BBFC Institution research

1) The BBFC is an independent and non-governmental organisation which was founded by the film industry in 1912. The BBFC is responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom. The BBFC is run on a not-for-profit basis, however it gets its income mainly from the fees it charges for its services and this is calculated by measuring the running time of films etc.

2) The Board’s age ratings decisions are made through an agreement with the Director, the President and the two Vice-Presidents who take the responsibility of rating a film etc. The examiners jobs are to take notes of what they watch, such as the general context i.e. plot, characters. The timings of key moments, including camera angles, type of shots, on- and off-screen moments and the profanity that is used , sex and drug references etc. This is eventually reported back and a decision is made.

3) There are several issues facing the BBFC when it comes to classifying a film. For example, determining whether the material is in conflict with the law, if it may cause any harm at the age rating concerned and the context itself of the film. The overall tone of a work may also affect the final decision.

4) The Dark Knight generated a large amount of media coverage regarding its certificate because of the press coverage and complaints from members of the public who thought the violence was too strong to be contained at the 12A category. I believe that it shouldn't have been awarded if there was too much violence as it can have a negative effect on some children. 

5) The guidelines for a 15 certificate is that no theme is prohibited, provided that it is appropriate for 15 year olds. The content of a 15 certificate of film may include any of the following:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behavior
• drug taking

6) 1 Day: 

This film was given a 15 classification, within the first few minutes of screen time the examiners viewing the work established that 1 Day was at least a 15 certificate because of the uses of strong language (‘f**k’) in the opening sequence. The examiners also considered the realistic level of moderate gun threat throughout the film which had a strong presence in the several scenes of strong violence. Lastly the issue of drugs was judged as a relatively minor one, which allowed the film to stay in its 15 classification rather than going into the 18 classification.