My Research Into Film Certificates

As we have to find the correct certificate for our film, we need to research into all of the different possible certificates. The BBFC (British Board of Film Certificates) has been deciding the certificates of films for British audiences since 1912. The different certificates are; U, PG, 12, 15 and 18. Our film going to include violence, a knife (weapon), blood and mild swearing and so these are the factors that i will be focusing on when looking at the certificates.
                                                                                       

                                                                 U 

'U' films are 'suitable for all and the U itself stands for universal. However, U films have to be suitable for people aged 4 or over. The films Hotel Transylvania (2012) and Labyrinth (1986) are both U films. Though they aren't likely to be described as horror films, they both feature general conventions of horror films (for example they both contain monsters).

In U films you would only expect to hear mild bad language such as 'damn', however such words as 'bugger' or 'bloody' can be heard in a U film as long as the use is justified by the context.

Brief fight scenes and dangerous situations are allowed in a U, however moments of emotional stress or threat have to be quickly resolved. Any scary or violent scenes have to be balanced out with happier things such as jokes or music. This would then prevent the young audience from suffering any psychological harm.

Characters who are supposed to be seen as bad or evil are allowed to have weapons, however they won't be made too noticeable to the audience. Also, any of the good or heroic characters will not have a very violent weapon.

In the film Labyrinth (1986) there is a lot of dangerous situations, which the characters are put into, but they are quickly resolved. There is also no bad language and the film only uses more comical weapons such as boulders, which means that it is not too violent. There is also no blood in this film. However, there are many gremlins and other monsters within the film which children could potentially find scary. (Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT_xpFZe20A )


After looking into the U certificate, it is clear that our film will need a higher certficate. I can see this because only mild bad language is allowed in a U, where as we will use at least one bad swear word and also we are going to be showing a violent weapon (the knife) with tense music in the background (rather than happy music).

                                                                 PG

The next certificate is PG. PG stands for Parental Guidance and these films are suited for general viewing but some scenes may be unsuitable for younger children. A PG film should not disturb a child aged around 8 however it is impossible to know what will disturb a single child and so it is up to the parents to decide whether they think the film will disturb their child.

In a PG film you are allowed to use such mild bad language as 's***' or 'son of a bitch' however the context and the delivery of the words are important. For example if a character was to use a swear word as an insult towards another charactrer then the film would need a higher rating.
A little blood is allowed in a PG as long as we would not see how the injury occured in too much detail (for example there would not be a close up of the injury whilst it was occuring). At this certificate violence is more acceptable in more fantasy settings because the audence is less likely to feel the need to re-create it. PG films are more likely to focus on the adventure of the characters and so any violence (for example a fight) would usually be seen as something that the characters need to get past in order to continue their adventure and nothing more.
PG films also allow scenes that are likely to make the audience jump and they also allow scary scenes. However any scary scenes which are either realistic or stand out, from the rest of the film, are not allowed to last for a long time.

It is worth knowing that any precarious behaviour, such as a child climbing a tall tree, is not likely to feature in a PG film if it looks safe or fun. Also, any realistic or easily accessable weapsons such as knifes are not allowed to be glamourised (made to look amazing or fun) or focused on too much in a PG film.

Coraline (2009) is an example of a PG rated film. This film as a thriller and fantasy film, however it features general conventions of horror (such as the black cat or the multiple ill lit scenes). According to the BBFC Insight this film contains 'mild threat and scary scenes and one use of mild language'. This film does not show any blood, it does however show one injury which is caused by nature and was not related to violence (the main character touches poison oak which results in a rash on her hands). This injury also quickly disappears. (Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO3n67BQvh0 )

After looking into the PG certificate i believe that our film needs a higher rating. One reason for this is because mild language, in a PG, is not allowed to be delieverd aggresively where as the swearing in our film will be delivered in this way. Also it says that scary scenes are not allowed to be too long but our film will be mostly scary/ tense. Finally, in PG films you would not be allowed to focus on using a knife as a weapon but in our film that is exactly what we are going to be doing.

                                                                 12

The next certificate is 12. The idea of a film given a 12 certificate is that no one under the age of 12 should be supplied this film. However some 12 films are given a 12A certificate when they are in the cinema. This is where a person under 12 can go to see the film as long as they are accompanied by someone over the age of 18 (an adult).

