The BBFC is the British board of film classification, it's their job to rate films to make sure they are appropriate for certain audiences, and giving them ratings accordingly, like an adult film needs to be classified as such to avoid minors going to see it ect. The BBFC is a completely independent company and has been since they were set up in 1912, the funding for the BBFC comes solely from their own merit and the amount is charges for it's services, they receive no governmental funding or subsidies from the film industry its self.
The BBFC use a kind of rating category they created, these consist of different letters to correspond to films, they are as follows:
U: a U film is a "Universal" film, implying that it is suitable for all viewers aged 4 and above, this includes children films and such, in a U film there are very strict guidelines in regards to violence and sexual references, for example a character in a U film can carry a weapon, but no focus should be had on the weapon, fight scenes are allowed, but nothing brutal or bloody. the rules are strict to make sure that no children feel upset during the viewing, but as quoted from their webpage
"However, it is impossible to predict what might upset a particular child, especially at this lower end of the category range."
PG: a PG film stands for 'parental guidance' and is used to classify films that would be suitable for people aged 8 and up, these films can have slightly more adult themes than a U film, they can tackle more real world problems like bullying, racism and bereavement, violence can be slightly more intense too, with small amounts of blood but no emphasis on it or the wound in much detail.
12 and 12A: 12 films are films that are not usually suitable for children under 12, however 12A means a child under 12 CAN see it, but only accompanied by an adult. a 12 or 12A film may have uses of stronger curse words like 'F***' depending on how the word is used, if a swear is used in an aggressive way then the film is more likely to be rated higher. themes of films are allowed to be much darker in a 12/12A than in a PG or U, a 12 or 12A film may have sexual scenes / nudity but only for a very slight amount of time and not full frontal, the context in witch these are used will also play a part, for example comedic effect will lessen the seriousness of any nudity and may be granted some leniency.
15: a 15 film can consist of very frequent uses of stronger terms, 'F***' can be used often and even some stronger terms like 'C***" can be used a few times depending on who is saying it, and in what context, drug taking is also allowed to be a theme in a 15 rated film however not promote it and strong sexual references and nudity. Violence is also allowed with a degree of leniency in a 15 film, with gore allowed as long as it's not sadistic.
18: 18 films are the second highest aged rating in film, an 18 film can consist of any one or several of these themes, very strong violence, frequent strong language , strong portrayals of sexual activities scenes of sexual violence strong horror, sex, and even discriminatory language and behaviour, the language in an 18 is pretty much unlimited and people are given free reign with how much cursing goes on.
R18: R18 is used to categorise works of extreme sexual nature, fetish and other pornographic films, for example an R18 film can only be purchased by someone 18 or over and in a licensed sex shop or have their own place on a webpage where you must verify your age before continuing.
Coraline Case Study:
Coraline is a film rated PG by the BBFC, Coraline is a horror film aimed at a younger audience, as younger viewers also demand a variety in media consumption it is inevitable that horror would come to children as well.
the BBFC say that children do enjoy horror just as much as anyone else, however the violence must be kept to a minimum (of course) the horror must not utilize the use of sound too much in a scary scene as they could be too scary, they also say that any horror must be quickly resolved, for example a person can't be kidnapped for a long period of time, if they were, for example, taken by a spirit in a scary situation they would have to be returned and safe in a short period of time to avoid it being too scary for a child.
the scare may also depend on how the main character reacts to the event, coraline is shown to be strong, even in the scary situations, this will have a domino effect making watchers feel stronger with her, making the scare less intense.
coraline is also in a fantasy setting, meaning that the watchers can slightly distance themselves from the scare as it isn't set in real life, this will help lower the rating of the film and bring it down to the PG that it ended up at. the BBFC said that 'The film contains mild threat' meaning that the threat is safe for children to watch and not feel too much panic in the situation and make it appropriate for them to view.
