Film classification

Certificates are given to films to help the audience choose if the film they are looking to watch will be suitable for them.  The film cannot be legally sold to the person if they are not over the age of the certificate given to the film.  Of course the bbfc cannot predict how every one is going to react to certain scenes with in a film, weather this be in a PG rated film or an 18.

U 

‘U’ film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. ‘U’ films should be set within a positive moral framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror.

If a work is particularly suitable for a pre-school child to view alone, this will be indicated in the Consumer Advice.

PG    

'PG' stands for 'Parental Gaurdian'.  This basically means any one can watch it but if you are a young child (about the age of 8 and under) it is advised for the parent to look at what the film contains and decide weather they think the film will be appropriate for their child.                                                                                         

                                                                                       

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 DVD version unless extra material has been added which makes it need a higher rating.  A 12 is likely to allow the same contents as a 12A does.  However with a 12 the bbfc may be more laid back towards certain scenes in the film.   





15

Only those over 15 years are admitted.

Nobody younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15-rated 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, commonly used swear words, moderate-strong violence/sex references, and mild non-detailed sex activity.

18

Like with a 12 and a 15 for people to be allowed to buy a film with the certificate of 18 they will need to be at or above the age of the certificate. 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 non-detailed sex activity is also allowed.

R18

Only adults are admitted, and can only be shown at licensed cinemas or sold at sex shops. This rating does not exist for video games yet. Films under this category has material which the bbfc does not allow for it's "18" rating but is considered acceptable by law. Thus the violence and sex activity will be stronger in R18-rated DVDs and films than those which are rated "18".

Our Trailer

We have given our media trailer a certificate of 15. This is because it will contain strong language, scenes of horror and frequent drug references. Although we want the film to appeal to strong horror fans we decided not to give it an 18 certificate as we wanted to attract a large target audience and from previous research we found out that teen to young adults go to the cinema the most.

Audience Theories

Hypodermic Needle:  This theory implied that mass media had a direct, immediate and powerful effect on their audiences.  Basically the idea of this theory is that the things said and acted out on television go straight into your head without you really thinking about it, (passively received).  Therefore the people that believed in this theory thought that the audience of the mass media would believe what they have viewed, heard or read.

Two step flow:  This is information that has gone through more than just one or two people, this means that people filter out the things that they don’t want the audience to see and results sometimes in a biased view.

Uses of gratifications:  The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself by asking “what people do with media” rather than “what media does to people”.  The approach suggests that people use the media to fulfill specific gratifications. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other information sources for viewers' gratification.   

Reception Theory:  This links the kind of person you are, your background and your own existing system of beliefs, to the way you respond to the media you see.

Desensitization:  The more shocking and violent the images and information we see, the less sensitive we become to it in real life.  For example because we have seen on the news so often that British and America soldiers have been killed it may make you less surprised and therefore maybe even care less the next time you see it in the media.

Trailer research

To get inspiration for the trailer we have to make we decided to look at a variety of trailers from lots of different genres.  We came to the conclusion that making a horror trailer would be the best genre for us because of the resources we had.  For example a farm with wood land and old looking buildings.  Another deciding factor for choosing horror was seeing how many different camera angles had been used in the already existing trailers. 

Once we had decided on our genre we started to analyse existing trailers.  By doing this it helped us to find out about the music they had used (speed, instruments, build up, etc).  We also looked at the many camera angles that the trailers had in common (Fast pans, High angle, close ups and also extreme long shots).  And finally probably one of the most important things when producing a horror trailer, the editing.  This is a very important factor in a horror film or trailer as it needs to build tension throughout so the audience gets hooked and wants to keep watching or go out and pay to see the film.

Here are the three trailers I chose to analysed:

The Blair Witch Project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZu1cTg-xUM

The Hills Have Eyes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O76m3kpgPTQ