The BBFC

Lucy Brett who works as an Education Officer for the BBFC (British Board Of Film Classification) came and gave a talk about her role as an Education Officer, and about the BBFC organisation itself. She explained the importance of the organisation’s purpose and how each film within the United Kingdom was issued the appropriate age certificate. We were also shown a series of film clips and were asked what age certificate we would issue each clip. The BBFC itself (officially known as the British Board of Film Censors when it was first established) was established in 1912, serving as a non-governmental organisation that is responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom. The organisation is required to classify certain video games under the Video Recordings Act 2010 as well as videos and DVDS. To ensure that the company keep their independence, the BBFC’s income is obtained from the fees it charges for its services which is calculated by measuring the running time of films, DVDs and videos, and other forms of media that have been submitted for classification. The Council of Management is responsible for handling the financial affairs of the organisation. The organisation is made up of three significant groups, the President and Vice Presidents, the Management Team and The Examiners, along with associated bodies such as The Consultative Council, The Advisory Panel on Children’s Viewing (APCV) and The Video Packaging Review Committee (VPRC).

The organisations guiding principles are to:

• to protect children and vulnerable adults from potentially harmful or otherwise unsuitable media content.

• to empower consumers, particularly parents and those with responsibility for children, to make informed viewing decisions.

And the organisation’s mission is to:

· protect  the public, and especially children, from content which might raise harm risks

· empower the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices

· recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law

· respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research

· provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit

· work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advice which support emerging media delivery systems

· provide an effective service to enforcement agencies

Considering our own media product, I would issue our film trailer with a ‘15’ certificate. Here is a list of what is expected to be found or shown in a 15 rated film:

· strong violence

· frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').

· portrayals of sexual activity

· strong verbal references to sex

· sexual nudity

· brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

· discriminatory language or behaviour

· drug taking

Although our film trailer is designed to be aimed at older teenage audience who are around the age of 15 and over, some of the points made above that certify a 15 certificate appear in the film trailer. These include use of strong language, drug taking and criminal behaviour. It could be argued that our film trailer should have been issued with an 18 certificate due to the drug taking, however none of the characters are actually seen taking drugs, but various narcotic packaging and alcohol bottles are seen scattered in various scenes, insinuating that alcohol and drug taking have occurred. It could also be argued that the film trailer should have been issued with a 12 certificate, as the trailer shows minimal drug packaging and includes minimal strong language. The plot narrative of the film however is focusing on a teenager who is dealing with his unknown mental illness, which we thought would be too inappropriate and sensitive for someone of 12 years of age to handle and process.