The BBFC & Film Certificates

The BBFC is The British Board Of Film Classification, it is the body that regulates the British Film industry. They would supervise the release of films in the UK, some things are prohibited. They also in charge of checking the age certificates for each movie.

Here is the British Age Certificates:

They will consider all the things above to decide the suitable age certificate for the film:

• The violence scene in the film
• The scene that include sex and nudity
• The scene that using obscene language or discriminatory language
• The scene include self harm 
• Scenes of criminal activity
• The scene has drug, alcohol and cigarettes
• The scene has child actors
• The scene with dangerous behaviours that might effect the audience
• Strobe lighting

BBFC will give the age certificates base on these, but sometimes they will make a wrong decisions which will make many audiences complain.

For the film that suitable for all, it should be comfortable for audience that 4 years old or over. It can’ have any dangerous behaviour which young children might copy in real life. The language used should be polite and soft, there shouldn’t be any intentional discriminatory language. The sex and nudity should only be very basic behaviour like kissing. In addition, horror element and violence should be very less, and shouldn’t be very detailed.

For the film that is parental guidance, it should be suitable for children age around 8 or above. The language and the dangerous behaviours restriction is similar for films that are suitable for all. Nudity and sex should only be basic.

For the film that are suitable for 12 or above,. There can be a little bit of bad language. There may be nudity but sexual behaviours should only be briefly mentioned in the movie. Moderate violence is allowed, but there shouldn’t be any detailed blood shots. Threat and horror couldn’t be frequently in the movie.

For the film that are suitable for children 15 or above. Nudity and sex are allowed if it is presented in a portrayed way, but not in detailed. Horror and violence scene might be strong, but a sustained focus on sadistic violence is unlikely to be acceptable.  

For the film that are for only adult, only 18 or above can see these films in the cinema. There are very less restrictions but a very detailed violence or the illegal drugs will still be banned because these scene might harm the public health. 

For our opening title sequence, I think the best age certificate should be suitable for 15 or above. There is violence scene in the film as we are making a action horror film. There will be blood, wounds and weapons in our sequence, so it won’t be suitable for children under 15. Also, there will be a jumpscare at the end, it will include a killing scene. Furthermore, we are using children actors. So I think the age certificate should be over 15.