Age Certificate

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-government organization that is funded by the film industry and is responsible for classifying all the films into age certificates within the UK. They classify videos, DVDs and some video games.

There are seven different age certificates category that films can be places in. They are the following:

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Discrimination: No discriminatory language or behaviour is allowed unless they are showed being disapproved of. 

Drugs: No drugs allowed unless they are used for educational reasons or as a anti-drug message.

Horror: Horror can only be used briefly and cannot cause any anxiety to young children.

Language: Only mild bad language can be used.

Nudity: Only natural nudity can be used with no sexual content.

Sex: Only sexual behaviour like kissing can be shown and anything any further can only be referenced to.

Violence: Mild violence & threats only.

All these conditions can be shown through the narratives & characters. For example, in Monsters inc there are scenes where the main character Sulley has to scare a child to create power for the city. While there is a tiny part of horror, there isn't enough to cause a young viewer any anxiety over the scene. Another age certificate condition that is shown is through the character Sully. While he is a monster, they have drawn him to look fluffy and cute and he is smiling all the time. This makes the monster look less scary which can cause  children to see all kinds of monsters as nice because Sulley is so nice. 

Discrimination: Can only be used in a educational or historical context, otherwise discriminatory language and behaviour is unlikely to be accepted into this age certificate unless clearly disapproved by one of the characters.

Drugs: References to illegal drugs and drug use/misuse must not be harmful or offensive, or if it does then it must have a anti-drug message with it.

Horror: Frightening sequences cannot be long and intense.

Language: Mild bad language is the only kind that can be used.

Nudity: Natural nudity can be used as long as there is no sexual content.

Sex: Sexual activities can be implied but can only be done rarely. There may be mild sex references and innuendos.

Violence: Moderate violence can be used as long as there isn't any detail and it can be justified.

All these conditions can be shown through the narratives & characters. For example, in Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, discrimination happens when Draco Malfoy calls Hermione a 'mudblood'. However, this is allowed because we see Harry & Ron defend her and shout at his for using that word. Another condition is shown through a scene with the 3 teenage main character, where they see Harry's godfather change into a werewolf and stops his friend from attacking the children. The scene where the character Remus Lupin changes is quite frightening for younger children but they made the scene quite short so that it could fit into the 'PG' age certificate.

Discrimination: Aggressive discrimination cannot be used unless it is clearly condemned.

Drugs: Any use of drugs cannot be made to look glamorous and there cannot be any details of how to actually use the drugs.

Horror: Moderate physical and psychological threats can be used provided they are not frequent.

Language: Moderate language is acceptable but strong language can only be used rarely.

Sex: Sexual activities can be briefly portrayed. Sex references can only go as far as what is suitable for a young teenager. For a film to stay in the '12/12A', it can use crude references but can only do it a couple of times.

Violence: Moderate violence is allowed as long as there isn't that much detail and there is no empahsis on the blood and injury. They are allowed to have occasional gory moments as long as it can be justified. Sexual violence may be implied or indicated but must have contextual justification or else it will have to move into the '15' age certificate.

All these conditions can be shown through the narratives & characters. For example, in Taken 2 there are many chase/fight scenes but we don't see any gory or blood, which contributes to making it fit into the '12A' age certificate category.

Discrimination: It can be used but cannot endorse it and make it look good.

Drugs: Drug taking can be shown but they cannot be promoted and cannot encourage the audience to use them. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous drugs cannot be used.

Horror: Strong threats are permitted unless they are sadistic or sexualised.

Language: Frequent use of strong language is allowed and strong terms are ok, as long as they can be justified. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language will cause the film to be moved into the next higher age certificate.

Nudity: Nudity is allowed in a sexual content as long as there isn't too strong details. All nudity in a non-sexual or educational context is allowed.

Sex: Sexual activity can be portrayed without strong detail and strong verbal references about sexual behaviour is acceptable but the strongest reference must be justified. If the primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation then it will not fit into the '15' age certificate category.

Violence: Strong violence can be used as long as it doesn't dwell on the pain or injury. The strongest gory images, sexualised violence & strong sadistic images will not be acceptable for this age certificate category. Films in these age certificate can have detailed verbal references to sexual violence but if sexual violence is actually shown then it must be discrete and have a strong contextual justification.

The only things that aren't permitted in a 18 are if the film is against the law, if it can put the public at risk and or if there are sexual activited that cannot be justified.

All these conditions can be shown through the narratives & characters. For example, in 'Hellrasier', it doesn't go against any of the conditions above so it would be put in the '18' age certificate category.

The age certificate that I am going to use for my own thriller sequence is 15 because that will fit our sequence the best. We might have some strong violence but it won’t be too detailed and with our sequence only being two minutes, we won’t have enough time to apply that much violence into the scenes if there is a proper story line.