Film Classification Research

Film Classification Research

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organization, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom. It has a statutory requirement to classify videos, DVDs and some video games under the Video Recordings Act 2010.

Current Certificates

U – Universal – All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children over 4.

PG- Parental Guidance – All ages admitted, but certain scenes may be unsuitable for children under 8.

12A- cinema only, introduced in 2002. Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for very young people. Those aged under 12 years are only admitted if accompanied by an adult, aged at least 18 years, at all times during the motion picture. However, it is generally not recommended that children under 12 years should watch the film. Films under this category can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, commonly used milder swear words, and moderate violence/sex references

12 -Home media only since 2002. 12A-rated films are usually given a 12 certificate for the VHS/DVD version unless extra material has been added that requires a higher rating. Nobody younger than 12 can rent or buy a 12-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game. Films in this category may include infrequent drugs, infrequent use of strong language, brief nudity, discreet sexual activity, and moderate violence.

15- Only those over 15 years are admitted. Nobody younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, strong language, moderate-strong violence/sex references, and mild non-detailed sex activity.

18- Only adults are admitted. Nobody younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category do not have limitation on the bad language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and strong violence/sex references along with strong sexual activity is also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context.

R18- Restricted 18- Can only be shown at licensed cinemas or sold at licensed retailers or sex shops, and only to adults, those aged 18 or over. Films under this category have material the BBFC does not allow for its "18" rating, thus the violence and sex activity will be stronger in R18-rated VHSs, DVDs and films than those rated "18," however, there is still a range of material that is often cut from the R18 rating. More cuts are demanded in this category than any other category.

Research Into YouTube

Research Into YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos.

The company is based in San Bruno, California, and uses Adobe Flash Video and HTML5 technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as video blogging and short original videos.

Most of the content on YouTube has been uploaded by individuals, although media corporations including CBS, BBC, VEVO, Hulu, and other organizations offer some of their material via the site, as part of the YouTube partnership program.

Unregistered users may watch videos, and registered users may upload an unlimited number of videos.

Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users 18 years old and older.

In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for US$1.65 billion, and now operates as a subsidiary of Google.

Research Into Inspirational Practitioners

Name: F. Gary Gray

Top Five Films (Personal View):

·         Law Abiding Citizen

·         Friday

·         The Italian Job

·         Be Cool

·         The Negotiator

Name: Steven Spielberg

Top Five Films (Personal View):

·         A.I Artificial Intelligence

·         Catch Me If You Can

·         Casper

·         Schindler’s List

·         Saving Private Ryan

Name: Pierre Morel

Top Five Films (Personal View):

·         Taken

·         The Transporter

·         Transporter 2

·         From Paris With Love

·         District 13

Name: Oren Peli

Top Four Films (Personal View):

·         Paranormal Activity

·         Paranormal Activity 2

·         Paranormal Activity 3

·         Insidious

Research Into Inspirational Film Companies

Research Into Inspirational Film Companies

Universal Studios:

Top Five Films:

·         Despicable Me

·         Get Him To The Greek

·         Funny People

·         Fast & Furious

·         Role Models

DreamWorks:

Top Five Films:

·         I Love You, Man
·         Disturbia
·         Dreamgirls
·         The Ring
·         Shrek

New Line Cinema:

Top Five Films:

·         17 Again

·         Sex And The City

·         Valentine’s Day

·        Hall Pass

·         My Sisters Keeper

Warner Bros:

Top Five Films:

·         Final Destination

·         Inception

·         The Dark Knight

·         Horrible Bosses

·         Due Date

Three Horror Trailer Descriptions

Three Horror Trailers Descriptions

Shark Night 3D

-          American teenagers

-          High school

-          Summer vacation

-          Water – sea/lake/river

-          Attractive cast

-          Blood

-          Fear

-          Shark

-          Panic

-          Screams

-          Tense music

Insidious

-          Children

-          New house

-          Creepy characters

-          Fast paced shots

-          Flashes

-          Tense music

-          Screams

-          Deep breathes

-          Fear

Bereavement

-          Children

-          Madman

-          Lost child

-          Abduction

-          Horror

-          Blood

-          Fear

4x Detailed Research Into Film Magazine Front Covers

1. Total Film -

The main image on this magazine front cover is the star of the movie, this works as a USP to entice customers into buying the magazine which then promotes the movie. The colours used in the front cover match the colours used in the image; the use of the plain white background is more effective for the bright colours of the actress’s costume and also the blood dripping from her hand. This image is done photographically which therefore makes the image detailed and clear. The front cover tells the potential buyers a lot about what the contents are. The promises made by offering the ‘biggest’ and the ‘exclusives’ make the magazine even more desirable by movie fans.  

