MEST2: BBFC Institution research

1) Research the BBFC: what is the institution responsible for? How is it funded? What link does it have to government?
2) Read this BBFC guide to how films are rated. Summarise the process in 50 words.
3) Read this BBFC outline of the issues faced when classifying a film. Summarise the debate in 50 words.
4) Read this BBFC section on controversial decisions. Why did The Dark Knight generate a large amount of media coverage regarding its certificate? Do you agree with the 12A certificate The Dark Knight was awarded?
5) What are the guidelines for a 15 certificate?
6) The BBFC website offers an explanation of every classification it makes and detailed case studies on selected titles. Choose one 15-rated film from the BBFC case studies section and summarise the classification the film was given and why. 

1. The The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up which was in 1912, the videos/dvds was since the Video Recordings Act in 1984. BBFC do not receive subsidies from the government nor the film industry, they are not a profit organisation, and their fees are adjusted to only cover its cost. The income is from the fees they charge for its services, calculated by meassuring the running time of films and DVDs they submit for classification. 

2. Films are rated through examiners watching films in the BBFC's cinemas, to see the effect that sound levels and special effects have on the cinema audience who watch at the cinemas. DVD's are viewed then in the BBFC's viewing room in plasma screens, this is so they can then reconstruct the home viewing experience. Furthermore, films and dvd's are then sent in different languages so examiners with linguistic skills watch the movie and see if it is right. Lastly, when rating the film examiners look for things like, the general context of the film, timings on key moments which include camera angles, type of shots, one and off the screen moments and most importantly bad language, sex and drugs etc. When looking at the movie and designs can not be made the senior team are then involved to deicide, they see both of the issues and as well as benefit to support the recommended age rating. The distributor then requests the age rating they think its the most suitable for the movie. If work contains material which is illegal or unacceptable under the BBFC's Guidelines, Examiners will make a list of cuts which will be sent to the distributor. If a work as a whole is unacceptable, it can be rejected.

3. The BBFC works on major principles in determining the age rating whether the material: 

• is in conflict with the law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence..
• Alone, or in combination with other content of a similar nature, may cause any harm at the age rating concerned. This includes harm that may result from the behaviour of potential viewers, but also any ‘moral harm’ that may be caused by.
• The availability of the material, at the age group concerned, is clearly unacceptable to broad public opinion. It is on this ground.
• The context in which an issue is presented is central to the question of its acceptability. The work's target audience is also taken into account.
• The tone of work may affect the final decision. While the presentation of issues such as sex and violence may not be problematic at a particular rating, if the work has a unsettling tone that may disturb the audience at that level, it receive a more restrictive rating. 

also Issues that need to be taken into account include: 
 - Violence  
 - Sex and nudity 
 - Sexual Violence 

 - Drugs 
 - Language 
 - Discrimination 
 - Adult humour

4) BBFC awarded The Dark Knight the 12A rating, they were many issues and complaints being made by the public, who thought that their was too much violence, and the age rating wasn't suitable for the young viewers. Although the Dark Knight was not submitting in the cinemas, the media and the public's attention was quickly caught on, due to the death of the character, The Joker who was played by Heath Ledger. 

The BBFC's decision to award The Dark Knight the 12A rating resulted in much press coverage and complaints from members of the public, who thought the violence, was too strong to be contained at that category. Before the film was even submitted, it attracted significant media attention, much of it due to the sudden death of actor Heath Ledger, who played The Joker.

When classifying the film, the issues were mainly about violence and the threats seen in the movie, the BBFC guidelines for 12A at the time did say "violence must not dwell in detail. There should be no empathises on blood as well as injuries' when the examiners classed the film, they agreed that it had met the guidelines. In the public's eyes the main problem was that the film was not suitable for the younger audience like children, as they also has adult nature themes and 'unhappy endings made it not suitable for the movie to be certificated at a 12A. Furthermore, many people found that in some of the senses characters were to gory and scary for the younger audience to see, such as the facial injuries played by the Harvey "Two-Face".  The death of the film's heroine, arguably the film's only sympathetic character, was unexpected and felt to be too disturbing for a 12A fantasy film.
I think that the movie should have been rated 15, as there were scenes that could be disturbing for a younger audience to pick up and see. The movie should have been rating 15 as there were many scenes that were appropriate for the audience to see and as it would be also more suitable for them to see watch. 

5) The guidelines for a 15 rated film are:

• strong violence
•  frequent strong language
• 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

6) Adulthood is an drama genre with the classification of 15. BFFC guidelines at 15 allow for strong violence producing in ones not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, otherwise the various actions on attacking and beatings are just not detailed and the weapons used are seen as dangerous and not attractive. This film was also rated 15 and not lower because the film would not be suitable at lower categories as it contains strong language, strong images of violence and drug dealing, and a strong scene of sex. In terms of language, the street slang spoken by many characters in the movie influences the movie to be rated at a 15, furthermore, as there is a strong use of bad language, that would only be acceptable at 15, words like the c word that has been used many times during the duration of the movie, which made is appropriate for the movie to be rating at 15. 
The BBFC guidelines for sex allow 'strong verbal references to sexual behaviour'.