BFFC Visit

In order to prepare ourselves for the creation of our short film, we visited the BBFC to gain an insight on the way in which they classify films, and the factors that effect the final decision for the films age classification. The first thing that we learnt was that the BBFC do not just classify films, but als

their trailers and advertisements that are shown before the film itself to ensure that everything shown in the cinema is suitable for the audience that is watching.

The BBFC's Classification Guidelines follows public consultation in addition to other research, expert advice and their own experience. The Guidelines also take into account the changes in what is deemed 'acceptable' by society, the changes in public taste and any changes that may occur in the law. The guidelines are also reviewed frequently. The BBFC's principle guiding aims are: to protect children and vulnerable adults from potentially harmful or otherwise unsuitable media content and to empower consumers to make informed viewing decisions. The BBFC do this by providing age classifications and BBFCinsights - or publishing advice - for films and videos. That being said, they do aim to ensure films reach the widest audience available for the theme and content of the film.

However, the BBFC refuse to classify any material that conflicts with any criminal laws in the UK, or films that have been created through the commission of a criminal offence.

The BBFC take into account three 'general classification considerations' that may affect the final classification of the text. Context, they believe, is 'central to the question of acceptability of film and video content'. Through the use of context, they consider how an issue is portrayed and the situation it is portrayed in, by taking into account the setting of the work, the manner of presentation and the intention of the film and the issue. The classification of the film also takes into account the theme of the work, but will depend on the treatment of the film, and the tone and impact of the work. The tonal considerations include the extent to which a work presents a view of the world and the impact of the work on the potential audience.

The BBFC also consider eight 'specific classification guidelines': Discrimination, Drugs, Imitable Behaviour, Language, Nudity, Sex, Threat and Violence. In regards to Discrimination, they consider the strength of the impact of discriminative works, and the content of its use will also be taken into account. The Classification will take into account the promotion or glamorisation of drugs, and any detailed potrayal of criminal techniques and potentially dangerous behaviour that any audience may copy is taken into consideration with regards to Imitable Behaviour - any works that actively promote illegal behaviour may be cut or refused a classification. The BBFC believe it is impossible to write a checklist for the words than can and cannot be included in certain classification of films, as it is very difficult to determine who may be offended by the use of explicit language. The advice for the language content of a film is therefore general guidance on the views expressed in public consultation exercises. Nudity without sexual content can be seen - but not frequently - in U rated films, whilst films with strong detail in context or the use of sexual content will gain a much higher rating. The BBFC believe that the normalisation overtly sexual acts is a concern in small catergories, but the system allows stronger potrayls of sexual behaviour as the catergories rise. Classification decisions on threat will take into account the frequency, length and detail of scenes in addition to the impact of the music and sound, and the outcome of the threat. They also take into consideration the degree and nature of violence in a work. Inclusion of sadistic or sexual violence could risk the film facing cuts or a refusal to classify - content that makes these acts appear acceptable or reinforces the suggestion that victims enjoy sexual violence may be refused a classification.

Below are the classifications and the content that is deemed acceptable across each classification: