These prevent people younger than these ages, in 15 and 18, from seeing them, or unaccompanied in a 12A by an adult, or from buying the DVDs for these age limits if under. These can affect the size of the potential audience, particularly if rated either a 15 or an 18. The main reasoning for such age ratings is linked to the hypodermic needle theory, which says youth, particularly, will be influenced by what they see and so may attempt to copy the actions they see on the film.
When looking to rate films, the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) look at many things within the films. As stated here, they look at:
BBFC's Rating Process
- General context-e.g plot and characters
- Timings of key moments, camera angles, types of shot, on and off screen moments
- Bad language, sex & drug references
To keep the a hypothetical rating a little lower, most of the violence was shown offscreen. This was either Sarah's death, which only the aftermath was seen, or Hugo's death, most of which is cut away shots to the rock and not the impact. The plot, however, would not fit in with a pg or lower rating, being at least a 12. This is because it is a film about murder, which could be argued to glorify it due to no one getting into trouble because of this. However, I would argue against this as this is not its intended interpretation as it is linked with biblical sin and does still suggest that it is the wrong thing to do. This does, however, risk being affected by the hypodermic needle theory, in which people could be influenced by this violence because of the way it is shown. This is much like A Clockwork Orange,which shows violence in a similar way. This is also put to the music of Beethoven, which I also plan to do. This caused the film to be banned for a longtime because of copycat killings, therefore showing a clear representation of the hypodermic needle theory.
• There is basic research into similar products and a potential target audience.
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