Research into age rating from the BBFC

The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984. The British Board of Film Censors was set up in 1912 by the film industry as an independent body to bring a degree of uniformity to the classification of film nationally. 
The BBFC is a not for profit organisation, and its fees are adjusted only to cover its costs. In order to preserve its independence, the BBFC never receives subsidies from either the film industry or the government. Its income is solely from the fees it charges for its services, calculated by measuring the running time of films or DVDs submitted for classification. The BBFC consults the Department of Culture, Media and Sport before making any changes to its fees.

2) Show your understanding of the age rating and certificates that the BBFC use.

Each film that gets released has undergone a process through the BBFC to decide the age rated certificate for the film. This certificate is based on the explicit scenes and information that are in the films for example if a film has a lot of nudity with in it then the film will have a higher age rating to protect young children being exposed to graphical content that they should yet be viewing. This also accounts for other material in films such as blood, gore, voilence, drug abuse, sexual nature, swearing (violent language) and other materials that fall under this category. 

Examiners look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence when making decisions. They also consider context, the tone and impact of a work (how it makes the audience feel) and even the release format (for example, as DVDs, Blu-rays and videos for download are watched in the home, there is a higher risk of under-age viewing).

3) What legal backing does the BBFC certification have?

The BBFC is an independent body which was originally established by the film industry in 1912. Local Authorities were made responsible for what was shown in cinemas and from early on accepted the decisions of the BBFC. There are obvious benefits to both Local Authorities and the film industry in having a central but independent body bring consistency to the age rating process and accept responsibility for decisions.

Local Authorities remain legally responsible for what is shown in cinemas under the Licensing Act 2003 and can still overrule the decisions of the BBFC. This does not happen very often. Local Authorities add an important element of local democracy into the classification process.

The BBFC have 7 different age rating for various reason in film. The age rating they set are U, PG, 12, 12A, 15, 18, R18 they rating are guidelines for the target audience of the film so that  the audience have are reference of what the film is about and a reference for the recommended age of the film. The films get given age ratings depending on the content of the film, for example if a film had guns, violence and sex scenes the film will more likely get an age rating of 18 when if the film had none of those in and has fairies and pixies for example the film with be a U because the film is more child friendly. If a film has a higher age rating then the target audience is for a much more mature audience and no kids will legally be able to watch the film. 

For an example in my short documentary that will be considered as a 15 or an 18 due to the graphical content of Catherine Eddowes.