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The BBFC& Film certificates By Immy Murphy
Who are the BBFC? The BBFC are a film classification group, who focus on helping children and families choose well by providing them with the guidance they need to help them choose what’s right for them and to avoid what’s not. Their mission is to… protect the public, and especially children, from content which might raise harm risks empower the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law. respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research. provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit. work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advice which support emerging media delivery systems. provide an effective service to enforcement agencies.
What do they consider when rating a film? • They must consider what sort of film it is, and whether it contains lots of violence, sex, blood/gore, jump scares, thrill and all of that to be able to rate it a fair certificate. • Films for cinema release are usually seen by at least two Compliance Officers, and in most cases, their age rating recommendation is approved by the Compliance Manager or the Head of Compliance. • If Compliance Officers are in any doubt, if a film is on the borderline between two categories, or if important policy issues are involved, it may be seen by other members of the BBFC, up to and including the Chief Executive, the President and Vice Presidents. Occasionally, it may call for expert advice about the legal acceptability of film content or its potential for harm. • DVDs films and series are normally seen by one Compliance Officer, but opinions from other Officers, the Compliance Manager, the Head of Compliance and Board of Classification may be required for more difficult content
What the BBFC allow to be in a 12 rated film… • No promotion of potentially dangerous behaviour which children are likely to copy. No glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons such as knives. No endorsement of anti-social behaviour. Discriminatory language or behaviour must not be endorsed by the work as a whole. Aggressive discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly condemned. • Drugs • Misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be glamorised or give detailed instruction. • Language • There may be moderate bad language. Strong language may be permitted, depending on the way it is used, who is using the language, its frequency within the work as a whole and any special contextual justification. • Nudity • There may be nudity, but in a sexual context it must be brief and discreet. • Sex • Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Moderate sex references are permitted, but frequent crude references are unlikely to be acceptable. • Threat and horror • There may be moderate physical and psychological threat and horror sequences. Although some scenes may be disturbing, the overall tone should not be. Horror sequences should not be frequent or sustained. • Violence • There may be moderate violence, but it should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context.
What the BBFC allow to be in a 15 rated film. • Dangerous behaviour (for example, suicide, self-harming and asphyxiation) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Whether the depiction of easily accessible weapons is acceptable will depend on factors such as realism, context and setting. • The work must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour, although there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory themes and language. • Drug taking may be shown but the work must not promote or encourage drug misuse (for example, through detailed instruction). The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable. There may be strong language. Very strong language may be permitted, depending on the way it is used, who is using the language, its frequency within the work as a whole and any special contextual justification. • There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. Sexual nudity may be permitted but strong detail is likely to be brief or presented in a comic context. • Sexual activity may be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour. Repeated very strong references, particularly those using pornographic language, are unlikely to be acceptable. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal are unacceptable. • There may be strong verbal references to sexual violence but any depiction of the stronger forms of sexual violence, including rape, must not be detailed or prolonged. A strong and sustained focus on sexual threat is unacceptable. • There may be strong threat and horror. A sustained focus on sadistic threat is unlikely to be acceptable. • Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.
What certificate would the BBFC reward my film/opening sequence… • I would say for our opening sequence it would be rated a 15, as we want to include some quite scary/cult sort of images and videos, we plan to use blood therefore it would be gory. However for the film as a whole I would say the BBFC would rate it a 12 as it is more about a Son discovering about a cult his father leads, it is more of a mystery and thriller, rather than the opening scene which is just a horror, gore and blood fest. We also want our opening sequence to look a bit like the Seven opening scene.