In a 12 you can expect strong language such as 'f***' however it can not be used often and the context of it is important. Moderate language such as 'bitch' or 'twat' is also allowed.
Similar to PG, in a 12 moderate violence is allowed but it should not focus on the details of the injury. However, unlike PG, occasional gory moments are allowed as long as they are not a result of violence. For example someone could accidently trip over something like glass, which would result in a gory injury but it was not related to violence. Action sequences and weapons are allowed in a 12 however weapons that can be easily accessed by a 12 year old are not allowed to be glamorised. Assault is only allowed to be briefy shown in a 12.

The overall tone of a film is a very important factor when deciding on a film's certificate. A film that has a dark or unsettling tone (for example it contains a lot of death or scenes of murder) which could disturb the audience (for example giving them nightmares) would be more likely to be given a 15 certificate rather than a 12, even if the film's individual issues (for example infrequent strong language or moderate violence) would usually result in the film being given a 12 certificate.

The Woman In Black (2012) is example of a recent Horror film rated at 12. In this film there is one gory scene where a young girl coughs up blood and this scene is quickly over. This film is a psychological thriller as it is about a ghost. The film is very dark and most scenes of the film are scary. Though this film is known to be very scary, there is no strong language, nudity or strong violence in it which is why it is a 12. (Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYMUnJGURI )

After looking into the 12 certificate, i dont think our film will be a 12. A 12 would allow us to use some strong language, to show a gory injury and assault. However, our film is going to be very dark and hopefully scary enough to stay with the audience for a while. This means that we are hoping that our film will have a dark tone, which would mean that our film would have the certifcate of a 15. Also the gory injury in our film will be the result of violence (the man using a knife) and this would not be acceptable for a 12.

                                                           15

15 certificate films are not allowed to be supplied to anyone under the age of 15. Also, films rated 15 are not suitable for anyone under the age of 15. The differences in 15 certificate films, compared to 12 certificate films, is that they are likely to include (in terms of the factors we are using in our film); strong violence and frequent strong language.

In a 15 there is no limit on how often strong language such as 'f***' is used and it can also be delivered in an aggressive way. You are also allowed to use very strong/offensive swear words such as 'c***' but they are not likely to be used frequently or aggressively in a 15.

A 15 film is allowed strong violence but it should not dwell on the delivery of pain or injury. Though some gory scenes are allowed, scenes with extremely strong gore are not likely to be allowed. Also easily accessable weapons (for example knifes) are allowed to be shown but not glamorised.

Also, in a 15 film strong threat is allowed as long as it is not sadistic.

1408 (2007) is an example of a horror film with a 15 certificate. This film contains a lot of psychological threat, some gore and bad language. This film is also quite intense because the main character is constantly in dangerous situations after around 15 minutes into the film. It also has a dark tone because the main character ends up with the choice of either killing himself or going through torture. (Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgLm4_fq6GY )

I think our film should have a 15 certificate. This is because we will be showing a character using a knife as a weapon (though we wont show the knife going into the other character) and we will be showing that injury. We will also be using some strong language. Our film is going to have a dark tone and will involve psychological threat, therefore it needs to be a 15.

                                                           18

Films that have an 18 certificate are only suitable for people over the age of 18.

In an 18 you are likely to see very (frequent) strong language such as 'f***' or 'c***', very strong violence, strong horror and strong blood and gore.

In an 18 you are allowed to focus on pain and injury in great detail and you are even allowed to show sadistic violence.

Horror films that are rated an 18, rather than 15, contain stronger horror and are more likely to scare the audience for this reason.  

Saw (2004) is an example of a horror film with an 18 certificate. This film contains strong gore through out. It is described by the BBFC Insight to contain 'strong bloody violence and  language'. The film shows people being killed in many graphic ways which is rhe main reason why it has such a high certificate. This also means it has a very dark tone due to the amount of violent deaths within it. (Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1lgXhFbXy4 )

I don't think our film will be an 18 because we are not going to be showing much gore. Also we wont be using frequent strong language.

To conclude, as i have previously mentioned, i believe our film should have a 15 certificate. This is because we will be using strong language once or twice, we are going to show a knife being used as a weapon and will show the injury afterwards, and finally our film is going to use psychological threat to scare our audience.

(Website used for certificate information: www.bbfc.co.uk)

(Photos used from www.bbfc.co.uk and www.imdb.com)