Recently I have been getting on with planning, as you know, and something that was brought to my attention by one of my teachers was the age ratings I was going to use on my posters, which I had thought about in terms of where I was going to place them, however I had never thought of going a bit further and doing some research into them until it was brought to my attention. Because of this in this blog, I will be addressing and researching into the BBFC age rating for films and explaining why I am using the ones I am using in my posters.
What is the BBFC:
The BBFC stands for The British Board Of Film Classification, and they essentially do what it says on the tin, they watch companies movies and give then feedback, and a rating for the film, in order for them to show it at the right age restriction if one is needed. The BBFC run solely off income which they get from the companies for watching and rating their film, and the price is judged off how long the film is.
What does each rating mean:
U- This means that the film is universal and suitable for anyone of any age, however mostly aimed for children in pre-school. This type of film would not encourage any bad behavior, for example, any fighting or drugs or violence would be strongly displayed as a bad thing, bad language would be kept to a minimum and of a very low level.
PG- PG stands for parental guidance, meaning they should make the decision to whether the child should watch or not, depending on the age and sensitivity of the child, however by the BBFC it is deemed suitable, however, the parent’s opinion with the child’s personality needs to be considered. Very similarly to a U rated movie these will not encourage violence or any other bad behavior, if it is shown it will be strongly shown in a way that doe not appeal to the child, and again bad language is kept to a mild level, and to a minimum, and sexual activity has to be mild, and be very subtle.
12 and 12A- 12 and 12A are very similar in the fact that they are both deemed fit for 12 years and older, however with a 12A a parent can take a child to see a film if they are younger than 12 as long as they are accompanied by an adult, however if the film is just a 12 then they can not go and see it under 12, even if accompanied by an adult. These types of films can be more aggressive then the other rating, in the fact that they can show violence and other anti-social behavior, as long it is not glamourised, and doesn’t focus in too much on injuries or gore, bad language is also more used in these types of films, however it is infrequent, along with sexual references that have to be mild and discreet.
15- This age rating, is where you see probably the most different from the other, as , mild bad language and strong bad language are both permitted, and voice and threat is also permitted, as long as detail of injuries or weapon s is shown, also with things like self-harm and drug use detail is not to be shown, and the topics are not to be glamourised.
18- The last common rating is obviously 18, where only adults are permitted to watch the film, due to it containing a lot of vivid images of violence, or drugs, the film may use a lot of bad language, and show detail in terms of threat, and violence, especially with things like horror, detail to injury may be shown, along with things like drug abuse, and sexual activity.
What ratings I am using in my film posters:
Because the films I am creating posters for are real films and are out in the world today, I aim to use the ratings from the actual films, as if I didn’t I wouldn’t be advertising them correctly. For my Disney film poster I will be using a U rating, and for my horror film poster, I will using a 15 rating, as that is what the BBFC has deemed fit for the films I aim to advertise, which are the Lilo and Stitch movie, and the film IT.
Although I personally didn’t have to choose any ratings for any of the film posters I am making, as they are already real films and not a film I have created, I still think researching these ratings has helped me learn more about what ratings I am using, and for future projects I will be able to apply this knowledge, I now have, as well as understand why the ratings have been used in the films I am currently advertising.
Website used for research: Bbfc.co.uk. (2018). British Board of Film Classification | British Board of Film Classification. [online] Available at: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
Feature image from: https://www.bbfc.co.uk/industry-services/digital-ratings/where-to-use-digital-ratings
LucyJMcGuire- mediayear2 