Film Classification and Target Audience

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) classifies films under the Licensing Act 2003, on behalf of the local authorities who license cinemas. The BBFC classify films from ‘U’(Suitable for all) to ‘18’ (No-one younger then 18 may see this film). The main issues in which the BBFC classifies are:

Discrimination (Potentially offensive content relating to maters such as race, gender, religion, disability or sexuality), Horror (the use of frightening elements which might scare or unsettle an audience), Imitable Behaviour (portrayal of criminal and violent techniques and any glamorisation of weapons), Language, Nudity, Sex, Drugs, Theme of the Film, Violence and Film Title.

Trailers:

Borderline material is less likely to be justified by context as trailers are short and self-contained, meaning they are more likely to cause offence.

“Strong language is not permitted in trailers or advertisements at any category below ‘15’”
“Only one use of strong language is permitted in a trailer or advertisement at ‘15’ and must be neither threatening nor aggressive”

Target Audience:

From the 5 trailers I have analysed, they were al 15 with ‘The Dead Outside’ being the only exception and being classed as 18. I feel that a film in the genre of psychological horror will be best classified as a 15.

What a 15 film should and shouldn’t include is shown below.