Friday 28 October 2016

Age ratings - BBFC

All classification decisions are based on the BBFC’s published and regularly updated Guidelines. The Guidelines are the product of public deliberation, research and the gathering of experience of the BBFC over many years. They reflect current views on film, DVD and video game regulation. They are used to advice people on what films to see and shield people from content they may not want to be exposed too.


Films for theatrical release are normally classified by at least two Examiners using the published Guidelines. In most cases the decision is looked over by a Senior Examiner, but if the Examiners are in any doubt or fail to agree, or if important policy issues are involved, the work may be seen by other members of the Board up to, and including, the Chief Executive and Presidential team. Occasionally it is necessary to take specialist advice about the legal ground of film content or its potential for harm if viewed by people it was not meant for.

As seen on the left these are the rating that can be applied to films. As we are essentially making a trailer for a full film and have considered who are audience are we will need to make sure that our age rating covers the audience. As we are looking at making a film about gangs this already puts it at 15 to 18 rating.

When considering the rating of a film examiners look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, language, imitable behaviour, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence when making decisions. They also consider context, the tone and impact of a work for example how it makes the audience feel and even the release format for example, as DVDs are watched in the home, there is a higher risk of underage viewing.

As our product will involve many of these things, drugs, violence, swearing and nudity in the entirety of the film it is likely that our film would be rated 18. But because we will not be including all of these things in the advert it will be safe to expose 16 year olds to view are trailer making it safe for them to watch.




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