BBFC is a film rating company that assigns each film an age certificate depending on the content it displays and how suitable it is to different audiences. Films for theatrical release are classified by at least two examiners using the published guidelines. They look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, language, imitable behaviour, nudity, sex, sexual violence, and themes of violence when making decisions. They also have to consider the tone and impact it gives to the audience and how it makes them feel after viewing it. This is a vital part of creating our movie trailer because we need to be sure we are using the correct age rating for the audience we are targeting. The horror content needs to be appropriate for the age watching and cannot contain aspects that do not come under the age rating we have chosen.
As most members in our group are not over the age of 18 , it would be inappropriate to make a movie trailer that is of the age rating of eighteen. With that being considered, we can only use the age ratings of twelve or fifteen. As our brief is to make horror movie trailer, and the idea of horror films is to make the audience scared, we have chosen to make our film rating a fifteen, as we can do more with it and the explore the themes of horror in greater depth. If we were to do a higher age rating, it would be harder for us to work with as we are not old enough to watch it ourselves, so we therefore, would be unable to cater for older viewer's needs and expectations of a higher age rating horror film. A 15 age rating is the perfect rating for our horror as it addresses our target audience of 15-18 year olds and will attract all teenage horror fans as they will fit into the age range.
U (Universal)
This means that it is suitable for all audiences. If a certificate is rated U, then it cannot have any bad language or any horror of any sorts in it. This means that it would be inappropriate to use this certificate for our opening title sequence. Also there cannot be reference to any kind of drug use, or drug handling as well as not being allowed to have too much violence, and the violence has to be cartoon violence, therefore would make creating a horror trailer extremely difficult and restricted at the rating of U.
PG (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. Even though at PG, more is allowed to be shown, it would still be impossible to make a horror, with the rating of PG, especially a paranormal/poltergeist; which is our chosen sub-genre because of the jumpy and tension-building scenes we will include.
12
The rating 12, simply means that you have to be 12 years of age to watch the film. Under regulations we are allowed to make horror with an age rating of 12, look at the woman in black as an example. However as we want our sub-genre to be a paranormal, having the rating 12 would be inappropriate, as well as restricting what we could and couldn't show.
15
A 15 age rating means you have to be 15 years of age or older to watch the film, however it will contain more content that would be unsuitable for the viewing of a 12 rated film.
This is a list of the following things that can be included in a 15 film:
This is a list of the following things that can be included in a 15 film:
- Strong violence
- Frequent strong language
- Portrayals of sexual activity
- References to sex
- Discriminatory language or behaviour
- Drug taking
Being open to using violence more effectively is important for our group when making a poltergeist movie trailer. It will allow us to make it much more nail-biting and will let us create more graphic scenes and shots than they we would if we were doing a 12 rated horror film.
18
The final age certificate is 18. To warrant the certificate of 18, you have to have certain things that wouldn't be allowed in lesser certificates. This is the highest age rated certificate, therefore will contain the most graphic, violent, rudest or unsuitable content for anyone under the age of 18.
18 works are for adults and can contain strong issues and content such as:
18 works are for adults and can contain strong issues and content such as:
- Strong violence
- Frequent strong language
- Strong portrayals of sexual activity or real sex
- Discriminatory language or behaviour
- Drug taking
- Strong horror
- Strong blood and gore
We have decided against using an 18 certificate, as most of us aren't of that age yet, nor is it the audience we are targeting. Therefore it wouldn't be appropriate to use this certificate and we will still be just as capable of making a realistic and effective horror at the age rating of 15 as we will still be able to include violence and elements of horror to make a successful poltergeist movie trailer.