1. What is the BBFC?
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental
organisation, which is responsible for the national classification and censorship
of films that are released in the cinemas. They don’t have any connections with
the government because they didn’t want to be seen as bias or unfair in their
judgement. Meaning their funding comes from the £5,000 fee that company’s
pay to have an age certificate added to their films. The BBFC gives age certificates
to Films in the cinemas, DVD’s, Blu-ray’s and Videos. The BBFC decide which
certificate a film will get via sub headings: sex, violence, taste and decency, drugs
and discrimination.
Certificates are labels, which the BBFC add onto films to keep content from being
viewed by ages younger than the certificate given to that certain film. Here are all
of the certificates that the BBFC give out to films:
A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years
and over, although it is impossible to predict what might
upset any particular child. U films should be set within a
positive framework and should offer reassuring
counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror.
General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for
young children. A PG film should not unsettle a child
aged around eight or older. Unaccompanied children of
any age may watch, but parents are advised to consider
whether the content may upset younger, or more
sensitive, children.
With this certificate, No one younger
than 12 may see a 12A film in a
cinema unless accompanied by an
adult. Adults planning to take a child
under 12 to view a 12A film should
consider whether the film is suitable
for that child.
With this certificate no one younger than 15 may see a 15
film in a cinema. Also no one age below 15 will be able to by
a 15 rated film.
2. No one younger than 18 may see an 18 film in a cinema,
also no one younger than 18 may rent or buy an 18 rated
video work. Adults should be free to choose their own
entertainment.
The R18 category is a special and legally restricted
classification primarily for explicit works of consenting
sex or strong fetish material involving adults. Films may
only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas,
and video works may be supplied to adults only in
licensed sex shops.
Legal Acts
Obscene Publications Act
This is a legal implication that stops morally incorrect views to be shown
publically. Its stops content that can corrupt or deprave audiences Henceforth, it
is a law that the BBFC must abide by whenever they carry out their work and
certification.
Protection of Children Act
This legal act ensures the safety of children under the age of 16 when being film
for a film or TV show. However, it is mostly to prohibit said content from having
any negative effects of the viewers rather than the younger audiences. Hence, the
act was formed to prevent the exploitation of children for indecent purposes.
This act also protects the child’s education in the way of only having 4 hours on
set.
Video Recordings Act
The video recordings act states that any video recordings that are being sold
within the United Kingdom must have a classification that has to be agreed upon
by any authority designated by the home office. The fact that the viewers have
the freedom to watch and re watch certain scenes meaning it could be
problematic if somebody with mental problems watches a murder scene over
and over gain.
Censorship
The BBFC has had to ban a variety of movies that have gone through their
company to get a certificate; reasoning was because they were too violent or had
the ability to corrupt its viewers. The video nasties were a term used for film that
3. we deemed to be inappropriate and unsuitable for home viewing. Shortly after, a
campaign was created by Mary Whitehouse to start banning violence and
indecent films off the shelves of stores. Some of these films consisted of Cannibal
Holocaust, which was banned for the belief that it was a snuff film, The Exorcist,
which was banned due to the numbness of the taste and decency category in the
BBFC and finally Straw Dogs, which was banned for its violence and rape scene.
All these movies were later released, however all the scenes that seemed to be
too violent for viewer’s eyes were cut out completely or shortened.
The Descents Certificate
The BBFC gave The Descent an 18 rated Certificate. The reasoning behind this
was due to the fact that the Descent has numerous violent and brutal acts
portrayed throughout the film. Despite it’s rating, the film was passed completely
uncut although it was considered strong with bloody horror. Some of these
scenes consisted of various close up of throats being ripped out by crawlers,
fingers being dug into eye sockets and broken bones being exposed to the
camera. You could say that the director knew a scene would probably make the
film unable to get a certificate, so he decided to take it out himself. The only part
that was censored was the death of Sarah’s daughter, in that scene we see Sarah
and her family get into a car crash, various cuts show us the death of the husband
but not of the child. This allowed the scene to make be in the film and to be
viewed without any problems. The child actress, Jessica, could only be on set for
4 hours due to the Protection of Children Act, so the director, Neil Marshall, had
to be carful when including her in scenes. The film didn’t sufferer from any
copyright issues because everything was original and authentic. All products that
were used like the Range Rover and the Coors beer were allowed to be in the
film because they got permission from the various companies. All music that was
added in was created along side the film, meaning there wasn’t any legal
complication.
