The BBFC Rating System

In order to assign the right rating for our film i had to do research on how they are assigned and what they really mean. 

 The BBFC is the well known Regulatory board that is in control of the age rating system in the British film industry also known as The British Board Of Film Classification. The BBFC works as an organisation to enforce rules in British media about what can and cannot be shown on film but also the age ratings given to all films in Britain as nothing can be released without the BBFC’s sign off (..in Britain). What will affect the decision making of the BBFC when applying such ratings are:

• Any scenes of violence - how is it shown,

The context of the situation, character reaction, 

is it realistic, how bad are the injuries

• Any scenes of sex and/or nudity

• Any scenes with ‘obscene language’

• Scenes with discriminatory language 

• Scenes of any form of self harm 

• Any scenes of criminal behaviour 

• Scenes of dangerous behaviour 

• Scenes of/with drug,alcohol and cigarettes - how is it shown,

 if negative it would earn a lower rating than if it were to promote

• Scenes involving child actors

• Strobe lighting 

• Real vs not real(animation)

This all works by the production company of a film to send a copy to the association and then the BBFC watch and come to a conclusion about the rating, if all agree and are happy the film will go to reales with the rating. However if the film production or another party are not happy with the rating the film will have to be re-edited and sent back to the BBFC for re-evaluation and a different rating if successful. Though there are many restrictions to what defines the rating system some movies can slip through the cracks such as ‘The Woman In Black’ as the film got the rating of 12A as it did not cross any of the rules but despite this factor the film is still very frightinigh and the BBFC got complaints, so much so that they had to chang their regulations to include the tone of a film like ‘terror, fear, horror etc..’. Overall the BBFC strives as a guidance and provides some protection for young children and all really, but as we see younger generations getting more normalised with violent media (video games) the rating regulations might have a chance of change due to this slightly negative progression.

  

U

4+ - setting examples for children to learn and grow - positive - balance 

U rated films guidelines must be very censored as these are the films that will be setting examples for the children watching and they will need to learn and grow with positive surroundings and balance, especially from the media. A U must not display dangerous or anti-social behaviour which could be copied/repeated or it should be presented disconnected from reality e.g animated etc.. .With threat and horror, if used should be sure to avoid any possible amity for children meaning that it should be mild, brief and that the outcome is positive or reassuring.  The same goes for violence as if it is very mild it is acceptable if it can be backed up with a justifiable background such as comedy or unrealistic or animated of course. Discrimination is not accepted on any terms unless it is being displayed as disapproved of. Drugs should be mentioned very little and if so for educational purposes or with an anti-drug use message only. Language and nudity are the same, occasional nudity of course with no sexual context and occasional use of very very mild bad language use only. With sex it is clear that only very mild behaviour such as kissing or references to such behaviour is acceptable. 

PG

PG rated films guidelines should be slightly restricted with conversion to the fact that sensitive children around 8+ will be watching therefore it needs to be safe and offer a positive balance. There should be no detail of dangerous behaviour that a child could copy in a PG unless it is presented in a safe and/or fun way  and no glamorisation or use of weapons that are realistic or easily accessible to kids. There can be nudity with no sexual connotation. Context is key when it comes to violence too as it should only be moderate, without detail and for comedy, history or fantasy. With sex there can be implied activity but very little and only mild sex references and indued only. Discrimination is not accepted on any terms unless it is being displayed as disapproved of.  Drugs should be mentioned very little and if so for educational purposes or with an anti-drug use message only. If there are frightening sequences they should not be prolonged or be intense as it can cause a threat and horror tone. With language, mild bad language is acceptable but anything more aggressive or frequent would need a higher rating. 

12A

A 12A film would usually not be best suited for 12 and under and if they were to go to the cinemas to watch a 12A they would have to be accompanied fly an adult for safety. As the same policy in PG films there should be no detail of dangerous behaviour that a child could copy in a 12A and no glamorisation or use of weapons that are realistic or easily accessible to kids.  If there is any sexual activity in a 12A it should be brief and done very discreetly anything more in unlikely to be permitted. Any form of discrimination in not permitted unless it is very clearly disapproving of discrimination. With forms of sexual violence there should only be verbal references and with other forms such as rape, it should only be implied and all of this to be done very briefly and negatively presented. There should be no use of drug use that is glamorised and it should be shown infrequently if needed. If there are any threatening or horror sequences they should be very mild and the overall tone should not be disturbing. Bad language is accepted if it is moderate and the situation it is used in. With violence in a 12A there should not be too much detail and only show gory moments if justified by context. There can be nudity and if in a sexual context it must be very brief and discreet. 

 

15

As 15 is a big jump from the previous rating much more regulations get passed as the child is less susceptible to what is being shown. The first big difference would be in dangerous behaviour as suicide, self harming and asphyxiation can all be shown but not dwell on details that can be copied or used by the audience in the same context shown. There are essentially no regulations on nudity, it all really comes down to context but that’s really it. When it comes down to discrimination themes of such are aloud as long as the whole media piece doesn’t endorse it. Most sexual activity is fine as long as it isn’t detailed, repeated, or has much use of pornographic language, if the purpose of the work is inappropriate then it is not permitted. With drug use it can be shown but definitely not promoted and not shown in a way that will encourage it(not detailed). Sexual violence and threat is allowed as long as it is not being depicted for very long and if it is a stronger form of violence than it shouldn’t be detailed. Any form of strong language is permitted; it all just comes down to context. Tones of threat and horror are acceptable as long as it is not a sadistic formed threat. Strong violence is allowed as long as it is not dwelled on as there is not much gore, sadistic violence is also not allowed. 

