bbfc

1. Research into BBFC Guidelines
What is the BBFC?
Set up in 1912, the BBFC is the UK’s regulator of film and video who provide age ratings such
as U, PG and 12A. As a designated body they have legal power to rate and sometimes cut,
even reject work. Their aimis to:
 Protect the public, particularly children, from harmful content.
 Allow the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices.
 Respond to changing social attitudes towards media content.
Guidelines for a 15 rated film:
There are no themes that are not allowed to feature in a 15 rated film, providing they are
suitably portrayed for a 15 year old. Any of the following are allowed to be, and often are
seen in a 15 rated film/video: strong violence, portrayals of sexual activity, strong language
(can be frequent), sexual nudity, strong sexual references, drug use, discriminatory language
& behaviour and brief scenes/reference to sexual abuse.
 Strong violence – violence used should not dwell on the infliction of pain and injury,
strongest gory images as well as pleasure seen to have be gained from violence is
more than likely to be unaccepted.
 Sexual content & nudity – sexual activity is usually not explored in strong detail,
however sex scenes can be quite long. Nudity is also something that is usually not
shown in strong detail, although there are no constraints to prevent this, whether it
is used in sexual or non-sexual content. Even though there can be strong references
to sex and sexual behaviour, without contextual justification, unnecessary
strong/crude references are often not acceptable
 Strong language – At the age rating of a 15, there is no limit on the use of strong
language such as the f***. Strongest terms such as c*** may be used occasionally,
depending on the manner of their use, who’s saying it, its frequency and whether or
not the context justifies the use. Continuous and/or aggressive use is more than
often not accepted at 15 rated films/videos.
 Drug use – drug taking may be shown in 15 rated films, however, overall the work
cannot encourage drug use and dangerous, easily accessible drugs such as aerosols
and solvents are unlikely to be shown within a 15 film.

2.  Discriminatory/offensive language & behaviour – the work as a whole may not
promote discriminatory language/behaviour but is allowed to explore themes
relating to this, with the use of homophobic and racist terms.
 Sexual violence – detailed verbal references to such behaviour is allowed, however
actual portrayal of sexual violence must be brief and justified by the context.
 Horror – strong threat/horror is accepted but must not focus on sexualised or
sadistic threat.
 Dangerous behaviour – things such as hanging, suicide and self-harming should not
be shown in detail that would supply enough for teenagers to copy. Easily accessible
weapons will be shown dependent on realism, setting and context.
Guidelines for an 18 rated film:
No themes are prohibited at 18 at all and it is possible for some themes displayed to be
offensive to even some adult viewers. Strong issues that can be involved within an 18 rated
film include: very strong violence, frequent strong and/or very strong language, strong
sexual activity portrayal, sexual violence scenes, strong horror, strong blood and gore,
discriminatory language and behaviour, and in some circumstances real sex.
 Very strong violence – strongest gory images are permitted at this age rating and
unlike violence use in a 15 rating, violence in an 18 rated film may focus on sadistic
motives and the infliction of pain/injury.
 Strong/very strong language – there is no limit to strong and very strong language,
therefore words such as f*** and c*** can be used as many times as desired. Uses
of strong language can be frequent, have an aggressive nature and be used alongside
strong violence.
 Sex & nudity – strong and detailed portrayals of sex are allowed at 18, including full
nudity which has no constraints in both educational and non-educational context.
Explicit and crude sexual references are permitted at 18, with depictions of real sex
also being accepted, as long as the film or video is not actually a sex work.

3.  Horror – at 18, there is no limit to the horror, gore or sustained threat involved in a
film.
 Discriminatory terms/behaviour – work may explore themes relating to
discrimination whilst using racist, homophobic and any other discriminative
language. Characters are also allowed to engage in discriminatory behaviour and the
film/video may use this as the main focus of the piece.
 Dangerous behaviour – difficult topics may be covered within an 18 rated film
however harm is still a consideration the BBFC must review. Very dangerous/criminal
behaviour which if copied could bring great deal of harm may be cut from the work.
Why is this information useful when identifying target audience and how will we use it?
If you know what types of themes you want to include within your work and to what extent,
the classification of filmwill help you identify what age of audience you should be appealing
your work to. Many themes allowed in 18 rated films are also allowed in 15 rated themes,
it’s the level they are used at which makes them suitable for an 18 or 15. Therefore, if you
wanted to cover sensitive subjects, such as suicide, the age classifications make sure you
consider in what way you are going to do this before producing the work – suicide with
limited detail will be suitable for a 15, however in an 18 this could be covered more
explicitly.
We aim to use these guidelines as support to help us keep within the age rating, once
decided, of the work we are producing. The guidelines are of great help to make us
understand what can and can’t be included within a piece, and the limit to those things that
are included, for example, drug use is accepted but cannot be shown to promote the use of
drugs. The BBFC classifications will also be helpful in terms of identifying our target
audience, as we can consider what themes we want to portray in our piece and the
guidelines will direct us to what age group our ideas would be suited to and thus make our
target audience clearer.