Who would be the audience for your media product?

Film classification:

All films in the UK come with an age classification, which means that the film should not be viewed by a person under the age of the classification. All classifications are made by The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). They over see all film distributions and have strict guidelines on how a film is classified. They ensure that all the content of the film is fit for legal viewing. Certain films have been ban from release as they are not suitable for release. The BBFC also decided if people need protecting from the content, it would not be suitable for a young child to watch a movie that is full of sex and violence as they are vulnerable viewers (the hypodermic syringe theory states that people who are in a vulnerable state, such as being a young child or having a mental illness, are influenced by the media and it could reflect negatively upon them). All of these things are bared in mind as the BBFC classify every movie.

Film classification is successful in terms of baring certain people from seeing certain types of movies. It is now extremely difficult for people to sneak into movies in the cinema to watch movies that are classified above their age. Whilst purchasing tickets and upon entering the screens many cinemas now ask for ID if the viewer looks too young to watch the movie.

The BBFC have 6 different classifications:

U: Universal (suitable for all)
PG: Parental guidance (general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children)
12 and 12A: suitable for 12 years and older. No one under the age of 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a 12 rated video or DVD. Responsibility for allowing under 12’s to view lies with the accompanying or supervising adult.
15: Suitable only for 15 year and over. No one younger than 15 may see a 15 film in cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a 14 rated video or DVD.
18: Suitable only for adults. No one younger than 18 may see and 18 rated film in the cinema. No one younger than 18 may rent or buy an 18 rated video or DVD.
R18: To be shown only in specially licensed cinema, or supplied only in licensed sex shops, and to adults of not less than 18 years.

(Source: OCR Media Studies for AS, Third Edition, Julian McDougall)

Many of these classifications work well in the cinema and shops, but quite often people ignore classifications when it comes to viewing the movies at home.

So, what age rating do we give Reinventing Your Exit?
We must take into consideration what classification our movie would fall under.

Films with similar storylines such as The Ring and The Eye, have been rated BBFC 15, only suitable for viewers over 15 years old. This is because the films contain threat and content that may not be suitable for viewers under 15. But there is no content that is to sexually or violently explicit and because of that fact the movie cannot be rated an 18.

This is the case with Reinventing Your Exit, there are no sexually explicit or violent scenes, so it therefore cannot be rated an 18. But, the film does contain a lot of threat meaning that it may not be suitable for 12 years old. Because of this we have decided that our film should be rated a 15. Suitable for viewers over the age of 15.