Question 4

Question 4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

We identified our audience as 12+, and for both genders but typically more towards women. This is because the actor in our film happens to be a teenage girl and they seem more interested in a film if the characters are of a similar age.

This girl is typically wearing flat shoes, jeans, and a coat- what an everyday teenage girl would wear. Aged around late teens- early twenties, likes comedy and a wide variety of music. Likes to watch a sci-fi or a mystery, and interests include shopping with friends.

The BBFC are a council management that decide how much a film can go up for sale due to the calculations of running minutes. There are guidelines for the public to follow saying whether the film is suitable for them or not. They look at issues such as: discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, sexual violence and violence when making a decision.

U stands for universal, and is suitable for anyone of the age of four and above. There is no sign of any bad language or sexual activities in a U-rated film.

PG stands for parental guidance, which means this film is suitable for all viewers but may have some scenes that upset younger viewers. A PG film should not disturb a child around eight or older, and there may be mild bad language (such as ‘shit’ or ‘son of a bitch’)

12A means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and see the film unaccompanied. The A stands for 'accompanied' and 'advisory'. Children younger than 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult (e.g. someone over the age of 18), who must watch the film with them.

The BBFC's Guidelines state that there may be strong language (e.g. 'f***') at 12 or 12A, but it must be infrequent. The context of the strong language is important. Dangerous behaviour (for example hanging, suicide and self-harming) may be present in 12 or 12A works but will not dwell on detail which could be copied or present those activities as pain or harm free.

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15’ rated DVD.  15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age. 15 works are stronger than 12 or 12A rated works and could include any of the following:

·         strong violence

·         Frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').

·         portrayals of sexual activity

·         strong verbal references to sex

·         sexual nudity

·         brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

·         discriminatory language or behaviour

·         drug taking

At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (e.g. f***).

Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (e.g. 'c***').

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 DVD. No 18 rated works are suitable for children. 18 works are for adults and can contain strong issues such as:

·         very strong violence

·         frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***') and/or very strong language (e.g. ‘c***’)

·         strong portrayals of sexual activity

·         scenes of sexual violence

·         strong horror

·         strong blood and gore

·         real sex (in some circumstances)

·         discriminatory language and behaviour

The ‘R18’ category is a special and legally restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults. Films may only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas, and video works may be supplied to adults only in licensed sex shops.