Regulation Research

Regulation Research is where we had to find out about the what the film guidelines are and how we need to make sure our film obeys. Also at different age ratings some of these areas change to what level they can be portrayed on screen. Through this, it was decided that that our film should be a fifteen due to the scenes of gore and blood that take part in it.

Regulation Research

The BBFC, or the British board of film classification, are the team of individuals who watch films and decide what age rating certificate they are, therefore deciding what audience range will be eligible to view them.

The Main areas which they view a film on include:

• Sex ( How it is viewed or portrayed within the film, if it just spoken about, it will be given a lower rating to that if it is seen happening on the screen)
• Drugs ( Viewing/ Portrayal if we see someone taking drugs that will be given a higher rating to that if they are just spoken about)
• Language (Continual swearing will higher the rating to 15 or 18 but if there is little or no swearing then the rating will be lower. Also in this category will be innuendos/ sexual mentioning)
• Violence (Violence is taking in high regards to whether a higher rating is given. Films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Star ship Troopers with graphic scenes of death and disemboweling had 18 certificate ratings whereas others have received 12 or 15 because not all of it is seen on screens)

Certification is split in 5 Main categories:

1. U – Suitable for all, with no real scenes of violence or intimidating behaviour. Any mention on sex would be in the form of kissing or making love.
2. PG – General viewing, however some scenes of the film may be found distressing by younger audiences. Natural nudity and mild bad language are allowed by scenes of action/ violence is brief or has a suitable message attached.
3. 12/12A – not suitable for people under 12 unless in the parent or guardians own view, it is viewable to them. 12 rating films on appear on the side of DVD cases and not in cinemas, meaning no one under 12 can buy them. 12A only appears in cinemas.
4. 15- No one under the age of 15 can buy/ rent or watch these films. Things that are permitted in these types of films include repeated use of swearing, nudity in a sexual way without detail, strong violence but not dwelling on it, drug taking may viewed and many more.
5. 18- No one under the age of 18 can buy a film of this rating, nor can they watch it in a cinema. They are no real limits to it however in certain cases, such as damaging to the viewing audience, it will get a rating of R18 and be confined to smaller specific places such as sex shops.

For our film, we believe a rating of fifteen is suitable for the target audience we are aiming our film at. This means we are can follow the rules of swearing repeatedly but not constantly, like every sentence, no actual sex but sexual language and drug taking can be talked about but not seen.

Doing this level means we cannot actually fully show the violence of people getting disemboweled completely but can keep flicking between that and other events/ people in the shot, we can use bad language but don’t intend too and scenes of a sexual nature but that doesn’t correspond with our genre of film.

Through this we found out about the different levels of film showing like sex and drugs and also how we need to make our film in the same league as these rules so it can be aimed at the right target audience.