Film Rating

Having researched into the BBFC guidelines, we have chosen to give our production a 15 rating. This means that nobody under this age is allowed to watch the film at the cinema or buy/rent it. If we were to make the whole film it would include the following:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language
• strong threat

All of these features are ones that would be expected in a 15 rated film or video. According to the BBFC, 'moderate physical and psychological threat is permitted at 12A or 12A as long as horror sequences are not too frequent or sustained and the overall tone is not disturbing'. For this reason we decided no to rate it as 12 due to the fact our film would expect to see frequent horror sequences intended to disturb viewers in some way. We have chosen to include violence and threat in order to make the film appear a horror. Without these element the film would be less intense and want our audience to be fully engaged.

We also considered the hypodermic needle theory when making this decision which suggests that audiences are 'injected' by the media and therefore influenced. It is said that children are more passive users of media and so it is important that they do not watch films that include adult themes and are not suitable for them, as they may become influenced by the horror events that take place throughout. For example in the case of James Bulger, it was said that two boys had watched 'Childs Play 3' (a film rated 18) and were heavily influenced by it, leading them to murder the young boy, James.