Research - Age Rating

When making our film, we will have to think of what age our audience will be and what rating the film will recieve, therefore we have researched into the british board of film classification to read the guidelines and how they classify films in order to classify our own and apply these guidelines to the content of our film.

U - Universal meaning suitable for all
This means that a film recieving a rating of U should not upset any child and should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over and should diplay positive moral framework. There should be no disciminatory language, no refrences to drugs and aspects like Horror, language, violence and sex should be very mild. For example only kissing, no nudity in a sexual content and horror should no cause anxiety to the children.

 PG - Parental Guidance

This refers to genral viewing but some scenes may be unsiutable for young children. A PG film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older, however parents are advised to make a judgement as to whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children. Aspects like Horror should not be prolonged or intense, along with violence and imitable behaviour should not be dangerous that potentially a child could copy. Aspects of drugs should be to a minimal and should only be referenced briefly unless it is carrying a suitable anti-drug message. Moderate sexual references and none detailed violence.

In terms of our film, we feel these two particular ratings are not suitable as our film involves a certain degree of violence and horror which is unsuitable for children, along with the theme and plot that shouldn't be exposed to as the murder of a baby is not something children should watch and may cause upset. Therefore we will not be rating our film PG or U.

12A/12 - Suitable for 12 years and over
Simirlar criteria are used to classify films that are a '12A' or '12' rating. These catogories are given when the work is suitable in general for those aged 12 and over. Works classified as this may upset children under the age of 12 and/or contain material that parents do not think is suitale for them. The '12A' catergory exists only for cinema films, no one under the age of 12 may see this film without being accompanied by an adult as they are not recommeneded to children below 12. However, parents can make a judgement regarding the film whether they think its suitable and therefore responsibility in some cases lies with the accompanying adult. This rating should only contain moderate violence, sexual scenes that are only suitable for young people and must be discreet along with nudity. Themes like suicide should not be dwelled on and strong language is not permitted.

Again, for our film this may not be a suitable rating the theme is quite adult as we are dealing with mental health issues and death of a baby, violence is likely to be a strong aspect and we don't feel this rating is best suited for our film.

15 - Suitable for 15 years and over
No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work. Drug use may be shown but as a whole should not promote misuse of drugs. Strong threat of horror is permitted unless in the context of sexualised, Any theme is acceptable but themes like suicide and self harm, along with use of weapons should not be glamorised. There may be use of strong language but the strongest terms must be justified by the context, however repeated strong language is probably not acceptable. Any sexual activity must be portrayed without a lot of detail. Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain, like torture. Sexual violence should be discrete and have a strong justification as to why it is used.

We feel that this age rating is the one most suitable for our film and when looking at the criteria on the bbfc website, it is the one most adaptable to our plot and what we intend to include in out film.

18 - Suitable for adults
No one younger than 18 may see an '18' film in the cinema or buy/rent an '18' rated video. This rating mainly links with the principles that adults have and the freedom of choosing their own entertainment. However expceptions will be made in the following areas:
- where the material is in breach of criminal law
- where the material or treatment appears to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals through there behavious to society, for example endorsing sexual assualt.
- Explicit content which cannot be justified by the context.

This rating we feel would be to strong for our film, we are not displaying explicit sexual content or explicit violence which may glamorise the idea of violence. Therefore we feel that our film would not be suitable for the '18' rating.
After researching each of the individual ratings we feel the best rating suitable for our film is a '15' This appeals to many people in our age range and by reading the guidelines of the rating we feel that our film is in line with the rating '15'.