Age Certificates

Age Certificates

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is important to the film industry to protect vulnerable viewers from images which may be unsuitable or harming to them in any way.

By providing the film with an age certificate, only people aged above the limit are permitted to go and see the film at the cinema. At home, in private viewing the certificate will act as a guideline to parents and guardians about whether a film is suitable for their children to watch. 

Some content in films causes controversy over which certificate they should be given. An example of this is the 2002 Spiderman film, which included scenes which were inappropriate for viewers under the age of 12. Children of this age may find it offensive to see their childhood hero being attacked in a viscous way by the Green Goblin. The images included seeing him thrown through a window, and having his face slammed into a rock. Due to the violent nature of these images, and the large below 12 fan base that the Marvel superhero had, the BBFC introduced 12A as a new certificate, allowing children under 12 to see the film, as long as they were accompanied by an adult. 

The current classifications which are used are: U (universal), PG (parental guidance), 12A, 12, 15, 18 and 18R. 

Films given the classification U are suitable for all ages as they contain nothing which is unsuitable for children. Examples of U rated films include Hugo (2011), The Muppets (2011) and Toy Story (1995).
Toy Story is an animated film that sees a young boy, Andy, accidentally leave two toys behind as he moves house. These two toys (Woody and Buzz) happen to be his favourites, and they know they must do everything they can to make it back to their owner. The toys hurry across town, after Andy's parents' car, desperately trying to make it back into the box with his other toys, whilst attempting to avoid the obstacles that stand in his way, such as the nasty next door neighbour Sid, who tortures his toys. Eventually, they manage to make it back to Andy, who is delighted to discover his lost toys in the box with all of his others. The use of animated toys as characters, and a family friendly narrative makes this film suitable to all ages. Some extremely young children could potentially find next door neighbour Sid to be an intimidating and threatening character, yet there are no scenes which earn the film a PG rating, causing it to be provided with the certification of a U.

 

Films rated PG admit all ages into the viewing, but advise that some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. The film may contain mild language and references to sex/drugs. Moderate violence may also be featured if it is justified in its context, such as a fight scene in a fantasy film. An example of a PG film is The Parent Trap (1998) in which twin sisters, separated at birth, are shocked to find discover their doppelgänger status as they fight each other in a game of fencing. The two strangers (who have completely contrasting personalities) struggle to explain why their appearances are identical, waging war against each other. After their actions earn them a stint in isolation together, the girls begin to talk about home, finally discovering they they are in fact twins. This amazing discovery triggers the formation of an ambitious plan to swap places at the end of their stay at camp, returning home to each other's lives, in order to meet the parent they've never known. Their plans are finally discovered by their confused parents, and the girls are reunited in LA. However, this doesn't see the end of their mischievous plan hatching, as they soon begin their plan to reunite their parents. As they manage to scare away their father's new fiance, they finally manage to rekindle the relationship their parents once had. The lighthearted narrative appeals to family audiences and young children, however due to the mildly violent scene where one twin pierces her sister's ear could cause some young children feelings of distress. As well as these distressing images, the twins' constant plan hatching and deceiving nature could worry parents, as they would not want young children, (who are easily influenced) to get any negative ideas about what is acceptable behavior the film may be deemed inappropriate for young audiences. As the only scenes of violence are mild (the 'at home' ear piercing), the film doesn't earn a certification of 12, and therefore falls into the PG category.

The newest film certificate, 12A, applies to cinema viewing only. It was first introduced in 2002, and is given to films which are considered unsuitable for very young children. They may contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, moderate/strong language, moderate violence, sex references and nudity. Due to the content of these films, children under the age of 12 are only permitted if they are accompanied by an adult over the age of 18. It is however, advised that children under the age of 12 don't view the film because of the possibly inappropriate themes. An example of 12A film is Spiderman (2002), which took a seven second scene cut to avoid being certified as a 15. It features violent fight scenes which may be shocking to young audience members, but based on the young fan base which would have been built through a love for the character in the Marvel comics, creators were keen that the young audience didn't miss out on the film as this would also cause them to lose potential profit. The fight scene which may have worried the BBFC when certifying the film saw Spiderman battle the Green Goblin. Images here include Spiderman smashing his way through a window, a bomb exploding in his face (with clear view of the physical harm the explosion causes to him) followed by him being thrown backwards through a solid brick wall, before landing face down on a pile of debris. In order to form a loophole where the younger fan base could still view the film, only with the permission and responsibility of an adult, the 12A rating was therefore introduced. This certificate is given to films which contain scenes which may frighten young children, but if they still wish to view the film, are allowed to do so, if they are accompanied by an adult.

  

The certificate 12 is only applied to home media. Films which are given a 12A certificate are normally given a 12 certificate for home viewing unless modifications have been made to the content of the film which would increase its certification. The age limit which would apply in a cinema also extends to when the film is being purchased; it can only be bought by someone over the age of 12. The content guidelines are the same as that for a 12A film, meaning they can contain anything from mature themes to sex references and nudity. An example of a film with the certificate 12 is Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. This film was given the certificate due to scenes which feature pirates which turn to skeletons in moonlight, and the moderately violent sword fights that they engage in with other pirates that attempt to foil their plan of sacrificing Elizabeth 'Turner''s life in order to lift a curse placed upon them. These ideas may be harming to young children. The fight scenes featured in this film were not graphic enough to warrant a 15 certificate, so instead was given a 12 rating.

Films rated a 15 prevent anyone under the age of 15 from viewing the film at the cinema. This age restriction again, applies to the purchasing of the film, as only those over the age of 15 are able to buy the film. Due to the higher age rating the films contain a lot more explicit content. Films may contain, for example; adult themes, hard drugs, strong violence and sexual activity, which may be shown without vivid detail. An example of a film with the rating 15 is Rock n Rolla, which features all of the elements which make a film a 15. For example, one of the characters is seen consuming hard drugs, another stabs a third character with a pencil, and two characters feature in an explicit sex scene. This content therefore makes the film unsuitable for viewing by persons under the age of 15.

Films with an even more shocking content than those rated 15, are certified as an 18, where only adults are permitted to see the film at the cinema. This again applies for the renting or purchasing of the film as no one under the age of 18 is allowed to do so. As a step up from a 15, films which are rated 18 may contain explicit sex references, detailed sexual activity, hard drugs, as well as sadistic violence.
An example of a film rated 18 is Scream 3, which features scenes of sadistic violence, as the long lost (and undiscovered) brother of Sidney Prescott hunts down his half sister, pursing her in a terrifying and emotionally devastating chase, which climaxes in a gory demise for the character. Multiple characters are killed off in gory ways, with characters being shot multiple times, stabbed in the back, blown up in a gas explosion and stabbed in the heart. The graphic nature of these images caused the film to earn its 18 rating, although there was no references to hard drugs, or any detailed sexual activity. It was purely the nature of the violence which earned the film an 18 rating.

Through my analysis of different thriller films, and studying the criteria for the age certificates for different types of film, I believe that it would be suitable to rate my thriller film a 15.
I aim to include scenes of strong violence, but I do not believe that these will cross over the threshold for sadistic violence, which would cause the film to reach a rating of 18.
Although I aim to draw influence from classic thriller/horror films such as Saw, I do not believe that the same levels of violence are required to make my film just as thrilling.
A film which only includes scenes of strong violence, as opposed to the sadistic violence, hard drugs and explicit sex scenes only require a rating of 15, therefore I believe that this would be a suitable rating for my film.