LO3 Understanding the regulation of the media sector

Film Classification and Censorship

Who are the BBFC and what do they do?
The BBFC stands for British Board of Film Classification. They regulate all of the
film and videos that are publicised in the UK, assigning each one an age rating
stating that only the people that are the age given or older should watch the
production.
When assigning a certificate to the production, they analyse the content and
measure how much sex, violence, drug or vulgar language there is in it, and to
assign the age restriction accordingly.

What are the 6 UK classification certificates?
This stands for Universal, which means that any age is able to watch
the production as there is little to nothing unsuitable to children.
This stands for Parental Guidance, which means that any age will be
admitted to see the production but some scenes may be unsuitable for
children under 8 years old.
PG rated productions are allowed to have mild language and sex/drugs
references in them. It can also have a moderate amount of violence in it if it is
justified by the context.
This stands for 12 Accompanied. This means that anyone that is 12
and over can see the production by themselves, but anyone under 12 has to be
accompanied by an adult to be allowed to see the production.
12 and 12A rated productions are allowed to have mature themes,
discrimination, soft drugs, infrequent strong language and moderate violence,
sexual references, and nudity. You are allowed to briefly and discreetly depict
sexual activity, and briefly imply or indicate sexual violence.
LO3 Understanding the regulation of the media sector

This means that only people that are age 12 and over may watch the
production. It is also illegal to rent or sell any products that have been given a
12 certificate to anyone under 12 years old.
This means that only people that are 15 and over are allowed to watch
the production. It is also illegal to rent or sell any products that have been
given a 15 certificate to anyone under 15 years old.
Productions that have been rated 15 are allowed to have portrayals of sexual
activity, hard drugs, frequent strong language, sexual nudity, strong violence
and brief scenes of sexual violence.
This means that only people that are 18 and over are allowed to
watch the production. It is also illegal to rent or sell any products that have
been given a 18 certificate to anyone under 18 years old.
18 graded films or videos are allowed to contain very strong violence, you are
allowed both frequent strong language and very strong language, and
discriminatory language or behaviour can also be shown. Strong portrayals of
sexual activity are also allowed as well as real sex but only in some
circumstances. Strong horror, and strong blood and gore can also be featured.
This means that only people that are 18 and over are allowed to
watch the production. It is also illegal to rent or sell any products that have
been given a R18 certificate to anyone under 18 years old. The production
can only be shown to adults in specially licenced cinemas or licenced sex shops.
R18 graded production are also not allowed to be supplied by mail.
R18 graded productions mean that it contains explicit material involving
consenting sex or strong fetish material that involves adults.

LO3 Understanding the regulation of the media sector

Why does the BBFC classify films?
The BBFC classifies films so that only the people of each age group can only see
the appropriate material that is respective to them. This also allows people to
know roughly what kind of material are in the production and to what extent it
is featured.

What is censorship?
Censorship is when a countrys film board doesnt allow a film or a section of
the film to be played publicly due to it featuring content that is inappropriate
or disrespectful of the countrys culture. It could also be censored due to it
featuring an item or activity that is illegal in that specific country, so they dont
allow it to be shown, as it could be seen as promoting the illegal item or
activity.

Give an example of censorship. (Include film title, complaint/reason for censoring and
outcome)
An example of censorship would be the film The Trip. This film was censored
because it glorified the use of LSD which is illegal in the UK.

How do you make a complaint about a film?
To make a formal complaint about a film you have to write to the British Board
of Film Classification, asking for the film to either remove a certain part or
censor it or take it down, and then give the reason why as well.