Film Certificates

I decided to go back and have a look at other possible age ratings and certificates that we could have put on our film so that i could highlight the reasons as to why they would not be suitable to be used for our film.

PG 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.

PG films are unlikely to include any sort of violent behaviour and if there is violence included then it will be very minor. This is because young children my be scared if they see any violent or disturbing scenes.

There may be some very mild bad language, but not an excessive amount. Bad language may only be used if it is necessary to the scene or how the specific character is expressing themselves at a particular moment. If the language was used in an aggressive manner or or if there is a great deal of bad language then the film would be changed to a higher rating.

Our film would not pass as a PG because it will have a lot of violence included and some strong language when appropriate. There will also be an excessive amount of blood and gore as it is a zombie film so there will be zombies walking around with blood and scars all over them.

12A 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.

A 12A film tends to have a ligher overall tone to the film. If the film had a really dark and distributing tone to it as a whole then it would probably not be passed as a 12A. Also, strong language may be passed at 12A depending on the way in which it is used and whether   the manner is light or not. Puns on strong language may also be allowed at this age rating as long as they are used within reason and if this limit is exceeded then the film could be pushed to a 15 certificate when released at DVD and Blu Ray.

Our film would also not pass as a 12A because there will be too much more violence in the film than the amount allowed for a 15 certificate. There will also be too much blood and gore to get passed at a 12A because the zombies will have blood and cuts all over their faces so will look very disturbing. The language used in the film may also be too excessive for this rating as young children would be watching films of this certificate. 

18 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. 

An 18 rated film would have a lot of violence and extremely strong language. Even though we may have these elements in our film, we will not be having them to the extent that is needed to have the film be considered an 18 certificate. We will have them to a much lighter standard. 

There would also be a lot of drug use in an 18 film and we aren't having any drug use in our film. This is so that we can keep the rating to a 15. This will stay in contact with our target audience. There could also be very strong sexual scenes in an 18 and there aren't any in our film as they aren't necessary to our storyline and they would just be there for the sake of it.

Our film doesn't need to be an 18 as we don't include all of the elements involved in an 18 certificate tick list. We will not be having any excessive drug use or any intense sexual films. We do not need to include these as they are not needed for the storyline so would only be tightening our target audience and possible buyers. For these reasons our film will be a 15 as it fits in perfectly with the specifications for a 15 certificate film.