Press Event| Behind The scenes At The BBFC: New Age Rating Symbols

For those of you that may not know what the BBFC is, it’s the British Board of Film Classification. They are the people that decide what age rating should be on a film and I’m sure you all know that black card just before the film starts which comes up on the screen and you get all excited because the film is about to start.

Well I got to go to their HQ in London for a group chat with CEO David Austin and the whole team to tell me all about the new guidelines for classification of films, and that Netflix will now be having a classification on nearly all their shows. The classifications and new symbols will be rolled out from the 31st October 2019, but more about that later.

A few weeks ago when the invitation landed in my inbox to the behind the scenes event at BBFC I have to be totally honest my decision to go was made within a nano second. I grew up with a love of the cinema which was instilled in me by my mum and going to the cinema is, and was always the greatest form of escapism I could have wished for and for as long as I can remember the black card is something that I always thought, yes now the film starts.

The black card is one of those iconic images in British society. If you see one you know exactly what it means, but until my visit to the BBFC I had no idea how much hard work and thought goes into deciding what age certificate a film should have, so to have the chance to find out more was very exciting.

The BBFC has been in existence for 112 years and this was the first time that they have allowed content creators in to learn more about their workings. So to be among one of the first online content creators was a real honour.

I arrived around 10am and actually didn’t know what to expect, but I needn’t have worried. The welcome was fantastic and I was shown through to the conference room where the initial part of our day would begin. I was introduced to the whole team and actually there were some friendly faces from the blogging world there so I felt very comfortable instantly.

The day started with one of the team going through what we can expect from the day and the timetable of the day.

First up we got to meet David Austin. David is the CEO of the BBFC. It was a very laid back chat with information about the BBFC and how they get to decide a classification. Of course as David pointed out what was acceptable 20 years ago would and could be totally unacceptable to certain audiences today so it’s a very fluid situation where films 20 years ago may have been an 18 rating today, might only have bene a 15 rating back then and of course the other way around. David explained how they are constantly updating their guidelines so that the right content is only being seen by the right age groups and more importantly that our children are being protected and kept safe.

How are films are classified?

I thought I would have an idea, but the truth is I didn’t really have a clue.

Every four or five years the BBFC carry out a major consultation with the public. The purpose is to find out what people think about the age rating of films and videos before they are released. If there are significant changes in what people think, the BBFC will adjust standards and criteria accordingly. It’s important to the BBFC that their classifications correctly reflect people’s current views and expectations and are acceptable to the public, so in truth the classification is actually decided by the public as their thoughts and opinions will drive the guidelines to the BBFC.

The BBFC has two overriding principles

1. To protect children and vulnerable adults from potentially harmful or otherwise unsuitable content.

2. To help children and families choose what’s right for them and avoid what’s not.

So on 31st October 2019, the BBFC are launching their new digitally compatible symbols on Netflix. It’s a brand new set of age rating symbols. This will hopefully give young people a more consistent guide to film and TV content so they can make a more conscious decision about what they watch. The BBFC’s own research discovered that 95% of teenagers want age ratings that they see in the cinema and DVD to apply to content that is found through streaming services. The partnership between Netflix and the BBFC will lead to Netflix classifying all content using BBFC guidelines with the aim of the platform having a 100% BBFC age rating for all of its content.

The BBFC is an independent and not for profit organisation. It’s all about helping everybody in the UK especially when it comes to children and family’s picking age appropriate films videos or websites. As well as classifying films in cinemas, on DVD or Blu-ray, it is giving age ratings for video on demand and music videos online.

It is also helping mobile phone operators to set parental controls at the right levels. Another part the BBFC is playing is in the adult film industry. They are setting the standards that will age verify people accessing online pornography which will help protect children offline and online.

Part of my visit to the BBFC behind the scenes event included seeing the new Maleficent Mistress Of Evil staring Angelina Jolie before it’s release in the cinema. First of all I have to say it was an awesome film and Angelina was incredible as Maleficent. It was fairly dark in places and the BBFC gave it a PG rating which some people after watching it, may have found to be a strange decision.

So to find out how they achieved this rating we spoke to the compliance officer who gave it the classification and I was surprised at the process. Before the film was even in its final finish form the head of compliance from the BBFC and a colleague were invited by Disney to go along and watch the film and advise Disney that they were on track for a PG rating which is of course important for Disney and the audience they were aiming for. The BBFC advises if it requires any changes to ensure that it will get a PG rating and this happens often with the film studios. In Maleficent 2 there is a major fight scene in the film, but it is all about the tone of the film and when somebody was killed instead of seeing blood everywhere they turned into a flower. This then reduces the impact of violence, and children are not distressed in anyway, after watching the film I personally think PG was the right age rating.

Another great example of how the tone of a film can dictate its age rating is Zombieland. It was given a 15 rating even though it has a lot of blood and guts and killing of zombies, but it has a lot of comedy which gives the film a tone of humour which again reduces the impact of the violent content within the film. This is why it was given a 15, so it’s not always decided purely on what you see it’s about the tone of the film as well.

This of course also applies to box-sets that we quite often watch and a really good example of this is the TV show Friends, most of which is fairly harmless and pure comedy to appeal to all the family, but as many of you may know it has a 15 rating for the entire box set and the reason behind this is because of one episode when Joey and Chandler watch porn all day. Box sets are not rated per episode, take that episode out and it would have been a PG.

You can see all the film classification guidelines here.

I learnt so much about the careful considerations that are given when deciding with what age rating a film should have and how they are consistently asking us the public what we think which helps them work out the guidelines. I also learnt that every single piece of content such as films are watched by a compliance officer from the first to the last minute so nothing is left to chance when giving it an age rating.

The move towards these new classification guidelines which are now involving online and streaming content is so important to keep our children safe and helping our young people making more informed decisions when watching streaming services such as Netflix. It is the way forward and the BBFC is keeping up with the ever changing viewing habits of society.

Here is a link to a press release explaining it all in more detail.

So as the CEO David Austin says, as viewing landscape changes the BBFC change with it. This is why the launching of digital symbols for the increasing digital audience is so important because it will help them make better choices. 50% of young people say having access to online content and of course the internet helps them have those difficult conversations with parents such as mental health or sexuality so this move will help them engage with TV and film content in the right way.

Finally I was given a good bag that truly cannot be bought anywhere which included all the age ratings as badges and the big one for me was my very own black card with my name and blog name on. In five years of blogging I have had some incredible experiences and been given many items as memories of a press event, but the black card is up there as the very best and my visit to the behind the scenes event at BBFC was truly brilliant. I was fascinated by their work and learnt so much about the film industry in general, but mostly about how a classification is given to a film.

Check out the BBFC video showing the new age rating classification.

Disclosure: This post was in collaboration with the BBFC where I attended their behind the scenes press event.