The British Bored Of Film Classification(BBFC)

The BBFC is a independent media regulator that regulates films on their content and then decides on their certified age of viewing. The BBFC is a self financing, non profit organisations that operates in the UK.

Here is a screen shot taken from the BBFC’s website explaining their mission.

Why is the BFFC relevant to me?

It is important to be aware of regulators in any media industry but in the film industry it is especially to be aware of the BBFC as they decide at what age your audience can view the movie you create. Essentially it can ‘make or break’ a film as if a production companies target audience for example aged 9 and the BBFC certify it as 12 then this could have a negative effect on viewing and sales as the audience may not be able to get to view it or purchase it by themselves on DVD/Blue Ray. The majority of horror films are rated on average around a 15. When creating my horror opening I need to be aware of my target audience as it needs to be age appropriate to my target audience.

I aim to aim my horror opening for aged 15 years and over as a film rated 15 can contain adult themes, hard drugs, strong language, strong violence and sex references also a limited amount of blood and injuries can be shown. Whereas certified 12 couldn’t contain much of the above there for this tells me to keep up with the codes and conventions of horror i should aim to archive that classification (Depending on my audience research results).