What does the 15 certificate mean?
Can there be strong violence?Yes, at 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the inflction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Easily accessible weapons may not be glamorised.
What about dangerous behaviour or things teens might copy?We considered the risk of potential harm to impressionable teenagers. For example, dangerous behaviour such as hanging, suicide and self harming should not dwell on detail which could be copied
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A film that has been rated a 15 means no one under the age of 15 is allowed to see the film or buy/rent the film.
What does rated 15's include?
What about horror works?Many horror films are rated 15. At 15 there can be a strong threat and menace (as long as it is not sexualised), although the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.
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By looking at the age rating of 15 we realised that it limited our experimental with gore and sexual activity in which we wan't to avoid.
What are you allowed in a 18?
What does the 18 symbol mean?
Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy/rent an 18 rated DVD. No 18 rated works are suitable for children.
Are there any limits on what sort of theme a work can have at 18?
No theme is prohibited at 18. Adults are free to pick their own entertainment within the law, so it is possible some themes tackled at 18 may be offensive even to some adult viewers.
What sort of issues might I find in an 18 film or DVD?
18 works are for adults and can contain strong issues such as:
There is no limit on the number of uses of strong (eg 'f***') or even very strong language (eg ‘c***’) which can be passed at 18. Uses could be aggressive, directed, frequent or accompanied by strong violence.
What about discriminatory or offensive terms?
There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language at 18, and the work could explore themes relating to this.
Though a work as a whole must not be in breach of any relevant legislation, it is possible for discriminatory language or themes to be the main focus of the work, and for main characters to engage in discriminatory behaviour.
How much sex and nudity is allowed at 18?
There can be strong and detailed portrayals of sex at 18, including full nudity. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Very strong, crude and explicit sex references are permitted at 18.
An 18 film or DVD might also contain depictions of real sex if it is justified by context, as long as the film or DVD is not a sex work.
What are sex works?
Sex works are works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation. Sex works containing only material which may be simulated are generally passed 18. Those containing clear images of real sex, strong fetish material, sexually explicit animated images, or other very strong sexual images will be confined to the R18 category. Material which is unacceptable in a sex work at R18 is also unacceptable in a sex work at 18.
What about sex education films?
Where sex material genuinely seeks to inform and educate in matters such as human sexuality, safer sex and health, explicit images of sexual activity may be permitted.
Can there be strong violence?
Yes, at 18 violence can be strong and be portrayed with strong detail. There may even be dwelling on the infliction of pain or injury, or scenes of strong sadistic or sexual violence.
The strongest gory images are permitted at this category.
What about horror works?
The strongest horror works are passed at 18, they may contain strong horror, gore or sustained threat and menace which exceeds the boundaries of 15.
Can you see drugs in an 18?
Yes. At 18 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misus
Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy/rent an 18 rated DVD. No 18 rated works are suitable for children.
Are there any limits on what sort of theme a work can have at 18?
No theme is prohibited at 18. Adults are free to pick their own entertainment within the law, so it is possible some themes tackled at 18 may be offensive even to some adult viewers.
What sort of issues might I find in an 18 film or DVD?
18 works are for adults and can contain strong issues such as:
- very strong violence
- frequent strong language (eg 'f***') and/or very strong language (eg ‘c***’)
- strong portrayals of sexual activity
- scenes of sexual violence
- strong horror
- strong blood and gore
- real sex (in some circumstances)
- discriminatory language and behaviour
There is no limit on the number of uses of strong (eg 'f***') or even very strong language (eg ‘c***’) which can be passed at 18. Uses could be aggressive, directed, frequent or accompanied by strong violence.
What about discriminatory or offensive terms?
There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language at 18, and the work could explore themes relating to this.
Though a work as a whole must not be in breach of any relevant legislation, it is possible for discriminatory language or themes to be the main focus of the work, and for main characters to engage in discriminatory behaviour.
How much sex and nudity is allowed at 18?
There can be strong and detailed portrayals of sex at 18, including full nudity. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Very strong, crude and explicit sex references are permitted at 18.
An 18 film or DVD might also contain depictions of real sex if it is justified by context, as long as the film or DVD is not a sex work.
What are sex works?
Sex works are works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation. Sex works containing only material which may be simulated are generally passed 18. Those containing clear images of real sex, strong fetish material, sexually explicit animated images, or other very strong sexual images will be confined to the R18 category. Material which is unacceptable in a sex work at R18 is also unacceptable in a sex work at 18.
What about sex education films?
Where sex material genuinely seeks to inform and educate in matters such as human sexuality, safer sex and health, explicit images of sexual activity may be permitted.
Can there be strong violence?
Yes, at 18 violence can be strong and be portrayed with strong detail. There may even be dwelling on the infliction of pain or injury, or scenes of strong sadistic or sexual violence.
The strongest gory images are permitted at this category.
What about horror works?
The strongest horror works are passed at 18, they may contain strong horror, gore or sustained threat and menace which exceeds the boundaries of 15.
Can you see drugs in an 18?
Yes. At 18 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misus
By Nicole Russell
'Paranormal Activity' 1-4 |
As you can see here the 'Paranormal Activity' films (1-4) are all rated 15 by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). The reason for this is that it opens the range to a larger audience. Also all four films contain strong language and threat. This is why it is rated a 15. If we were to rate the film a 12 we could only show Moderate physical and psychological threat is permitted as long as disturbing sequences are not too frequent or sustained. |
Horror Interviews
We interviewed a range of different ages and genders in order to conclude what they prefer in famous horrors. A majority of boys prefer to watch blood and gore, however our interview proved the statistics wrong. As some of the boys preferred paranormal as it keeps the audience more 'engaged'. It also has a better effect of putting the audience on edge. A scene that is silent is most likely either giving false expectations or successfully building tension to make the audience jump.
By Nicole Russell
Additional Research
In addition to our audience research we decided to take advantage of using a social media site referred to as 'Facebook'. We uploaded our pitch as it has the initial genre background to see what kind of people would comment or like the post. This also helps us find our audience demographic and give it an overall age rating.
(The whole pitch is seen on the 'first pitch' on the website)
(The whole pitch is seen on the 'first pitch' on the website)
The age range is very important as our target audience was 15 and above therefore we needed to gain an idea of what genre they are interested. We would then base the genre around that target audience's decision. As you can see, many 15 to 18 year old took part in the questionnaire helping the research by giving us vital information as they are the main target audience. Thi
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By Chloe Young
We used this research to our full advantage and decided to do an updated version, briefly interviewing experienced media students and teachers about horror. Even though the genre of paranormal was the most popular, we wanted to look at is as a disadvantage, as creating something different can create a whole new alternate world of media. Luckily, the brief scenes that I have included to explain within the interviews, they have agreed to have watched it if it was released as a film. In conclusion, we would like to stick with the idea of something unique and seducing, therefore we are sticking with the sub-genre of Vampires.
By Chloe Young
BBFC
By Kirsty
By Kirsty
Questionnaire
By creating a questionnaire allowed us to come closer to our finalised piece which is Vampire. It showed to us that people like 18 rating films as it allows us to have no limitation with the gore and any other aspects we would like to consider.
By Nicole Russell