BBFC

1. Explain the role of the BBFC

The BBFC, that use to stand for British Board of Film Censorship but stands for British Board of Film Classification, are an independent classification company. There job is to create regulations and age restrictions on films and video games also giving guidelines to the audience of what is contained within the film. They charge the distributor of the film a fee to empower them to classify their film.

2. How does regulation impact upon the distribution and marketing of a film?

Most films have ask or want to be put within a certain band so there widest potential audience can view it. For instance a Disney film would want a U or a PG so that their target audience could go and see the film. Most companies do not like to get an 18 rating as most cinema audiences are around the age of 15. When a film is being distributed and marketed the distributors and marketing team would want the film to get the rating they would want to make the most money if they do not get the rating they want they may have to re-cut the film to get the needed rating to make the most money but also getting the balance right as they may over-cut the film. One example is the film ‘Veronica Guerin’ in which one violent scene brought the film up to a 15 from a 12 but the if the scene was cut the rest of the film may have been out of context.

3. How might technologies and new ways of distributing film problematise the way in which film is regulated?

With DVD’s widely available the extra’s on the DVD may raise the rating of the film as the extras or extended versions of films have more explicit content within them

4. Paragraph
One thing I found interesting about the workshop was that local branches and administration could overall the BBFC’s decision. This was surprising although in practice I would not have thought many authorities utilise this option.

One thing I didn’t know was that the BBFC was not a government based company. I thought that films would have to be rated under government law so this would lead to the classification company also being under government control.

One thing I can link to my media studies course is our Thriller opening. From our 2 minutes of film that we have shot I would say the film would be a 12 as there is violence but no infliction of pain is seen and also there are scenes of drug use.

5.
• Intro
• BBFC’s work
• Films aim at certain rating
• How a rating can effect distributor
• How a rating can effect potential audience