2. The British Board of Film Classification (or the BBFC) is an independent, non-governmental organisation which is funded by
the film industry, and assigned the responsibility of classifying and censoring films within the United Kingdom. It’s aim is to
inform the general public on the appropriate viewing age of different films, however, due to the Video Recordings Act
passed in 1984 their ‘recommended’ age ratings are to be legally enforced (e.g.: no one under the age of 18 can buy or see
a film at the cinema rated ) therefore they are regarded more as age restrictions. The organisation was set up in 1912 and
was originally known as the British Board of Film Censors; and although being legally appointed to classify films, ultimately
statutory powers on film remain with the local councils, who may -if they deem necessary- overrule any of the BBFC’s
decisions by either banning films they pass, passing films they reject or altering the categories some films may put in and
exhibiting them under their own licensing jurisdiction.
The BBFC submits films into the following categories:
The category in which a film is placed in depends on
the content a film holds and how much of a certain element (which may be seen as mature) it may have.
I researched the BBFC so that I could obtain a better understanding of it’s guidelines, as I recognised that inevitably I would
have to apply them to my own film. I needed to know, when rating my film, which age rating would be the most suited in
regards to its content as well as (after researching the BBFC and the trend between films rated a 15/18 and its gross)
whether or not I would base the explicitness of my films content on a specific age rating, in order to gain a larger audience
and therefore make a large amount of profit. I learnt that the minimum age rating for a horror-slasher film was 15; and
whereas films under this category could contain violence, films with an age restriction of 18 are far more flexible with its
mature content, as horror films in this category are freer as this age ban allows the
use of very strong, gory, and/or sadistic violence. This is an effect which could be
beneficial for directors trying to cater to fans of the slasher genre. I also
noticed that either age rating allows me as a director to convey a sexually
active girl, who in slashers is usually the first to die. This convention is
important as it is a moral message to sexually active girls and the repercussions
of their behaviour. Both 15 and 18 rated films are allowed sexually content
however, 15 rated films are only able to have a mild amount of sexual content.

3. Advantages
Disadvantages
Larger audience/ wider
demographic therefore
the film has more of a
chance of becoming
popular.
Budget is larger compared to 18 rated films as
it depends on the large audience, the budget
has more flexibility as there is no need to pay
for gory effects e.g. blood.
More
profit/revenue
due to large
audience.
Would not attract
hard core horror-
slasher fans, due
to the lack of gore
and violence.
There is more of a
restriction of the
things (as a director) I
may want to do e.g.
cannot add too much
violence and gore. I
would also nee d to be
careful with the films
content and language.
There is no
restriction on the
amount of gore,
mature content or
bad language that
can be used.
The film/trailer can be more
controversial which may result
in a viral effect or word of
mouth. Negative feedback
that it may receive will only
create a buzz and publicise the
film, resulting in more people
wanting to see what all the
commotion is about
Budget is affected as 18
rated films are not
accustomed to getting a
large demographic
audience and therefore do
not receive a large budget.
As I have eliminated
the core audience
within the cinema
industry (15) my film is
not considered to get a
large profit as my
audience will be
smaller.
May attract the
slasher genres
more hard core
fans, hopefully this
will help me get
back lost profit
through all the
teens.
As teenagers are not
able to see the film in
cinemas or buy it in
the shop, it may result
in them downloading
the film illegally. This
would then impact on
my DVD sales as
people would have the
film at their finger tips.

4. Psycho (1960)
• Release Date (UK) – 04/08/1960
• Budget – $806, 947
• Gross – $32, 000, 000
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
• Release Date (USA) – 11/02/1981
• Budget – $2, 300, 000
• Gross – $5,672,031
Orphan (2009)
• Release Date (UK) – 17/08/2009
• Budget – $35, 000, 000
• Gross – $41, 573, 740
I Know What You Did Last Summer
• Release Date (UK) – 12/12/1997
• Budget – $17, 000, 000
• Gross – $72, 219, 395
Halloween (1978)
• Release Date (USA) – 25/10/1978
• Budget – $320, 000
• Gross – $47, 000, 000
Scream (1996)
• Release Date (UK) – 02/05/1997
• Budget – $15, 000, 000
• Gross – $103, 001, 286
SAW (2004)
• Release Date (UK) – 01/10/2004
• Budget – $1, 200, 000
• Gross – 455, 153, 403
Friday 13th
• Release Date (USA) – 09/05/1980
• Budget – $550, 000
• Gross – $39, 754, 601

