Regulation: BBFC

This post is about the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) and what it does and how it relates to my thriller opening. The BBFC are an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/DVD's since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984.

The BBFC was created to protect children from being exposed to unsuitable and even harmful content in films and give potential viewers information before they decide whether or not to watch a film. The BBFC examine and age rate films and videos before they're released. In order to decide which age they will give a film they use the 'Classification Guidelines' to see what criteria the film matches.


For our thriller, my group and I decided to label it a 15 as it may contain the following:

• inappropriate language for those under the age of 15
• may contain scenes of a sexual nature
• drug use
• violence

But remember, we have to think about the WHOLE film when choosing an age rating, not just the opening. If we based it on the opening to the film, we would rate it a 12 as it only includes a scary theme and blood, and may startle viewers towards the end. 

Because our film is a 15, it allows for a wider age range of people to watch and therefore gives us a bigger audience and perhaps makes for more money.

I hope this gives you a better insight to how we rated our film opening and how other films are rated and to my thriller itself...:)