2. BBFC introduction
Since 1985 the British board of film
classification has been a independent
board that has exercised responsibilities
over the world of cinema. Through out the
years the BBFC has changed and in this
slide show I will at the key points in the
BBFC’s lifespan.
3. 1984- video recording act
In1984 parliament passed the video
recording act which states that any video
recording that was offered or sold in the
UK must be classified. This job was giving
to the BBFC and it was at this point that
they changes there name to the British
board of film classification as this was now
a big part of there work.
4. 1912-1949
The BBFC didn't really have any written rules or
code like the Hays code used in Hollywood in
stand they have used practical lines while
trying to reflect public attitudes. Standards
have evolved throughout the boards history
so at the start the guidelines weren't that
good unlike now. It must be noted that the
change in standards aren’t because of the
BBFC but because of new laws or change in
cultural so the BBFC needed to reflect this.
5. 1948-Arthur Watkins
In 1948 Arthur Watkins was appointed the
secretary of the board and along with Sidney
Harris created a new set of principles and they
where
was the story, incident or dialogue likely to impair the moral
standards of the public by extenuating vice or crime or
depreciating moral standards?
Was it likely to give offence to reasonably minded cinema
audiences
What effect would it have on children?
With these new principles the BBFC allowed film
makers the freedom to make more adult subjects
as children couldn’t enter.
6. 1970s
In the 1970 a change was brought into the
category system as it was recognised that
teenagers had their own issues which should
be reflected in the category system. With this
new certifications where made like X where
for 16-18 years old, the A stayed and a new
AA was made which wouldn’t allow people
under 14 to see the film no matter what. The
idea be hide this was to protect children from
material that isn’t suited for them so they
could now not get into films with adult
features.
7. 1970 controversies
In the 1970 the united states brought out x
category this later became a controversy
as it allowed film makers to make scenes
in their films that before would never be in
films like rape.
8. New category system
In 1982 the A was changed to PG and AA
was changed to 15 with X becoming 18.
these new category where brought in to give
the BBFC more control over the films as before
they could only cut it to be for adults or
children now they have opinions with there
being children rating (PG) and a teenager
rating (15) and finally one for adults (18). In
1989 the 12 rating was brought to bridge the
gap between PG to 15.
9. New guidelines
The BBFC asked the public before
compilation of new classification
guidelines to know what the public
thought about things like drugs.
In 2002 the 12A rating was brought out the
parents could pick if their children
watched a film.
10. BBFC
Though out the years the BBFC have
developed and changed the rules and
laws of media and as we continue to
move forward what other changes could
be brought in by the BBFC?
