Research Into Certificates

BBFC (British Board Of Film Classification) - I did my research about film certificates and what would make a film a certain rating on the BBFC website which is the official website where all films around the world must get a certificate/rating from.

Why is film classification important?

The industries want to protect children from film footage that can be harmful. For instance if the film is too scary then they will have trouble sleeping. If the film is too gory it can make them ill and if there's a lot of bad language then they could possibly repeat this language. Films are regulated by usually two examiners, but if there is a disagreement in the results then a senior examiner is called in to regulate the product. Films are regulated for the cinema, but are regulated again for DVD and Blu-ray. The decisions on the age rating of DVDs and Blu-rays can sometimes be stricter than at the cinema. This is because there is a higher risk of underage viewing at home and a greater potential for watching scenes out of context.

What makes a film a certain certificate?

The U symbolizes Universal so it means that anyone that is 4 years and over can legally watch a U rated film. These films will be rated for very young viewers for example films such as 'Chuggington the movie.' Films or videos with this BBFC insight should have no issues like discrimination, drugs, bad behaviour, language, nudity, sex, threat or violence in them. Because our film is a horror, if we wanted to make it a U rating, then it would have to be something along the lines of, 'Scooby Doo.' In these types of horror films, they are funny. They contain no sex references or language but there are still basic conventions of horror films such as dark castles and ghosts.

PG stands for Parental guidance. This means that if a child is under the age of 12, they must watch the movie with an adult. Some films are given a PG certificate but have not been made for a young audience. A recent example of a film mostly enjoyed by grown ups but passed PG, would be, 'Saving Mr. Banks.' However, the certificate means that any issues in the work are appropriate for the majority of this age group, and nothing should upset a child of eight or over. This is because it is Disney related which is enjoyed by many children. PG films will not contain any inappropriate content for children. But the films are able to tackle issues such as bullying and racism. There can be swearing in PG's but only certain words. If our film was a PG it would have to be something like, 'Hotel Transylvania.' This film has the iconography of horror films like monsters for instance, but it relies on comedy instead of horror. If the film is scary it will only be mildly scary.

12's and 12a's are differen't. A film that has been rated a 12 means that the film is a video release that is suitable for a 12 year old. A 12a is only for cinema purpose, and it means that if under 12, a child can go to watch the film accompanied by a parent or guardian. They are also able to go if they are over 12 years of age on their own. Once a film is out of the cinema, it is regulated again. In the cinema the film could be a 12a but on DVD, the film could be a 12 or sometimes even a 15. If a film has a dark and disturbing feel to it then it will be rated 12 upwards. The content within the film determines the correct certificate. Some strong language may be used in 12's, but it depends on the manner that it is used, who is using it and the frequency. There can be some sex references in 12's however, the verbal sex references must not go beyond what is not suitable for young teenagers. To add to this, moderate violence may be used, but not excessively. There can be some blood and the occasional gory moment, but nothing more. There are some horror films in this category. Some physical and psychological threats are permitted in 12's or 12a's, as long as the horror sequences are not too frequent, and the overall tone is not too disturbing. If our film was to be a 12, then it would be something like 'The others.' There is no swearing, and very little gore. It is quite scary and the tone is disturbing but it is suitable for young teen's.

15's are known to contain the following: strong violence, frequent strong language, portrayals of sexual activity, strong sex references, nudity, brief scenes of sexual violence, discrimination and drug taking. 15's are allowed to contain a lot of things that 12's are not. There's often a lot of strong language and some use of extremely strong language. There may also be racist and discriminatory language in the film, but it cannot be too much. Sexual activity can be portrayed in a 15, as long as it is not too frequent and too explicit. There can be strong sex references but a lot of films will not go into that much detail. As well as this, there's a lot of graphic violence and gore in 15's. They should not focus on the infliction of pain or injury, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. There can be horror films that are rated 15, they can include strong threat and horror but cannot contain sadistic and/or sexualised threat. If we were to make our film a 15, it would probably be like the film, 'The Grudge.' This is a ghost film that contains strong language and very scary horror moments.

These types of films will involve extreme violence and sex. Issues that are usually found in 18 rated films include: very strong violence, very strong frequent language, strong portrayals of sexual activity, sexual violence, strong horror, (sometimes real sex) and discriminatory language. In 18 rated films there is no limit on the number of swear words used. Martin Scorsese's, 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' has set a Guinness World Record for the most swear words used in a film. The F-word was used explicitly 506 times. That averages out at 2.81 times per minute. This goes to show that swearing can be used as many times as the actors and producers of the film would like. There can be strong discrimination and racism in 18 rated films. Also there very explicit sex can be used, including full nudity. Very strong and crude sex scenes are permitted in an 18. There are films that are purely about sexual arousal and stimulation; these are labelled as R18. There is a lot of violence in 18's. It can be strong and portrayed in a lot of detail, and there may be focus on sadistic and sexual violence. If we were to make our film an 18, it would be something like, 'Evil dead.' It contains ghosts and monsters as well as a lot of bad language, extreme horror and gore as well as graphic sex scenes.

Types Of Characters In Horror Films

Stereotypical Characters In Horror Films

There is usually a protagonist (the leading character of the film), and an antagonist (who opposes the protagonist). Horror's are usually set from the protagonists point of view, but from time to time there can be films from the antagonists point of view, for example in the film, 'Hard Candy.' There are often jump scares in horrors to make the storyline come together and to create a better atmosphere. The protagonist usually has to overcome certain obstacles in order to make it out alive or have a happy ending. To add to this, there can be a lot of action going on in films that keeps the tension building and the audience guessing - often wrongly. By the end of the film, the relationship between the characters is explained to the audience so that they have a reason for how they acted towards each other. But sometimes the characters decisions in the films are not explained.

Examples of this are in, 'Wolf creek' and 'Wrong Turn.' In 'Wolf Creek' the antagonist (Mick Taylor) lets the audience know that he kills people because he hates tourists and is an all round psychopathic, bad guy. But in, 'Wrong Turn,' it is never truly explained why the cannibals kill and eat people. The audience just assume it's because they want revenge or are just bad.

Different Medias In Which The Villain Is The Protagonist

The main protagonists that are in horror films are usually, blonde females who are in danger, and strong males who save the day. They are also usually, everyday citizens who are having a normal day at the beginning of the film. They will usually have a goal in the story, and the antagonist regularly tried to stop them achieving their goal. Antagonists in horror films can be a range of different things, such as, serial killers, ghosts and monsters.

Types of characters -
Female victim:

The female victim is usually the protagonist in a horror film. This could be to support or subvert stereotypes. If they are supporting stereotypes then the female protagonist will usually be killed by the antagonist. If the film subverts the stereotypes then the female victim will be able to defend herself and will win by the end of the film. A film where stereotypes are supported is, 'Scream,' and a film where stereotypes are subverted is 'Alien.' The film, 'Wolf Creek,' directed by Greg McLean both supports and subverts stereotypes. This is because the female victims try to be brave and get away, but eventually they both die. We will use a female protagonist in our film to subvert stereotypes.

The male hero:

Male protagonists usually save the day in horror films. They are usually of strong build and attractive. There are not a lot of horror films where good wins evil but the male hero is there to be brave and to add a sense of hope to the film. In most horrors they will prove their bravery by going off to look for the killer, which either results in them dying horrifically or them finally killing the antagonist. However, in a lot more recent horror films, the protagonist is becoming female a lot more. This could be because the audience do not know what to expect and because of the newer conventions that are occurring in films. An example of a film where the male hero wins is, 'The hills have eyes.' An example of a film where he loses is, 'Cabin in the woods.'

The hysterical character:

These types of characters are usually female and are usually the ones who make bad things happen. They will refuse to leave a building or they will try to run away. but it will always end badly for them. These types of characters in horrors are important as they help create suspense in horrors and build the tension. Examples of horror films with hysterical characters in them are, 'Final destination' and 'Wrong turn.'

The antagonist:

This type of character features in all horror films. A horror story line would not work without the use of a protagonist and an antagonist. The antagonist in horror films can be many different things, such as a serial killer like in the film, 'The silence of the lambs.' A psychopath in a mask, like in the film, 'Halloween.' A scary monster, for example in the film, 'IT.' A ghost, like in the film, 'The woman in black.' Or from time to time the protagonist could also be the antagonist, in films such as, 'Hide and seek.' This film shows that the protagonist has a split-personality so is also the antagonist. In our film we will be using a similar method. Because Agnes believes that she isn't dead, she thinks that the other "beings" in the house are ghosts, when in fact, she is the real ghost.

Research into film certificates

As part of making our film we have to apply a suitable certificate for audience guidance, because of this I decided to do some research into the general applications for all certificates.

The "U" film certificate:

The U symbol stands for Universal. A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. However, it is impossible to predict what might upset a particular child, especially at this lower end of the category range.The rates for films and videos are aimed at very young viewers, such as Chuggington or Tinga Tinga Tales, U. However, we give them special BBFCinsight stating they are ‘particularly suitable for pre-school children’. Films or videos with this BBFCinsight should raise no significant issues in terms of discrimination, drugs,, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, threat or violence.

A U only allows infrequent use of very mild bad language (e.g. ‘damn’ and ‘hell’).

A U film can explore a wide rang of themes, as long as the treatment is appropriate for a young audience. This doesn’t mean that all films rated U are children’s films.

A children’s work at U will generally contain positive messages about loyalty, honesty and friendship, particularly amongst children. The film or video may well have a happy ending for the child and the overall tone should be one of reassurance.

U films are unlikely to contain discriminatory language or behaviour unless it is clearly disapproved of.

Films like despicable me are suitable for all ages because they are funny and cartoons attract children but there is also a sense of understanding the storyline in it too.









The "PG" film certificate:

PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. A PG film should not unsettle a child aged around eight or older. Parents should consider whether the content may upset younger, or more sensitive, children.

Some films are given a PG certificate but have not been made with a young audience in mind. A recent example of a film mostly enjoyed by grown ups but passed PG would be Saving Mr. Banks. However, the certificate means that any issues in the work are appropriate for the majority of this age group and nothing should upset a child of eight or over.

A PG film will not contain any theme which is inappropriate for a child. PG works can explore challenging issues such as bullying, bereavement or racism.

There may be mild bad language (such as ‘shit’ or ‘son of a bitch’) in a PG film, but the context and delivery are always important. For example, if the language is used aggressively or if there is a great deal of bad language, a work may be passed at a higher category.

Spiderman is classed as a PG film.











The "12 and 12A" film certificate:

Films classified 12A and video works classified 12 contain material that is not generally suitable for children aged under 12. No one younger than 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. Adults planning to take a child under 12 to view a 12A film should consider whether the film is suitable for that child. To help them decide, we recommend that they check the BBFCinsight for that film in advance. 

The 12A requires an adult to accompany any child under 12 seeing a 12A film at the cinema. This is enforced by cinema staff and a cinema may lose its license if adult accompaniment is not enforced for children under 12 admitted to a 12A film. Accompanied viewing cannot be enforced in the home, so the 12 certificate remains for DVD/Blu-ray, rather than the 12A. The 12 is also a simpler system for retailers. It means they cannot sell or rent the item unless the customer is over the age of 12.

The BBFC's Guidelines state that strong language (e.g. 'f***') may be passed at 12 or 12A, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. Aggressive uses of strong language may result in a film or DVD being placed at the 15 category. There is some allowance for puns on strong language at this category.
There may be moderate language (e.g. uses of terms such as ‘bitch’ and ‘twat’ at 12 or 12A).

Some horror films are passed at this category. 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.

Edge of Tomorow

The "15" film certificate:

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a 15 rated video. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

The theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Any of the following themes can be found: 

• strong violence
•  frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

There could potentially be a great deal. At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (e.g. ‘f***’).
Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (e.g. 'c***'), depending on the manner in which they are used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. However, continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15.

There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this.
However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category.

Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there will usually be no strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.

Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality

Yes, at 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.

The Woman in Black

The "18" film certificate:

Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy / rent an 18 rated video. No 18 rated works are suitable for children.

No theme is prohibited at 18. Adults are free to choose their own entertainment provided the material is not illegal or potentially harmful, so it is possible some themes tackled at 18 may be offensive even to some adult viewers.

18 works are for adults and can contain strong issues such as:

•   very strong violence
•   frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***') and / or very strong language (e.g. ‘c***’)
•   strong portrayals of sexual activity
•   scenes of sexual violence
•   strong horror
•   strong blood and gore
•   real sex (in some circumstances)
•   discriminatory language and behaviour

There is no limit on the number of uses of strong (e.g. 'f***') or even very strong language (e.g. ‘c***’) which can be passed at 18. Uses could be aggressive, directed, frequent or accompanied by strong violence.There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language at 18, and the work could explore themes relating to discrimination.

Though a work as a whole must not be in breach of any relevant legislation, it is possible for discriminatory language or themes to be the main focus of the work, and for main characters to engage in discriminatory behaviour.There can be strong and detailed portrayals of sex at 18, including full nudity. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Very strong, crude and explicit sex references are permitted at 18.

An 18 film or video might also contain depictions of real sex, as long as the film or video is not a sex work.

at 18 violence can be strong and be portrayed with strong detail. There may even be dwelling on the infliction of pain or injury, or scenes of strong sadistic or sexual violence.

The strongest gory images are permitted at this category.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The "R18" film certificate:

The R18 category is a special and legally-restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults. Films may only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas, and video works may be supplied to adults only in licensed sex shops. R18 videos may not be supplied by mail order.

The pictures that I have posted underneath each rating are examples of the suitable age certificate I've wrote about. You can see how at age 15 the pictures become slightly more violent looking, proving how the age rating is increased.

The History Of Horror Genre

History of horror genre -

Research into horror genres - Slideshare

The first ever horror film was the silent, short film, 'Le Manoir du Diable.' It was made in 1896, and was directed by Georges Melies. It was not only the first horror film, but also the first vampire film. Although the film only lasted a couple of minutes, the audiences loved it and wanted more.

Horror film budgets rose significantly in the 1960's and some of the most famous horror were made, some of which are still very well known today. The film, 'The exorcist,' broke records and is still said to be one of the scariest films of all time. We can link this particular film to ours as the genre is a horror and the sub-genre is a psychological thriller as well as a body thriller.



Alfred Hitchcock's, 'Psycho' (1960) also terrified audiences across the world. The fact that the audience could see everything that happened, and because the music was loud and tense it made the film a lot scarier. Audiences all over, still get terrified when standing in showers. This could be similar to our film, as we could use everyday factors of life and make them scary. In, 'Psycho,' getting in the shower has been made to seem terrifying, in our film it could be going to sleep or making a cup of tea. A version of this film was made in 1998 by Gus Van Sant, the cinematography, script and music was almost identical to the original, and it still terrified many audiences across the world. 

From the 1980's onwards, horror films began to become more graphic, explicit, disturbing and gory. The early types of these films include, 'The Shining,' 'A nightmare on Elm Street,' and 'The evil dead.' These films were all rated 18 due to the increased amount of profanities, the explicitness and the gore.

In the 1990's, horror films began to have twists in them and directors wanted to go for different styles instead of just scares and sex. Successful films made in the 1990's include, 'The Blair witch project,' 'Scream,' and 'The sixth sense.' These films were huge hits as they were different, because of how they were shot and the twists in the story lines.



In the 2000's, films reverted back to going for the scare and the thrill. Lots of jump scares were used, as well as monsters. Successful films from the 2000's were, '28 days later,' 'rec,' and, 'The ring.' All of these film feature monsters such as zombies and ghosts which are stereotypical conventions of modern day horror films. The sub-genres were monster horrors but to increase the thrill of the movie, they would more than often feature car chases and gun fights.





This is a scene taken from the 2004 film, "Sean of the dead.' This film is a spoof horror film but still includes conventions from the horror genre. The sub-genre of this film is a comedy horror and an action horror. There were an increased amount of action horrors and monster horrors in the 2000's, and these types of scenes were featured in many.

In the 2010's, audiences seemed to want ghost films and gore. Successful films included, 'Sinister,' 'The conjuring,' and slasher films such as, 'Wolf Creek 2.' These films features a lot of jump scares that relied on the lighting, music and mise-en scene. The gore that is featured in a lot of modern horrors is extremely disturbing as the institutions want to be constantly giving the audience more choice so they can get more money. They are constantly demanding more and more so that horror films are becoming scarier and more graphic. I believe that the future of horror films will go on to become more scarier as films will want to scare the audience with new and terrifying monsters and the sex and gore will increase also to give the audience more choice in horror films and also increase the thrill.

Individual analysis of a short film

I found this short film on YouTube. The genre is a horror, and the sub-genre is a psychological horror. We can interpret ideas that are used in this film; and also look how they did editing, lighting and cinematography techniques. The tension allows the film to be scary and the use of lighting adds to the atmosphere. The cinematography flows easily which gives the film a verisimilitude affect. We want our film to look believable, and our aim is to make our film as life like as possible to scare the audience.

There are a lot of wide shots used in this film. This keeps the audience on edge and increases the thrill and tension of the film. We could use wide shots in our film to make the audience think something is going to pop up, and to add to the tension. We could use similar shots to this to build up the tension and the contrast in the lighting will be effective.

This is also a wide shot. In this still, the lighting is key and helps make the atmosphere a lot scarier. The lighting is low-key so that there is a lot of darkness and shadows. This type of lighting is very important for horror films. We could use similar shots like this in our film, for when Agnes' is wondering if there is someone in her house.

We could use a shot like this in our film. The lighting is low-key again to cast more shadows. However the sliver of light represents hope. But when the light is turned off the protagonist in the film becomes scared, and there are a lot of close up shots of her face and eyes.

This is a very dark shot but there is light that is shinning through the bed sheets. The shot is a medium upper shot but could also be classed as a close-up. This shot plays into stereotypical conventions of horror films as it is a confined space and the audience feel like they can't breathe. We could use shots like this in our film to create a scarier atmosphere.

This is a close up of the protagonists' face. Half of her face is in light the other is in dark. The mise-en scene of this shot, is her eyes being shut tight. In this shot, the audience understand that the protagonist is scared which adds to the atmosphere of the film. We could use similar shots in our movie for when Agnes goes back into bed at the beginning of the movie.

This is the final shot in this film is a medium/upper body shot of some sort of scary monster turning a light off in the protagonists' bedroom. This creates a scary ending for the film as it shows something scary and it also finishes by going into darkness, which creates a sinister and creepy end to the film. We could do something similar in our movie with a ghost switching off a light in Agnes' room.

Make-up and costumes

In horror films props, costumes and make-up have to be really exaggerated and strong looking compared to comedies and romantic type films.

Costumes 
These usually come in typical horror films. Here are a few i've looked at and analysed.

Zombies 






Zombie costumes are a typical one to see in horror films. They usually are seen with dirt all over them along with make up used to make them have fake wounds and decaying skin almost. Zombie costumes usually consist of ragged clothes with missing shoes. The person is meant to look like they have a disease this can be seen in films like Shaun of the dead and zombie land. They have blood all over them and dark make-up is used to give a grey effect on their faces so they literally look dead. Fake eye contacts are used to make the eyes look white or a really light colour this exaggerates the fact they have contracted a serious disease.

Vampires 
Vampire costumes have been modernised in the 20th century to fit in with new films as the phenomenon came back with films like Twilight and the Tv series True Blood. However a typical vampire costume is pretty distinct, as their is something in vampires that are meant to be alluring and attractive their usually dressed smart. I've researched and found that they usually opt for dark colours to wear. They have white faces like all the colour has been drained and then the teeth are sharpened are long to really make them look like vampires. Sometimes some have very light eyes like Edward from twilight he is made to use contacts to make him look unique compared to humans in the film.

Ghosts
Now i'm going to do some wider research into ghosts as our film involves them. This is the costume i have to really analyse because it fits perfectly into our short film. Ghosts like to wear dresses and their appearance is always made to look very pale. Ghosts usually come from the past so are dressed up in victorian english clothes or something from another time period altogether. Ghosts need to look like they have a weird vibe coming from them so have transparent veils on like the bride to the side. If it is a female ghost they can be seen in full length dress that are coloured white or a pale colour to contrast with their complexions. In our film we are going to make the actor playing the ghost look very bewildered with messy hair and dark eyeshadow around the eyes and cheekbones to add to the effect that they are no longer alive. I thought we could do this because of films like the ring when the girl has really long hair covering her face as she gets out of the well then progresses to crawl out of the TV. This kind of costume would go perfectly with our film to scare the audience.


Horror make-up
From doing some extra research into horror make-up i've found there are lots of factors that need to be taken into consideration when deciding what look we are going to go for. For our film i've found we can experiment with lashes, glitter, fake blood and latex pieces that stick on to give the character a wound or facial scars. The one thing that stood out to me when researching make up was the use of eye contacts this is a big one in the horror make-up industry and is used to make the audience think that the character is more scary and that theirs something just not right about them so they look a little odd. Pale face paint is used a lot in the film world it is mostly used on characters playing a vampire or ghost like villain. Were going to keep the eyes dark and exaggerated to make them appear bigger and abnormal. We also decided to add to our blog we will make a make-up tutorial later on to how we achieved our look for our characters.