Regulation Research

Every piece of media in the UK, from movies to magazines, is regulated. This means that legal bodies have been set up to protect the viewers and users of British media from offencive or unsuitable content, this is usually the government. I am going to undertake some research about the BBFC guidelines and analyse the code of practise for film making.

BBFC stands for the "British Board of Film Classification". The BBFC is a not-for-profit media content regulator.

There job is to....

• provide an effective service to enforcement agencies
• protect the public, especially children, from content which might raise harm risks
• work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advice which support emerging media delivery systems
• empower the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices
• provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit
• recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law
• respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research

There are 5 main certifications, they are...

• U - this stands for "universal", this means it is suitable for all and is unlikely to upset children or offend people.
• PG - this stands for "parental guidance", this means any age child may watch it as long as they are accompanied by an adult. Children over 8 are unlikely to get disturbed by these film but anyone younger may be affected.
• 12 - this means it is only suitable for children over the age of 12, it is considered unsuitable for a child under 12.
• 15 - no one under the age of 15 may watch this film in a cinema or buy/rent it. This is because it may contain details which may disturb younger viewers.
• 18 - no one under the age of 18 may watch this film in a cinema or buy/rent it. This is because it may contain details which may disturb younger viewers.

Our film will be classified 15, this is because there will be some strong violence but not graphic or gruesome enough to classify it 18. Our film will also include some sex scenes and some sexual references which would be seen a unsuitable for some younger viewers. There will also be some drug taking in our film, this is because we are trying to portray the characters in our film  "dodgy people" and this helps us achieve this, some viewers may disapprove of drug taking so we have to classify our film 15. This also fits with my target audience, which is teenagers and young adults.