5. The film ‘Scream’ originally was age restricted 18 however, the most recent film from the franchise: ‘Scream
4’ was made under the guidelines of an age rating of 15. Scream already had a large fan base, and bring it
back would trigger the sense of nostalgia for many however, they made it a 15 to allow those of the most
recent generation the opportunity to see it, widening their audience and gaining a larger profit.
All the release dates can also be recognised to not have been during the Halloween season, as this is when
the major films are released therefore creating competition within the audience market. Instead they were
released during/around Valentines Day and Christmas. This prompts me to think about when I would like to
release my own film, as mine is an independent film it would be wiser to release it during Valentines Day
where there is a short supply and high demand of horror films.
As you can see, the audience does affect the budget. Knowing that films with a 15 age restrictions has more
of an audience the films within this category are given a larger budget compared to the films with the age
restriction of 18. However, in saying that I have noticed that although starting with a low budget the films
rated 18 gained back a far more larger profit compared to the films restricted 15. This can be due to their
flexibility with the explicit content they were able to use, which ultimately gained them publicity (bad/good)
their controversial statue allowed them to come to a worldwide audience awareness through ‘word of
mouth’ .
Take for example ‘The Blair Witch Project’ which although is not seen as a ‘Slasher’ but a horror, rose to
worldwide success through viral advertising. Having a budget of only $60,000 the film grossed over $140
million. Although, being a 15 which can be argued to opening itself up to a large demographic this may also
work in favour of me choosing my film to be an 18 rather than a 15, as it too may start of with a low budget
but with the right marketing scheme I may be able to achieve global success.

6. In order to get an idea of what film trailer I wanted to make I had to first understand who my audience were and
what they wanted. I created a questionnaire on a site called ‘QuestionPro’ and posted the URL onto the social
networking site ‘Facebook’. This enabled me to attain a large sample (55 people) as my questionnaire received a
lot of attention due to its viral ‘advertisement’. Using these questions below I was hoping to identify some key
trends which could point me in a certain direction when it came to the films narrative, the audience and the
way in which I was going to exhibit the film.
Which age category do you fall under?
 12-14
 15-17
 18-25
 25+
What gender are you?
 Female
 Male
How often do you go to the cinema?
 Once a week
 Twice every two weeks
 Once a month
 Once every three months
 Other
How would you usually consume the
films you watch?
 Cinema
 DVDs
 Other
What is your favourite film genre?
 Western
 Horror
 RomCom
 Adventure Fantasy
 Action
 War
 Science Fiction
What is your favourite ‘Horror’ sub-
genre?
 Slasher
 Supernatural e.g.: ghosts
 Zombies
 Gothic e.g.: vampires and werewolves
What is your favourite horror film?
 SAW
 Friday 13th
 Halloween
 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
 Paranormal Activity
 Scream
Who is your favourite Slasher Villain?
(Open-ended question)
What is your favourite murder weapon
in horror films?
 Kinfe
 Gun
 Axe
 Garden Sheers
 Hammer
Which horror location do you consider
most terrifying?
 Graveyard
 Basement
 Alley
 Castle
 Woods
 Abandoned house, school,
warehouse etc
Would you prefer to see a female or
male hero/survivor in films?
 Male
 Female

7. Although it is evident that the age group with the most
representation is 15-17 years, I have decided to aim my film at 18
year olds as this will give me more freedom to add as much gore
and violence as I would like.

8. Males are more prominent on this graph compared to females.
This can explain a lot as males tend to like slasher film more than
females. Regardless of these findings I am going to aim it at both
genders.

9. The fact that ‘other’ has the higher percentage suggests that the
cinema is hardly visited nowadays. This could be due to more
people buying DVD’s rather than going to the cinema. Cinema
visits have shrunk due to the substitution of DVD’s.

10. My previous slide is reinforced with the results of this graph as
DVD’s are seen to be the way in which people consume films
most. The ‘other’ 24% could suggest illegal downloading.

11. It is obvious that the genre in which I have chosen to base my
coursework on has a pre-existing audience which will help me
in my distribution of the film. This makes the results of the
questionnaire more reliable as they are more prone to have the
genre in mind.

12. This result reflects the influence the horror genre has on
todays society e.g. The Blair Witch which is the cause for the
many supernatural films which have recently been released,
Paranormal Activity. However, the fact that slasher is the
second highest reveals that it is still popular transcending time.

13. This reinforces the previous slide as Paranormal Activity
(supernatural) is first and Halloween (slasher) is second.

14. A common trend can be found within slasher villains as they
all posses a mask. Freddy Kruger received the most amount of
votes and although not having a mask his disfigurement can
be argued to represent one. Within my film trailer I will
attempt to not show the villain using shadows and smart
lighting so that he is always in the dark.

15. This result informs me that my audience enjoy gore as the
weapons which were chosen are a more brutal method of
killing. Therefore I will try and use a weapon which will enable
my killer to kill people as well as produce as much gore as
possible.

16. These are conventional horror locations , the most popular was
abandoned houses, schools etc, this could be because it depicts
isolation as if the victims have nowhere to go, they are alone.
The graveyard and woods received an equal amount and is also
the most accessible location which is why my film is going to be
primarily/majoritly based in a graveyard/woods.

17. The results are very close, therefore I could go with either. Even
though females are conventionally known to be the
hero/survivor I could break this convention and use a male.