Certification

The majority of the films I have looked at are all certificate 12A. These tend to be the films that are focused towards a younger audince with younger, typecast actors such as Channing Tatum, Zac Efron and Rachel McAdams. On the BBFC website, the 12A certification is for films where anyone under the age of 12 has to be accompanied (the A standing for accompanied or advised) but anyone over the age of 12 is allowed to view the film by themselves. 12A is for cinema only, once the film has come out on DVD, it's certification becomes 12. To classify as a 12 cerificate, the film must fulfil the guidelines of the BBFC. In terms of language, strong language must be infrequent and not appear in aggressive context. There must also be no discriminatory language for example, attacks on sexuality, gender and race. Sex may appear infrequently and briefly but verbal sexual references must be suitable for young audiences. Drug misuse is also allowed but only if it is not glamourised and does not provide instructions. This is also the same with violence, where gore is only alllowed with strong contextual justification.

Both 'Blue Valentine' and 'Revolutionary Road' are certificate 15. This differs quite strongly from certificate 12(A) as viewers must be over the age of 15 and younger viewers are not allowed to view it accompanied by an adult in the cinema. This also extends to when the film appears on DVD - no one under the age of 15 is allowed to buy or rent a 15 certificate film. Strong language may be frequent within the film and strong sexual references are also allowed. Scenes of drugs and sex are also more freely allowed as long as there is no strong details or promotion of drugs. Violence is accepted as long as it does not dwell on a gory impact of the victims. However, certificate 15 also follows the same procedure as certificate 12 of not permitting discriminatory language or actions.

It is clear from the trailer that both 'Blue Valentine' and 'Revolutionary Road' portray a lot more violence and sex in the relationships of the new characters, therefore deserving the certificate 15. Our trailer will most likely follow the conduct and narrative of films such as 'The Lucky One' and 'Dear John', therefore we will have to obey the guidelines of 12A as this is what our target audience will most likely consist of.

B.M W.H