All Images have come from http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
Regulation Research-
The BBFC is a very important company which is in action every day. It is also known as the British Board of Film Classification. It is a group of people who sit down and watch films and decide what age restriction is put on it. They are here to protect people from not seeing content that they are not old enough and maybe not emotionally stable to watch. These conversations can be very short and some can take hours, they discuss the regulation and guidelines which are allowed and not allowed in certain aged films.
U Rated Films-
U rated films (universal) are for children over the age of 4 years old, this is put on a film because people do not really know what scares a child at that age but they try and give it the best go they can.
Drugs and illegal drugs are not seen in U rated things as the children who are watching these things may pick up on these things and be interested, which as a society we do not want. Sometimes, some films have a very strong anti-drug message which is acceptable because it is showing children not to do these things .
There is a small amount of nudity which is allowed but it is not allowed to be frequent and it isn't harsh nudity it is things like someone getting changed.
Strong language isn't permitted in U rated films but mild language such as 'hell' or 'damn' is. It is only very infrequent because at that young age children pick up things very easily.
Violence has to be very mild and also has to be in context and gets justified. For example Animated, Comic and very unrealistic.
In a U-rated film there is no focus on sexual activity. Characters may be seen kissing or cuddling but nothing intimate. Sexual references have to be mild and not detailed.
PG Rated Films-
PG stands for Parental Guidance, that means that it is suitable for general viewing. It should not unsettle anybody around the age of 8 and older. The PG is that they advise parents or adults to watch these films with younger children as it may unsettle them or scare them slightly.
Drug use is not permitted but references to drugs and illegal drugs are not meant to be harmful or offensive or they must have a anti-drug message.
Only mild bad language is allowed in a PG rated film. There are many things that wouldn't pass in a PG but things such as 'son of a bitch' and 'shit' is allowed in a PG but only if it is in a certain context if its in an aggressive manner then it may have to go up to a 12/12A.
Nudity is allowed in a PG but sex must be discreet and brief and not shown very much.
Violence is able to be shown,so is blood but they're not really able to be connected. For example, you can show blood but you cannot show on screen how the person/thing has sustained the injury.
12/12A Rated films-
12 Rated films are not suitable for anybody under the age of 12 and if it is a 12A you have to go into the cinema with someone over the age of 18 but its the adults choice whether or not they think the film is suitable for the person who is under the age of 12.
Drugs and drug use is able to be used in 12/12A films but it must not be regular, it should not be seen as a good thing and also you're not allowed to give instructions of how to take/do drugs in detail.
Moderate language is acceptable but strong language is permitted but only allowed in certain situations and the way it is put across, also it depends on who is saying the language. If it is used in an aggressive manner then it may be pushed up to the age 15 bracket.
Sex may be shown but must be brief and discreet. Crude comments are most likely to not be able to passed in this category. It is also the same with nudity, it may be shown but only in a brief discreet way.
In a 12/12A films a moderate amount of violence is allowed but it should not have loads of detail. It is not permitted that there is any focus on blood and injuries and blood but there is allowed if it is only a little bit of gore and it is justified in context.
15 Rated Films-
15 Rated films are for people who are 15 or over the age of 15. This means that nobody under is able to buy or rent these films.
Drugs and drug use is permitted in a 15 film but it must not be encouraging the viewers to do drugs. If everyday household items are being used to show that they can be used as drugs for example;
~Aerosols
~Bleach
~Cleaning products
There is strong language permitted in a 15 rated films which may include f**k and in some certain situations c**t but this all depends on the way that is it presented and the way it is expressed.
Sex may be shown but not in very strong detail, strong verbal references are suitable but very strong references that are in detail will probably be pushed up to the rated 18 bracket. There is nudity that is accepted in a sexual way but it must not have strong detail.
Violence may be shown but should not dwell on the impact of pain or injury. Strong gory images will probably not be accepted. Strong verbal sexual violence will most likely be allowed but it will have to be justified in context.
18 Rated Films-

18 Rated films are for adults and people over the age of 18. Any person under the age of 18 will not be able to buy or rent an 18 rated movie.
In an 18 rated film there is no limit to the amount of strong language being used and the words that are really used. The language is most likely to be very frequent. It may include words like f**k and very strong language such as c**t.

The use of drugs and drug references are passed in 18 films. You're able to watch the use of drugs and see how it is happening, not much would be cut from it but the film should not promote the use of drugs.
There can be very strong images and references of sex in an 18 rated film, also real life sex may be shown in these films, but there is only images allowed that 18 year old people would be able to handle emotionally and psychically.
Violence in a 18 rated film can be very strong and can be portrayed in strong detail, blood and gore is permitted in 18. Also, in a 18 rated you can dwell on the infliction of pain and injury.
This research has helped in to decide where my film will be put in the real world and where the BBFC would rank this compared to the regulations. In conclusion, our film is going to be a 12. This is because there will be some violence in it but there is going to be no swearing it even-though if we wanted we would be able to say "s**t" but we probably wont. There will be horror elements such as the man looking in and the girls getting scared which would probably scare some small children, us putting it at a 12 will allow us to maybe play around with some scarier footage that we may or may not put into our film. We believe that people under the age of 12 will not be able to handle to mature and maybe disturbing scenes.