BBFC

regulations are rules/ laws 

a regulatory board is an organisation that is in charge of creating the rules that will control a specific set of products in a certain industry 

BBFC - the British Board of Film Classification 

BBFC regulates the British film industry 

the BBFC assign the age certificates (age ratings) for all films in the UK

the BBFC is in charge of setting what can and can't be shown in films 

the BBFC can get complaints from audiences if they are unhappy with the content shown in a film

a film in the UK can't be distributed unless it has got given an age certificate from the BBFC 

Age ratings in the UK

what they consider:

1. scenes with violence in them 
2. scene with sex and nudity 
3. obscene language 
4. discriminatory language 
5. scenes with self harm 
6. scenes of criminal activity 
7. scenes of dangerous activity 
8. drugs, alcohol and cigarettes 
9. scenes involving child actors/ characters 
10. strobe lighting 

considering context

is the film realistic or fantasy based (animated or fantasy films are normally allowed to have more violence than realistic films and still get a lower age certificate by the BBFC {they believe audiences will be able to tell its not real})

considering how an issue is handled

• if a film contains scenes of drug use but does it sensitively and show negative side effects then a movie could get a lower age certificate 
• a movie showing drugs being a positive thing with no side effects would get a high age certificate 

violence 

1. is the violence made to seem like a normal thing 
2. why are they being violent (could it be self defence)
3. what kind of harm/ injuries have been caused 
4. who is being violent (hero, villain, etc)
5. is the violence enjoyed 
6. how is the victim treated by the attacker 
7. is the violence glamorised 
8. how much violence is there 
9. is the violence realistic 
10. does the violence get punished 

the BBFC is stricter when giving age certificates to DVD releases over cinematic releases (e.g. for the hunger games it was released as a 12A in the cinemas but when it was released on DVD it was released as a 15)

to get an age certificate on a film (to be able to release it) the production company has to send a copy of the film to the BBFC where they will review it and give it an age certificate. If the production company doesn't like the age certificate they have been given they are allowed to re-edit the movie and send it back to the BBFC to get it re-evaluated and hopefully get a lower age certificate

for the hunger games there was a scene in it that made it get an age certificate of a 15 when the production company send it first in. As the production company wanted the film to be a 12A the had to edit the scene to take away the "scary tone".

Audiences not agreeing with age certificates 

• for the 2019 film "The Joker" - audiences thought that it should have been rated as an 18 due to all of the brutality and violence 
• for the 2018 film "Peter Rabbit" - audiences suggested that children would try some of the things the rabbits did (throwing fruit at people)
• for the 2017 film "Logan" - audiences thought the scenes were too bloody and the violence was too strong for the film to be rated as a 15

for the 2012 film "Women in black" it was only awarded a 12 A age certificate as it didn't actually include anything that would make the age certificate higher. The film shouldn't be watched by young people but it can technically/ legally be watched by young people. From all the complains to the BBFC of the film being too scary they had to add the tone of the film into what the BBFC has to review to create the age certificates for a film

Our opening sequence 

my group and i think that our opening sequence would be rated as a 12 but if the BBFC was to watch our whole narrative then the film would be rated as a 15. In the whole narrative there could be scenes that would make the rating of the film increase from a 12 to a 15 (more violence, obscene language, etc)