BBFC RESEARCH AND APPLICATION TO OUR OPENING

The BBFC involves the laws and regulations that are involved when certificating films regarding age rating. When regulating films, the BBFC’s job is to oversee the rules set to control certain products within the film industry: these products being the film itself. They are not only in charge of setting the boundaries of what the film productions are able to do but also oversee giving the age certifications for every film in the UK and if audiences are not happy with the content of the film, the context, or the age rating of the film, the BBFC is the first place they will go to complain. It is illegal in the UK to release any film that has not been properly regulated by the BBFC and been given an age rating. 

When regulating the films content and its age rating, the BBFC ask a series of questions when watching the film to determine the certificate of the product. Here are some examples of the format they follow during the regulation process. 

• - Scenes involving sexual activity 

• - Scenes with violence included 

• - Scenes with discriminatory language or actions involved 

• - Scenes involving self-harm  

• - Scenes that involve criminal activity  

• - Strobe lighting that could affect audiences with epilepsy  

• - Scenes involving drugs, alcohol, cigarettes 

They not only consider these points above, but also deal with the context of the film and the way in which potential offensive issues are handled; for example, when films involve issues regarding drug abuse, the way in which the drugs are presented either being glamorised or denied can effect the scale of the films certification. An example of the questions the BBFC ask regarding the way in which issues are dealt with, superficially looking into the violence aspect.  

• - Is the violence being normalised?  

• - How realistic is the violence?  

• 
  - What harm is caused from the violence? 

  - How graphic is the violence presented? 

  - Is the violence enjoyed?  

  - How much violence is shown within the film?  

This process involves a production company sending a copy of their film to the BBFC, after they watch the film they send back the films assigned age certificate. If the film is not happy with the outcome of the regulation, they are given the opportunity to re edit the film or make changes where they deem necessary.  

Examples whereby these changes were necessary: The Hunger Games, the film was originally due to be a 12A however, after the BBFC regulated the film it was awarded a 15 age rating which meant the production company had to re-edit the film to down play the graphic violence of the killing scenes. 

Here are the official regulations for each age category that the BBFC deals with:  

For my production groups opening sequence, when looking at the average age rating put on films that are similar or that contain similar themes, due to the: 

• - Graphic, violent scenes of killing  

• - The use of fake blood 

• - The amount of violence that is portrayed  

• - The violence is being glamorised through the sporting element  

• - The violence is realistic  





Taking these key points into account, when self regulating our opening sequence, I feel as though it would be rated a 15 by the BBFC is they were to watch our opening. The intent for the remaining of the film follows similar graphic imagery and violence in this sequence. The film would have also contained subtle sexual activity but would have been extremely minor and would have been implied rather than shown. I also feel as though the content that we cover, regarding the classism within our film would have been a quality regulated strongly by the BBFC.