Research into the certificate of our film

Certification of films is a huge prospect when it comes to film making as you need to know what audience to exhibit your film to, to know what you are allowed to put into your film. Certification is also important as if the certification of a film is wrong it could distress our audience leading to mental disorders such as depression or anxiety issues.

When giving a film a certificate there are certain specific guidelines a film must follow to achieve the age rating it is wanting. For example in our film, we want to exhibit our film to an audience of 12 years and above as this will target a wide ranged audience. However, for our film to achieve this certificate, these are the guidelines that we will need to follow:

Discrimination

 Discriminatory language or behaviour must not be endorsed by the work as a whole. Aggressive discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly condemned.

Drugs

 Misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be glamorised or give instructional detail.

Imitable behaviour

 No promotion of potentially dangerous behaviour which children are likely to copy. No glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons such as knives. No endorsement of anti-social behaviour.

Language

 There may be moderate language. Strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency within the work as a whole and any special contextual justification.

Nudity

 There may be nudity, but in a sexual context it must be brief and discreet.

Sex

 Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Moderate sex references are permitted, but frequent crude references are unlikely to be acceptable.

Threat

 There may be moderate physical and psychological threat and horror sequences. Although some scenes may be disturbing, the overall tone should not be. Horror sequences should not be frequent or sustained.

Violence

 There may be moderate violence but it should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated, and its depiction must be justified by context.

Having checked through these guidelines with my group, we have decided our film meets these guidelines therefore our film is acceptable to be certified as a 12.

Our reasoning for not giving our film a PG is due to the end of our film as there is a tragedy theme of our main character getting stuck in the past which could be upsetting for younger viewers and the theme of implied violence is also apparent due to domestic violence in the next house that isn't shown but heard instead and a mugging that almost occurs in the film.