18

18 is one of the last levels of the ratings so much is allowed at this point because in most places in Britain 18 is when independence is gained therefore less guidance and protection is needed. The only real guidelines is that as long as it doesn’t break the law, cause harm to others of any kind or if it is more explicit images of sexual activity in terms of sex work to which it would earn a R18 rating. 

Customising Costume's

As I am In charge of costume I put together and guide/plan on how to achieve the look I want for the clothes:

How to customise the costumes 

What i'll need:

• Yellow paint

• Dirt

• Fake blood

• Water

• costumes

When it comes to the customisation of the props, what I will have to do to get the selective look I want for the costumes. I will have the shirts look as if someone has lived, bled and sweat in one, with collected materials i will create this effect myself. I will do this by using a small amount of dirt first onto the shirt and rubbing it in(especially the t-shirt seems) to create the Grimm effect and then move on to creating the sweat effect. I will create this sweat look by placing very watered down yellow paint onto the place where sweat ducts occur - back, neck, chest and underarms. I will spray it multiple time over with water to create a broken and worn look. the last bit i will do at the very end will be adding drips of blood carefully so it looks realistic. 

                                               before:

                                              after(inspo):

                                    

Shoot Day Call Sheet

as a group we created a call sheet for organisation on the shoot days, the version. below has been redacted for the safety of all members but we also have a full version on hand:

Assigning Roles

As a group we assigned roles in production for the shoot day and had to research them so we understood our responsibility properly.

 Editor/Assistant

I have taken the role of editor which will not really start until the shooting is finished but what i will need during editing is a copy of the shot list and storyboard so i have a rough plan of the film and also good communication with the director as the role of editor is so important as it is one of the final steps and has control of film and the outcome, therefore in order for everyone in my group to be happy i will need to communicate and have them check every other time i do something. Constant checking is very important too as it will be easier to change than if the whole film is finish and i have to back. I also put assistant as i have no really role while we are on set i will be helping wherever needed and especially with Alice for the makeup and costume as that is my research anyways. 

Planning Costume's

I have listed all of the costume we have planned to use in our sequence in detail:

 COSTUME

As a group we have assigned costumes that are slightly minimalistic as we don't want there to anything to take away from the action and so the conclusion we came to was:

for the victim

 a white shirt 

 black tracksuits 

black shoes 

for the villain

a black hoodie

black jeans 

black shoes 

Casting Emails

 here are the emails we sent to the people we wanted to cast in our opening sequence:

Foley Sound

Foley sound is the practice/skill of creating almost every type of sound needed for a film or piece of media. As Foley sound requires a lot of precision and skill there are hire foley artist that are specialized professionals in this area, they know how to create certain sounds(most) through strange techniques. The strange techniques they use are things like using everyday objects and foods to create realistic sounds and diegetic soundtracks/sound effects. There are three different types of foley sound types which are: Creating Footsteps(feet), phone ringing or something specific and interceptions while moving (Movement). 

Almost every sound effect originates from foley sound from a door creaking to a car crash. Jack Foley created foley sound by playing around with cornstarch and toy sand which created the sound of walking in the snow. The creation of foley sound will usually take place in a studio filled with random objects, a very small team of artists and a screen of some sort with the media they are applying the sound to so they can match it up. 

Editing workshop

This is a basic guide to everything we covered during our editing workshop that will come in usefully during the editing stage later one.

 Editing workshop 

What editing software do we use?

Adobe Premiere Pro

Why are there 4 different video sections? What does each one do?

Bottom left - rushes and Bin’s 

Top left is where the clips from the rushes and bins are displayed

The top right is where you can what the product 

Bottom right is where you can edit overall 

Why is the golden rule to constantly save? (What is the short cut for saving?)

Command ‘S’ - save so that you don’t lose anything 

What is footage, rushes and daily’s?

Footage is the clips that are in the bins. rushes - og footage. Daily’s - the footage based on how its been modified that day 

What is cutting tool?

The cutting tool is a tool to cut the clips down to the duration you want

What is the short cut key for cutting arrow?

Command c is cut and command v is arrow which is used as a tool to select what you want to edit/use 

What are in and out points and why are they used?

It is the selected mark where you want a clip to begin and end to modify a clip which leave s you wth the section you want. You can do this by selecting a point within the footage and pressing ‘I’ and that would be your starting point. To mark the end point you would do the same but pick where you want the footage to end and press ‘O’. 

What do ‘+’ and ‘-‘ do?

The plus and minus keys can be used to zoom in and out on the editing board/screen(bottom right)

What is the shortcut for undo?

Command ‘Z’ is the shortcut for undo - this is used to erase any changes that you no longer want

When do you need to be careful when putting footage onto the timeline?

When putting the footage on the timeline you need to be careful where you place it as it could overlap onto the other clips or audio footage and cut said video/audio, so when placing it be sure to have space between the clips and audio 

Shot List

Below is my shotlist that was and in oder to keep organised for the shoot day and editing:

 

Final Group Storyboard

My production Group and I created a storyboard for our opening sequence we which slept into four sections for us each to complete one, here is the result:

Elias-

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Alice -

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

page 7

page 8 

page 9

page 10

Page 11

page 12

My Storyboard Contribution

 

Here is my contribution to my production groups story board, I completed the second section of our storyboard: