Classification is putting into a particular class, group, or category and in this case the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) studies all films that are going to be shown to the public in order to see which classification would best be suitable for the different age groups: for example, U (universal), UC, PG (parental guidance) 12, 12A, 15, 18. Any age group would be able to view a U (universal) film but children under 12 would be unable to view a film that has a 12 classification The BBFC use censorship, ie the work involved in banning and removing anything which seems harmful, they see whether the levels of: violence, sex, language, drugs, racism, alcohol, nudity, theme, horror and imitable techniques would be too much for a child in a certain age group to view otherwise the child or children may become upset or disturbed by the film. Those are the areas for concern for the BBFC.
The BBFC also deal with any public complaints on classification of the films.The first clip the class watched was Batman and Robin and it was classified as a U. The BBFC's guidelines on a U include: mild violence only and an occasional mild threat or menace'. The violence in this was portrayed with swing punches and kicks to enhance the action that was about to take place. They would never show an actual hit instead they would, as it was just about to hit or kick the person, cover the punch, kick or push with a word so the viewer did not observe any physical fighting.The words that would cover these actions would be e.
g. 'Pow' or 'Bif'. The fighting is not very realist and does not show any techniques for young children to copy, because at point of impact, or any violence, was masked by words. Music was also used to create tension in the fight, and at the point of impact it made the scenes more tense and exciting.
There is an obvious hero, Batman is a good role model in this particular scene. Batman looks after the cat by holding it until he has time to put it in the lifeboat. No one dies in the clip or gets seriously hurt. There is no violent fighting.This was an acceptable classification for this film by the BBFC.
Clip two was a PG film, 'The Crucifixion'. In a PG film, according to the BBFC you may show: Moderate violence, without detail, may be allowed if justified by it's setting e.g. historic/comedy/fantasy.
'The Crucifixion' is a historic film which is trying to educate people about religion, prejudice and ordeals, for example, a long freeze frame is held on the man's face showing his pain and suffering and although he cries out for help he is left to die. The scene also shows blood but not the presence of weapons. The man is powerless to stop what is happening. The film is run in slow motion conveying the sense of the importance of the scene. The film's classification by the BBFC does not take into account the difficulties many different cultures view's of the crucifixion.
Many people may be upset by the specific clip showing Jesus on the cross. A PG classification may be viewed as too liberal.The third film clip was about 'Romeo and Juliet' and is classified as a 12. The BBFC guidelines of a 12/12A are that there can be: 'violence but it must not dwell on detail, there should be no emphasis on injuries, sexual violence may only be implied or briefly indicated but without physical detail'.
This is the scene in which both the Montague and Capulet boys of the family have a fight. There is a great feeling of tension in this scene, which if further emphasised by the music. The Families are fighting because they hate each other. There is not much blood in this scene but one man does get shot. We saw the shooting and are shown the blood, but only a minute amount of bleeding is shown. This clip is accurate within the BBFC guidelines.
The fourth film clip is taken from the 'The Matrix' and had a guidance by the BBFC of 15. The BBFC say a 15 should have: 'violence maybe strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain and injuries, scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief'. The clip that we observed showed the use of many guns, as if it was usual to have so many, conveying to the viewer that violence will solve problems. The scene begins normally with the characters walking into a building.
Suddenly there is a lot of action. Characters are observed running up walls and doing all types of acrobatic flips. The so called 'bad' characters all get killed. The violence is quite unrealistic but by showing blood (nose bleed) and using continuous music to create tension the clip was enjoyable to watch.
However the classification would appear to be accurate because there is no sustained focus on injury or death.In the final film clip we were shown an 18 'Leon'. The BBFC's guidelines on an 18: 'The BBFC rarely intervenes in 18 rated films. In the case of videos, which are more accessible, intervention may be more frequent. No constraints on or language used for horror.
The board may reject/cut the following- detailed portrayal of violence or dangerous acts likely to promote the activity, the more explicit image sexual activity- unless they can be exceptionally justified by context'. In the specific clip a girl and a man are together in a hotel room.The girl goes out of the room to collect something but when she returns later she is grabbed in the corridor by the police who are observing the hotel room she recently left. The man in the room is Leon and he is expecting a certain knock on the door in order to let the girl in. The police are aware of this and instead of the girl knocking the police do but knock incorrectly which warns Leon.
The clip shows gracious violence in that Leon kills a number of policemen and later in the clip the violence is continued as Leon tries to rescue the girl from the police. The clip shows the police shooting another policeman instead of Leon. The clip is very violent and there is no break in the sensor of violence that is conveyed throughout he clip.The classification is accurate in that there is a detailed portrayal of violenceIn evaluating the BBFC's role in establishing guidelines of film censorship I first need to outline what I see as the positive use of this type of classification which are:* Stopping young people copying stunts and swear words,* stopping young people getting scared or being afraid,* controlling violence, by making sure young people don't see any material that will have a negative or adverse effect on their lives.However the negative points for the use of classification of films are:* not all people of the same age group would be as likely to copy stunts, some are more mature and as people mature at different rates that is why it is hard to put a classification on a film based on a particular age group.
What is appropriate for one twelve year old may not be right for another twelve year old with some things but others of the same age are not.* The film may be limited to a small range of people so it makes less money as there is not such a large number of people wanting to see the film. This restricts the amount of money available to produce more films and may mean that there are less films and then they would only be of a certain type.In my view I believe that the BBFC classification are accurate because they suit the age categories they have been assigned to except for the film 'The Crucifixion' I think that it should have had a higher rating other than PG and might have warranted a 12.
