Certificate Of Our Short Film 'Alice'

To decide the correct age certificate of our short film, I carried out research on the official British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The BBFC set the certification of films shown in the British Isle's for Cinema and DVD audiences. If a film is released either on DVD or in the Cinema, Legally the BBFC have to rate the film to make sure that the audience that watches the film will be of a suitable age. Because of this I think that I should use the criteria which the BBFC offers on their website, to base the age certificate of our film around. I will use the criteria the BBFC has published on their website as the guidelines to set the age certificate on the conventions and the narrative of our film.

Firstly, The most common age certificate for Horror/Thriller films is a 15 age certificate. Because of this reason, I had a look at the 15 age certificate criteria. This was to firstly establish roughly which age certificate our groups short film would categories in to.

The following text is the full criteria for a 15 age certificate which is available to the audience for the British public.

For the official BBFC page concerning the age certificate 15 film, Click Here.

"What does the 15 symbol mean?

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15’ rated DVD.  15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

Are there any limits on what sort of theme a work can have at 15?

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Is 15 really stronger than 12A?

 Yes. 15 works are stronger than 12 or 12A rated works and could include any of the following:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

How much strong language is there in a 15?

There could potentially be a great deal. At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (eg f***).

Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (eg 'c***'), although continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15.

What about discriminatory or offensive terms?

There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this.

However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

How much sex and nudity is allowed at 15?

At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, as long as there is no strong or graphic detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category and may involve some nudity and movement. Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there should be no strong detail.

There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.

Heterosexual and homosexual sex and sex references are treated the same.

Can there be strong violence?

Yes, at 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.

Easily accessible weapons may not be glamorised.

What about sexual violence?

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence (for example descriptions of rape or sexual assault in a courtroom scene or in victim testimony) but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

What about horror works?

Many horror films are rated 15. At 15 there can be strong threat and menace (as long as it is not sadistic or sexualised), although the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Can you see drugs in a 15 rated film or video?

At 15 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.

The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances like aerosols or solvents is unlikely to be acceptable at 15.

What about dangerous behaviour or things teens might copy?

We consider the risk of potential harm to impressionable teenagers. For example, dangerous behaviour such as hanging, suicide and self-harming should not dwell on detail which could be copied."

After reading BBFC's criteria for an age certificate 15 film, our group have decided to certify our 5 minute short film, 'Alice', an age certificate 15. This is because our film will contain some examples of strong language. Also, the horror element of our thriller isn't sexualised or sadistic which doesn't allow it to become an age certificate 18. Also our final scene contains mild violence, but isn't glamorised . These topics are compatible with the age 15 certificate. Overall, the criteria of an age 15 certificate film matches with our groups short film identically.