RESEARCH INTO BBFC - Miss Miller

BBFC

The BBFC stands for the British Board of Film Classification. It is a highly expert and experienced regulator of the moving image. They ensure that every film released has the appropriate age certificate for the target audience. 

U

The U symbol stands for Universal. U films are suitable for young children over the age of four. Although any U film could upset a child and parents should be wary of what is the main story line of the film they are about to watch. In U films they only use very mild bad language and nothing that should affect a young child. Violence will be very mild throughout the whole film. A U film may include include small fighting scenes or moments where characters are placed in danger. However, moments of emotional stress or threat will be quickly resolved and the outcome will be reassuring. Not all U rated films are for children, some adults may watch them although they are mainly targeted at young children as there is no violent fighting and no frequency swearing. An example of an U rated film is 'Toy Story'. Toy story is a cartoon film which is enjoyable for young children, they use young children's teddy bears and toys with a very small amount of violence. Although there is a few arguments during the film between the characters they are not aimed at the audience and soon become friendly. There are no potential dangerous or anti-social behaviour within that may influence children, making it suitable for such a young age to watch.

PG

PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.A PG allows the parents to be able to decide whether or not the content may upset or affect their child, although not all PG films are made for younger audiences. PG films can include and explore challenging issues such as racism and bullying, though, will not include any themes inappropriate for a child's viewing. Violence will usually be mild. There should be no detail of violence in a PG work, so while there might be some blood, we would not see how the injury was inflicted in strong detail. Whereas if drugs or alcohol is mentioned in a PG film it would be made clear that this is a bad thing to do and not encouraging the watcher to do this or think this is a good thing. Nanny Mcphee is rated a PG film. Although i see Nanny Mcphee to be a film for all ages as its fun and enjoyable for all ages. This film has no violence and uses a lot of references to do with magic and spells. 

12 and 12A

Films classified 12A and video works classified 12 contain material that are not suitable for any persons under the age of 12, this is specifically for reasons to do with safety and the understanding of the child. With a 12A film you need to be accompanied with an adult. 12 and 12A works are quite similar in the fact that this 12 years old 'barrier' is in place, however, 12 rated films may contain slightly less uses of strong language, certain ant-social behaviour or drug or sexual references. Parents have control over what there children watch and 12 and 12A films means they have to have parents connect or a parent/guardian with them.12A works require anyone under the age of 12 to be accompanied by an adult when seeing the film in the cinema (otherwise cinema's are at risk of loosing their licence).A 12A could be pushed to a 15 with some 15 certified film features contained in it, however, other features, say if the film is particularly positive, may stop this change in category. 12 and 12A films are roughly the same although with a 12A you need an adult with you, this may be because it uses more violent actions or language or it contains nudity that would only be allowed to be allowed to be seen with an adult. An example of a 12 film is Wild Child. Wild Child has mild language with a small amount of sex references. This film is practical for young people the age of 12 and above. Although there is no strong voilence with no blood or gore, this film has mild references to swearing and shouldnt be repeated by any persons younger than 12. Wild Child uses alot of recent sound tracks, although none with involve swearing. Furthermore, an example of a 12A film which has to be watched being accompnied by an adult is Mean Girls. This film has uses of strong language and small sex references. Although unlike a film which wouldbe rated a 15 this film shows no nudity and sex references arent aimed at the audience and shouldnt be repeated. Although this film is a 12A to watch it in the cinema when you are 13 or below you need to be accompnied by an adult for the young persons understanding of the film.

15

A 15 rated film means that 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. A 15 rated film meas it involves frequent swearing, some nudity and sex references. There will also be strong violoence, scenes of drug taking and strong verbal references to sex. This is not to be seen by anyone under the age of 15. In a 15 rated film, there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language which could upset any one under the age of 15 or may cause a distrubance. Obviously film producers and the bbfc do not want this to happen this is why there is strict guidlines for who can watch what films. Super bad is an example of an 15 rated film. Superbad, directed by Greg Mottola is a good example of a film with a 15 age certificate as it includes adult humour, a lot of sexual references, nudity, a lot of bad language and some violence. This film is about 3 boys leaving high school and getting ready for college. These 3 boys are interested in girls and find any way to grab their attention. Children can easily copy words and phrases used in this film which could harm young children. Alot of the words used are for the ears of 15+ only. Like most most 15 age rated film, superbad does use homophobic terms and these shouldnt be taken into consideration by the audience.

18

18 rated films are Films rated 18 are for adults only and are defiantly not suitable for children. Unlike all the other rated films an 18 uses extreme language with no restrictions. They include very strong violence, strong portrayals of sexual activity, scenes of sexual violence, strong horror, strong blood and gore and real sex (in some circumstances) (bbfc website). 18 rated films can use any type of language and also explore discrimination, this can be horrific for anyone under the age of 18 to watch. An example of an 18 rates film is The inbetweeners. This movie / TV series involves and uses a lot of strong language and mild usage of sexual references which may be disturbing for anyone under the age of 18. 

Overall, the BBFC are precise about all of the age certificates that they award to each film and it is in their best concern to consider how a film may effect those of different ages. They take alot into consideration and make sure sll she groups are watching what is suitable for them. research Into the BBFC has helped my understanding into age certaificstes and when creating my opening sequence I will have full understanding on why and how to rate it, depending on the language used.