Task 4- Certification

Certification

My animation, like any film or television programme or publication, would have to be given a certificate. A certificate of these productions is constructed by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). They work on certifications of film, DVD and video games. There are six groups of classification, which I will be talking about in this essay.

‘U’ is the first and suitable for audiences aged four and over, although for productions aimed at children under four are still allowed to be watched. However, they are given consumer advice which states ‘Particularly suitable for pre-school children’. When films are given this classification, they do not include bad language, apart from ones not as bad if given a justification. They do not include any sexual innuendos, although kissing and cuddling is allowed. The only things that would fear the audience would be if a character is in danger with a positive and reassuring outcome. Another thing is that the films teach the audience positive morals and meanings, with a happy ending to each story. Most original Disney films such as Toy Story, Lady and the Tramp, Lion King etc are classified as a ‘U’. The BBFC doesn’t receive a lot of complaints, but in 2004, Shrek 2 received complaints after being classified as a ‘U’ but containing the word ‘bloody’.

‘PG’ is the next which stands for Parental Guidance. This in mind, anything shown on screen would not upset a child aged eight or over. When created, these films would not have been aimed towards a younger audience. Documentaries are a good example of these. Sex is obviously not allowed to be shown, but if spoken about it mustn’t contain detail, but on the same hand if a child would not understand the reference then it can be given a ‘PG’ certificate. Violence in the form of blood would only be acceptable. You wouldn’t be allowed to see how the injury happened if it involved violence and neither would there be dangerous behaviour that a child would be likely to copy.

‘12A’ and ‘12’ are both different certificates but both quite similar. ‘12A’ is for films that are not suitable for children under the age of twelve unless their parents views it with them and thinks otherwise. There may be strong language in it but not frequently and if it is said in a violent way then the film may be put into the ‘15’ category. Light sex references are acceptable, but not anything that wouldn’t be suitable for young teenagers and nudity may be seen but not in a sexual way. Violence will be seen but nothing to dwell on with a lot of detail with no emphasis on the injuries unless it’s a medical drama. Self harming, suicide of hanging may be seen but again, not anything to dwell on or with any detail showing that these actions are painful and not something for young teenagers to copy.

‘15’ films are not allowed to be seen in the cinema or bought or rented by anyone under the age of fifteen. Films classified with this age will contain strong violence, frequent strong language, portrayals of sexual activity, strong verbal references to sex, sexual nudity, short scenes of sexual violence or speech referring to sexual violence, discriminating language or behaviour and lastly drug taking. Even though drug taken can be seen in fifteens, the intake of substances highly accessible such as aerosols, solvents will not be shown.

The last classification is ‘18’. This means that nobody under the age of eighteen is allowed to view a film in the cinema or buy or rent it. None of the films classified with this age are suitable for children. It would contain very strong violence, frequent very strong language, strong portrayals of sexual activity, sexual violence, strong horror, blood and gore and discriminating language and behaviour. Drug taking cannot be promoted or seen as being encouraged but may be seen in some films.

Looking at all the different classifications, I think that my animation would be rated as either a ‘12’ or a ‘15’. There is only one scene in the animation that would affect this and that is when they are having sex, although you don’t see any nudity or anything ‘graphic’ just a duvet cover moving. This is something that I think would suit either a twelve or fifteen year old- but probably more fifteen. Other than that scene, our film could be rated a ‘U’. However, we did this scene purposely to bring the certification up and the target audience. We wanted to aim our animation at people that would be inspired by it, and not children.

Watershed is another restriction that can effect when things can be shown on the television. In the UK, Ofcom have regulated the time for certified films and programmes to be shown after 9pm. 18-rated content cannot be aired until after 10pm though, to allow for a gradual transition to ‘adult material’. The watershed time ends at 5am.

When producing our treatment for the animation, we said that we would want our work to be shown on BBC Three as their aim is to provide their audience with something different and we feel that our animation would provide them with that. It would probably have to be shown after the watershed, only because of the mild sexual reference, although it may be able to be shown just before it.