2. Empire-

The colours used for this front cover are matching to the costume of the actor, this makes the magazine stand out more as bright green and pinks are eye catching to consumers. The magazine still keeps it brand identity by keeping its masthead the original bright red. The main image is one of the main characters from the batman film ‘the dark knight’, this is used as a USP for the magazine as consumers will buy the magazine just for the exclusive of the movie and that character. The magazine also offers ‘sneak peaks’ into other new films which makes the consumer want the magazine further.

3. Empire –

 

The main image for this magazine front cover has been illustrated and done using Photoshop or other photo manipulation programmes. This magazine front cover stands out to consumers as it appears to be more like a comic book as the images are not done photographically like the usually are and the font has been broken and played around with. This makes this issue of the magazine more of a collectable to certain consumers as this issue is more exclusive and unique than other normal issues. The main colour that’s used to stand out is green and this is because consumers will automatically link it to the green of the hulk. The magazine doesn’t promote what is inside the magazine but that makes it a mystery to the consumer.

4. Total Film –

 

The main image of this front cover is the main character and his co-star, this image has been done photographically but has been edited in a photo manipulation programme such as Photoshop. The main colours are red blue and white, these colours make the magazine stand out as they are quite vibrant, the main actor stands out more as he is wearing black compared to the colourful surroundings. The magazine claims to be the world exclusive which is a big selling point for the magazine as people will need to buy this magazine to be able to access the world exclusive inside details.

4x Detailed Research Into Film Posters

4x detailed research into film posters


1. Kick-ass

The main colours of the poster are black, yellow and green. The green and yellow are suited to match the main characters costume. The black background brings the audience attention to the bright yellow title of the movie.
The main object of the poster is the main character placed in the centre of the poster and the other co-stars placed around him is eye catching. These images are done photographically.

The messages of the image are primarily visual as there is not much text to attract the audience verbally.

I think that the intended audience for this poster would be 15 and above as the images show blood on the characters face and this could be because there is violence in the movie that is not acceptable for viewers under the age of 15.

This poster contains one main persuasive technique that will be used to get the audiences to go see the movie and this is that it is bright and eye-catching; this poster will stick in people’s minds as it is vibrant and colourful.

The genre of this movie is an action comedy, the genre conventions in the poster are the action movie star type poses of the actors. Their poses simply show the action genre within this movie. The comedy side of the movie is shown by the actors that are present on the poster such as Christopher Mintz-Plasse who is a comedy actor.
All the stars shown on the poster are used as a USP as they are all famous; this then attracts different audiences to come see the movie.
Attention is gained by using humour in this poster. It is humorous that the actors staring in the movie are posed as action heroes as they are stereotypically not action movie actors.

The tagline works humorously as the phrase “shut up. Kick-ass” is comical to the audience.

The poster tells the audience the institutions that were involved in the production of this movie.
The importance in the poster is to get the audience to see it, that is why the main image is eye-catching and noticeable and the information about the institutions etc. is put in small writing at the bottom of the poster.
The poster would be placed in the cinema itself, on billboards; in bus stops etc. this is important to the whole marketing campaign as it is promoting the movie.


I would say that this poster is effective because it is eye-catching and will definitely capture the audience’s attention. This is because of the bright colours and bold text that is used.
I think that it does communicate effectively with the audience as it tells them the title, the date it is released and the main characters which star in the movie.
The poster would not be seen to be offensive in any way as it is comical and fun, and is not offending anybody.




2. Black Swan

The main colours of this poster are white are bright red. These are attention grabbing colours as the white is so vibrant that it brings more attention to the red of the actress’s eyes. The white brings an innocence and beauty of the ballet dancer that the actress is playing but the red of the eyes completely contradict this innocence and gives the actress an evil look.

The main figure of this poster is the actress herself. As the image is so eye-catching it works well on just a plain white background. This image is done photographically and is very detailed on the actress’s face as it is in full focus whereas the actress’s shoulders and headdress is out of focus making this image have a narrow depth of field.The message sent by this poster is entirely visual. The image used tells a lot about the story of this movie, the red of the actress’s eyes shows there’s an evil side to this innocent ballet dancer and that intrigues audiences into watching the movie.

