily have a very basic storyline and a happy ending that is free flowing and fun for all the family to enjoy. Many makers of these typed of films are highly well known for their universal rated films such as, Pixar and Disney, who bring out will known classics such as Finding Nemo and Sleeping Beauty.

PG (Parental Guidance) films are admitted for all ages with the joining of a parent. This is due to the film having mild use of profanities, fantasy violence and slight drug/sex references. In order for the film to not get bad feedback, the PG certificate is given as a warning to those with small children seeing it that perhaps some of the content you would not find in a U rated piece. Majority of the films are set as this as it has minorly frightening scenes and parental Guidance may be needed by the child to avoid fright. An example of this are the Harry Potter films as they obtain violence, low lighting, and characters that may be seen as frightening to young children.

12A films can include mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, infrequent strong language, moderate violence, sex references and nudity. An example of this is Iron Man 3 as their is infrequency and violent scenes visual. 12A rated films were introduced fairly recently in 2002 due to an incident with a Spider-Man film. The film contained a violent scene towards the end and had characters that could seem misleading to young fans and quite frightening. By introducing 12 year old being able to see it but people under the age being able to view with a 12 year old or above the film could still get the views they wanted, fans were not disappointed, and the audience were warned about the content available.

12 rated films are allowed to be viewed by children over or who have reached the age of 12. This is due to films possibly including sex scenes, drug abuse, profanities and minor violence. An example of this would be The Women In Black as it has content that may appear scary or un-natural to a child below the age of 12.

15 rated films require someone 15+ to view them as they include, adult themes, frequent strong language, strong sex references, drug use and nudity. An example of this would be;  Ted as it obtains frequent profanities, sex scenes and regular drug abuse which, would appear to inappropriate for a child below 15 to witness. Also a lot of thrillers are set as 15 rated due to the makers not wanting to loose viewers, which means they do not include as much goor as an 18 would appear to I.E; Scary Movie.



18 rated films are of viewers 18+ as they include hard sex references, strong drug use, strong language, sex scenes and very strong/gory sadistic violence. 18 films are inappropriate for anyone under this age as they shouldn't be exposed to films that are going to scare them or give them the wrong impression of drug use. Younger views tend to copy those in the limelight and the scenes viewable in this rated films are inappropriate for children to see let alone try for themselves. When watching an 18 the boundaries are very limited and should be known by viewers before witnessing

To conclude in my thriller I will be making sure I rate mine to an appropriate standards in the same way the BBFC have for many continuous years. After researching I feel the most appropriate rating for mine would be an age 15. This is as content will have violence and scenes inappropriate to a child but, the goor will be of a certain standard that means it can fall into the 15 category and not the 18 certificate.