Criteria for our 15 age rating

For our production, we are aiming at an audience of 15 to 25 primarily. Therefore, we have researched the criteria our movie must meet in order to reach the rating of 15, and the criteria we must consider to avoid breaching the rights of a 15 and making it an 18. The BBFC guidelines for the age rating of 15 state that; The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behavior. "Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example aerosols and solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable." The factor that mainly applies to our film is the category of horror, in which it states "Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised." This is a factor in which a '15' rating for our film would be appropriate, as we only wish to use an element of horror - for example a creature - and nothing sadistic or extreme. "Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied." In our case, the other notable thing was that "Easily accessible weapons should not be glamourised", however, we could dispute that the BB guns we will fake as real guns are not particularly easily accessible. Another factor that may apply to us is that "There may be frequent use of strong language. The strongest terms may be acceptable if justified by context. Agressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable. This also gives us a window into the '15' rating, as if any strong lanuage is used it would be mild - not the strongest of language - and would not be frequent or unjustified. The factors in which sex or nudity are to be involved are fairly unecessary to us, as we do not plan on involving any references to sex or nudity, unless a love plot with our main character is to be included, which is unlikely. However, references to sexual behaviour may be included, but the BBFC state that "There may be strong references to sexual behaviour". Violence will undoubtebly be a factor in the production. BBFC states that "Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual

violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification." This allows us to use violence in our film, and is justified as we do not plan to focus particularly on gore primarily, and if anything the most gore we show is likely to be little more than blood.

After research into our production's age rating, this is clear evidence that our film will be appropriate to any audience over 15, as long as we follow the guidelines, which is extremely likely to happen.