Research: Age Cerification - Mrs.Begum

Age certification

The BBFC are the is the British Board of Film Classification, they are important to the film industry because no film is allowed to be put out into the UK without having been rated and view by the BBFC so it can be branded with an age certification.


An age certification is the age label you'd see at the side of the disk or poster for a film this means if you have to be at that age or over to view the film anything below this then you aren't allowed to watch it due to the fact the content of the film my be inappropriate to anything under the age of the branded viewer.

However certain films might not have an age but they would have a letter(s) like U PG or maybe even 12A. These are basically regulations to watching the film,below is a screen shot of the meanings of each symbol.

The 12A rating came to be after the release of the previous Spider-Man sequel because the BBFC found it to be too violent to be a kids film, however the creators of the film said it wasn't fair to deny children of seeing their favourite comic book character. But the BBFC still wouldn't let up because it could influence kids in school to solve their problems with violence  just as Spider-Man does in the film, therefore as a result of the this, the BBFC created the 12A rating so kids could view it but only if accompanied by a parent/adult. This means that it was down to the parent of the kids if they wanted to let their child watch the film which also gave the film industry some free will. Since then a lot more films are rated 12A because they border line that of what kids might be influenced by but its content isn't enough to be a higher rated film (because there isn't really any blood death or strong language in them).

Thrillers tend to get higher ratings then most films because the content they carry. They have a lot of adult themes and plots that wouldn't be appropriate for the viewing of children because thrillers are made to excite viewers and the theme of danger amongst other aspects come into play to deliver this experience to viewers, but no one is going to get a thrill from child themed plots genres and ideas it doesn't have the same affect. This is why thrillers are usually directed at an older viewing audience. For example the conventions of a thriller such as weapons and violence can corrupt and influence a younger audience because they aren't ready or responsible enough to see these conventions.

I would give my personal thriller an 18, because I plan on using an extreme amount of blood and maybe strong language and weapons will be shown also the narrative may be beyond a younger viewers understanding none of these factors point towards a child rating.

I have learned that age certification is a very important concept in the film industry and I need consider wisely what my thriller film will be due to its content. it needs to be appropriate for my viewing audience.