The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is responsible for classifying films in the UK according to their content. They use a rating system with 7 symbols ranging from universal to restricted. To determine a rating, the BBFC examines factors like discrimination, drugs, language, nudity, sex, violence and more. For the film Fish Tank, the BBFC gave it a 15 rating despite it bordering a 18 due to strong language, sex references, drug use and violence. They considered the context and impact of these elements on younger viewers to determine the appropriate rating.

1. Assignment 7: BFFC &
Understanding of Film Rating
Kelly
Leticia
Katia

2. Lesson points

3. What is the BBFC?
• British Board of Film Classification.
• It is a non-governmental organisation, funded
by the film industry and responsible for the
national classification and censorship of films
within the United Kingdom.

4. What do they classify?
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Films
Trailers
Advertising
Videos online
Texts over mobile networks
Educational videos (used in classrooms)
Music videos
Video games

5. What are the 7 rating symbols?
Universal-suitable for everyone
Parental guidance
Cinema rating- 12 years and over
Video release- 12 and over
Suitable for viewers- 15 and over
Suitable for adults
Restricted to licensed shops contains pornographic footage

6. How do they classify films?
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General Classification Considerations
Context
Theme
Tone & impact
Specific Classification Considerations
Discrimination
Drugs
Imitable Behaviour
Language
Nudity
Sex
Threat
Violence
Other Matters
Photo or pattern sensitivity
Motion sickness
Reaction to low frequency sound
Release format
titles

7. Are the 7 symbols classified the same
or differently?
• Every 4-5 years BBFC carries out a public consultation
to find out how the public feel about the way the
classify films.
• The guidelines say what's acceptable in each category
from U-R18. there are two key points in these
guidelines.
• To protect children and vulnerable adults from harmful
or unsuitable context.
• To empower consumers especially parents and those
responsible for children's.
• These guidelines are set in place for all categories so
that classification is fair for all films awaiting release.

8. Case Study task
• Fish Tank (2009)
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The rating for this movie was 15
Rating:
The filmmakers did not request a specific category when submitting it but
examiners who viewed it felt there was a strong argument for allowing the work to
be seen by 15 – 18 year olds.
That said it had several classification issues which took it to the borderline
between the 15 and 18 categories, and required further discussion and
consideration.
The key classification issues are very strong language, sex, sex
references, recreational drug use, discriminatory terms, possible animal
cruelty, and moderate violence.
Though it is used by a young child, much of the potential offence in the last use is
lessened as the exchange is comic, and the child, who swears a lot, is playing with
offensive words rather than using them in a truly aggressive or sexual way.

9. Film rating task
The smurfs
U universal- suitable for all
Discrimination- discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly
disapproved of.
Drugs- References to illegal drugs or drugs misuse must be infrequent and innocuous or have a clear
educational purpose or anti-drug message.
Behaviour that is dangerous or anti-social is disproved.
Only infrequent of very mild language.
Nudity is allowed however there shouldn’t be any sexual context.
Only very mild sexual behaviour (eg, kissing)
Threat and violence are should be mild and should unlikely cause undue anxiety to young children.

10. U- The Smurfs
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Violence & scariness
Lots of pratfalls and cartoonish violence, mostly involving Gargamel,
who's always trying to capture the Smurfs.
Azrael also coughs up Smurfette's hair in a rather graphic way that
might gross out some viewers.
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Sexual Context
A married couple is affectionate -- holds hands, embraces, and eventually kisses -- in a
short-and-sweet manner.
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Language
The word "smurf" is used as a substitute for many other words, including curse words -for example, "smurf off," "you smurfin' crossed the wrong smurf," "smurf me,"

11. 10 main points that
we learnt from the
text

12. 1. There was not a requested rating when they
sent the film in.
2. It had several classification issues.
3. These were strong language, sex, sex
references, drug use, discrimination, animal
cruelty and violence.
4. Due to these issues it was border line 15 and
18.
5. It had to be shown to people in child
development.

13. 6. She was legally classed as a child during filming
(which caused some problems).
7. There were 5 uses of strong language in the first
10 minutes, which they had to take into account.
8. At 15 the BBFC say that the strongest terms may
be acceptable but any further use it is unlikely to be
acceptable.
9. They had to explore whether the scenes were
lewd or contained real or explicit detail.
10. There is a positive resolution in the scene were
she kidnaps his daughter and the moderate threat
is permissible at 12A and containable at 15.