The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1912 that is responsible for classifying films, videos, DVDs, and some video games in the UK. It gets funding from film producers who must pay the BBFC to review and classify their films. There are seven different age ratings that can be given to films, ranging from universal to restricted 18 ratings. Legal acts like the Obscene Publications Act and Video Recordings Act give the BBFC powers to restrict films that breach laws around issues like pornography and violence.

1. BBFC
The BBFC is the British Board of Film Classification, before 1985 when they where known
as British Board of Film Censors. They are a non-governmental organization, founded by the
film industry in 1912; they are responsible for the national classification and censorship of
films within the United Kingdom. They have a statutory requirement to classify videos, DVDs
and, to a lesser extent, some video games under the video recording act 2010. The BBFC get
their money from film producers who want to publish their product. The producers have to pay
to get their film to be analysed and given a certificate, they also get money when a member
from their company is called over by a film producers to analyse a section of their rehearsal.
Licensing legislation lies behind the BBFC's powers to regulate film in the UK while the video
recording act (VRA) in 1984, is the basis upon which the BBFC applies the test of whether a
product from a film producers is suitable for viewing in the home, their highest priority is
taking into account the potential harmful content for under-age viewing.
Legal Acts
There are three acts that have been passed by the government to insure the safety
of views in the sense of restricting too horrifying and shocking films to be published.
The acts being obscene publications act, 1984 video recording act and the child
protection act. Theses three acts give the BBFC the power they need to pass or
dene any film presented to them, if the film breaches the act/law then it is denied a
certificate. Looking at the first act, obscene publications act, it was established in
1979 to provide for the protection of literature and to strengthen the law concerning
pornography. An examples of a film denied a certificate because of the act is
strawdogs, it was denied a certificate because the film included a rape sequence
where the female was made to look like she’s enjoying it as to say its okay to rape
and that’s why it was banned because it encouraged rape. The second legal act put
in place in 1984, the video recording act, denied many films a certificate the most
commonly known one being Texas chainsaw massacre which was given a cinema
release but not a home release mainly due to the name which was a very aggressive
sounding tittle when it was released. The 1984 video recordings act gave the bbfc
power to ban this film for home entertainment, meaning nobody was able to view at
home or online. The main reason it was banned from video cassette tapes
purchasing is because in does days they had the privilege of the rewind and loop
button on VCRs, this meant they could watch the explicit/gory scenes over and over
again this caused major concerns to the bbfc leading them to make the decision that
Texas chainsaw massacre was not to purchasable. The last act, protection of
children act (self explanatory) was the act passed by to protect young actors under
the age of 16. The act stated: children can’t do anything that’s exploitive e.g. nudity,
they can’t be on set for more then 4 hours. An example of a film that worked around
this act so that their film does not breech the act is the exorcist. In one scene the
child actor was made to look as if she was masturbating, but they couldn’t shoot that
so instead they replaced the child actor for a 21-year-old actor, this is so the child
isn’t exploited and the film keeps its shock.
Legal and ethical
The descent had to legal issues they had to take care off in order for the film to be
published. Firstly the descent had to make sure they didn’t breech the protection of
children act because they had a young actor in the cast, they had to make sure her
shooting hours were only four hours long. That’s the only thing they had to make
sure doesn’t breech legal acts in terms of child protection. The other legal act the
descent had to make sure they didn’t breech was copyright because they had big
brands they intended to use for their film so they had to ask for permission before
featuring the brands. If they didn’t ask and pay for the two brands in the film (Coors
beer and land rover). They would have gotten sued for copyright.

2. The major ethical issue discus by many about the descent is their representation of
women. The cast in the descent were all female accept Paul Sarah’s husband.
Criticism was very harsh on the descent simply due to how women were portrayed.
The viewers saw that women were given a bad look; they were shown as
backstabbers, cheats/adulaters and liars. This choice from director majorly impacted
the audience.
Descent
The BBFC didn’t have a huge impact on the decent because the content in the film is
appropriate for the audience it was aimed for witch is 18 and the certificate given to it also fits
the genre of the film witch is horror. The reason the film was certified an 18 and not a 15 is
because of its features of horrific gory scene that should not be scene by teens under 18. Neil
marshal knew what he wanted to portray in the film and showed it with no difficulty because
the film went uncut so basically the film passed with no need for a remark.
Certificates
There are 7 certificates issued to films.
(Universal) This means all ages admitted allowed. Children aged 4 and over are
able to view because there is almost nothing unsuitable.
(Parental guidance) All ages admitted, but some certain scenes can be unsuitable for young
children. The scenes should not disturb children aged 8 or older. The film may contain mild
language or sex/drug references and some moderate violence if justified by context parent may
wish to check the content before they let their children watch
12,12A, this category applies to cinema only releases since 2002. Films under this category
are considered to be unsuitable for young children under 12. 12A-rated films are usually given
a 12 certificate for the VHS/DVD version unless extra material has been added that requires a
higher rating. Films under this category can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs,
infrequent strong language and moderate violence, sex references and nudity. Sexual activity
may be briefly and discreetly portrayed.
These films are only suitable for people aged 15 and older. It is illegal to supply a VHS, DVD, Blu-
ray Disc, UMD, video game, or film tickets with a 15 certificate to anyone under that age, you will
get charged and arrested. In the film there’s hard drugs, adult themes, regular use of foul
language and limited use of strong language, strong violence and nudity without graphic detail.
There is sex but without any detail. Sexual violence may be shown if discreet and justified by
context.
A film with the certificate18 is like a 15 but to the fullextent, they have no limitation so in
nothing is censored and no cuts are made all swear words are allowed,all sexually graphic
scenes are shown nothing is restricted. Suitable for people aged 18 or older, which means
adults only. It’s illegal to provide these types of films to a younger audience.
This is mostly pornographic films that can only be shown at licensed adult cinemas or sold at
licensed sex shop. It is illegal to sell a film with this rating to anyone under the age of 18, and it
is also illegal to supply a film with this rating by mail order. These films are defined as material
intended for sexual stimulation and containing clear images of real sexual activity, strong fetish
material, explicit animated images, or sight of certain acts such as triple simultaneous
penetration and snowballing.