Age Rating Classification

The U symbol stands for Universal. A U film should be

suitable for audiences aged four years and over. A U film may

contain some violence and very mild bad language (e.g.

‘damn’ and ‘hell’) which will be very infrequent and very

mild. Even though violence, sexual behaviour and bad

language will be very, it is impossible to predict what might

upset a particular child.

PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable

for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for

young children (eight or older). There may be mild bad

language however if language is used aggressively, the movie

might move to a higher category. Furthermore violence is

usually mild as there should be no detail of violence in a PG

movie. Therefore even though there might be some blood, the

audience will not see how the injury was inflicted in detail. Lastly, in horror, it is allowed

some 'jump' moments and frightening scenes as long as they are not intense.

A movie with the classification of 12 means that it

contains material that is not generally suitable for

children aged under 12. The 12A requires an adult to

accompany any child under 12 seeing a 12A film at the

cinema. It is up to that adult to decide whether the child

will be disturbed by anything shown. This is imposed by

a cinema staff and a cinema may lose its license if this is not followed. Strong language may

be passed at 12 or 12A as well as dangerous behaviour (for example hanging and suicide).

However it will not show too much detail as this could be copied by children.

A movie with the 15 classification simply means that the content

is not suitable for children under 15 years of age. The content

usually found in a 15 rated movie includes; strong violence,

frequent strong language, sexual nudity, discriminatory language

or behaviour and drug taking.

Films rated 18 are for adults, as the content is not suitable for

children. The content includes; very strong violence, frequent

strong language, scenes of sexual violence, strong horror, discriminatory language and

behaviour. Drug taking may be shown but must not promote or encourage drug misuse. No

theme is prohibited at 18, even though it may be offensive even to some adult viewers.

At the beginning of my trailer I will

have a certificate rated R for Restricted

as I believe that my film would fit the R

certificate. It informs the audience that

even though the trailer is appropriate for

all audiences, the actual film is

‘restricted’. This is suitable for my

movie as my target audience is 17+ therefore people under 17 requires accompanying parent

or adult guardian.