The movie is rated r which means the movie is only suitable for viewers over the age of 17 unless supervised by an adult. I think this movie is aimed at a 15+ audience due to contents of the movie being sexual or too mature for younger viewers.
I think the persuasive technique used to get viewers to view this movie is the interest the image brings to the audience, the attention grabbing image leaves people thinking about the poster which therefore makes them think about seeing the movie.
This poster shows thriller genre conventions through the actress’s blank expression and red eyes.
Natalie Portman is used as the USP of this poster as her career was at a peak when this movie was released.
There are nominations for major awards shown on this poster; this is appealing to audiences as they will want to pay to see a movie that is worth paying for.
Attention is gained in this poster by shock; the eyes of the actress are so different to what you would expect to see that it shocks the consumer and then stays visual in their mind.
The movie poster is an important part of telling the audience key information about the movie itself, such as the release date, the stars and the genre.
The poster is vital to the whole marketing campaign of the movie as the poster is what draws a good percentage of the audience to watch the movie as it is placed in places such as shopping centres and bus stops.
I would say that it is an effective poster as it is attention grabbing for the audience and leaves the audience intrigued about the movie.
I think it communicates well with the audience as it has such a powerful image that shows the genre of the movie and an insight into what the movie might be about.
I don’t think the poster would be seen as offensive in anyway.



3. Burlesque

The main colours used in this movie poster are black, white and bright pink. The black and white images create a classic feel to the poster and the bright pink brings it more up to date and girly.

The main objects in this poster are the two main actresses, these images are done photographically and this makes them clear and detailed.
The messages in the poster are both visual and verbal; the visual message sent by the picture is supported by the text on the poster itself.
I think the intended audience for this movie would be 12+ as the image on the right is slightly seductive and the burlesque dance itself it a seductive dance so it isn’t appropriate for younger viewers.
The persuasive techniques used in this poster is the two main actresses being the poster USP which means some viewers will be persuaded to view the movie as they are fans of the actress/singer. The other technique used is the choice of a black and white image contrasted with the bright pink.
There are obvious musical genre conventions shown in this poster as the whole set up makes it seem to be a show.
Attention is gained through the unusual use of a black and white image with the bright colours font.
The tagline “it takes a legend… to make a star” works as a two part tagline showing the present and the future.
The movie poster is important as it shows the audience important features of the movie such as the star, this is important to this poster as the main actresses are two very famous singers already.
The poster is very important to the movies marketing campaign as it appeals to different audiences who are unable to view the TV adverts etc. as movie posters are easy to be seen by everyone.
This poster is effective as the pink against the black and white are very eye catching to the audience. This then makes the poster stick in the person’s mind which will make them think about seeing the movie.
The poster communicates effectively with the audience as it gives them all the information they need to be able to see the movie if they wish to do so.
I don’t think this poster would be seen as offensive in anyway as it doesn’t contain any inappropriate content.


4.Let Me In

The main colours used in this poster are black red and white. The black background brings more attention to the centre of the image. The red represents blood. The white of the girls dress and pale white skin tone bring innocence to her character which contradicts the pool of blood she is lying in.
This poster symbolises the genre and the main idea of the movie. The pool of blood shows the audience that it is a vampire, horror themed movie. This is symbolised in the red pool of blood surrounding the girl.
The main figure in this poster is the girl, this image is done photographically however, the image has been highly edited on a photo manipulating programme such as Photoshop, and this is how the blood around her has been created.
The messages in this poster are mainly sent visually as the image is shocking and attention grabbing to the audience. This then keeps the image in their mind and makes them want to view the movie.

I think as this movie already shows quite shocking horror genre conventions then it must be targeted at a 15+ audience as some contents of the movie may not be appropriate for viewers younger than 15.
Persuasive techniques used by this poster is the shocking image, this image is different and really stands out to the audience.
Horror genre conventions are referred to in the poster through the blood used in the image and the blood red colour used for the font on the poster itself.
Attention is gained using shock in this poster; the image of a young girl surrounded by a pool of blood is something that would shock most people.
The poster is important for telling the audience about the release date, rating and also the movie itself.
The poster is important as a part of the whole marketing campaign as it attracts other audiences as well as the ones that are intrigued by TV adverts.
I think it is an effective poster as it is eye catching and appeals to the audience it is aimed at.
It communicates information that is needed for audience to view the movie effectively.