Certifications in Horror Films

What is the BBFC?

The BBFC stands for British Board of Film Classification. It is an independent, non-governmental body which their job is to classify films using age ratings known as the certification of films. The issues looked at when classifying a film are discrimination, drugs, horror, language, imitable behaviour, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence. Once these subjects are considered, as well as the tone of the film, they then decide what the age rating should be.

Here are the different types of classifications:

Most horror films fall under the 15 category because horror films generally contains some strong language and a large amount of violence and threat. This would make it unsuitable for younger children to view.  

What makes it a 15?

• It must not endorse discriminatory behaviour or language. However, racist and homophobic language or behaviour is allowed.
• The misuse of drugs should not be promoted but it is allowed to show drug taking.
• Dangerous behaviour can be shown but it must not show too much detail. For example, suicide.
• There may be strong language involved.
• Sexual activity and nudity may be shown but should be portrayed without strong detail,
• There can be strong threat and horror. Strong violence can also be shown but it should not dwell on the pain inflicted or the injuries.

Why are most horror films rated 15 rather than 18?

Most horror films are a 15 rather than an 18 because the typical audience of a horror film are within their teenage years. Marketing the film as a 15 would attract a much larger audience than an 18, which would have a limited audience, therefore, the film would make a much larger profit.

Horror Film Institutions

Here are some of the production companies that are well known for producing mainly horror films:

Blumhouse Productions:

Blumhouse Productions is an American T.V and film production company well known for movies such as the: Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Insidious franchises. It was founded by Jason Blum and the company usually produce low-budget horror films.

Hammer Film Productions:

Hammer Film productions is a British film production company which was founded by William Hinds and James Carreras. Its well known for the film Woman in Black. However, some of the success of Hammer Film Productions was due to working in synergy with Amerian company Warner Bros.

Twisted Pictures:

Twisted Pictures is an American independant film company which was founded in 2004 by evolution Entertainment's Mark Burg, Gregg Hoffman and Oren Koules. They mainly produce films of the horror genre, 'Saw' being one of there most famous movies and franchise. A disitribution deal was made with 'Lionsgate' after the success of the first Saw movie.  

Lionsgate:

Lionsgate is an American entertainment production company which was founded in Vancouver, Canada. However, the headquarters have moved to Santa Monica in California. They are well known for 'The Hunger Games' and 'Divergent' franchise. This production company does not specifically produce mainly horror films but have produced and distributed many of the top grossing horror films such as 'The Lazarus Effect'.

Platinum Dunes:

Platinum Dunes is an American production company which mainly produces films in the horror genre. This was founded in 2001 by Michael Bay, Brad Fuller,and Andrew Form. However, the movies has not made such a big success as they had hoped. Fortunately, the company has improved in profits dues to remakes on other movies. Movies include 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'Friday the 13th'. 

For the main brief, we have narrowed down our options to Blumhouse Productions and Lionsgate. This is because, the most recent horror films in the top 10 are produced by those two companies which demonstrates their success in the horror film industry.

Target Audience of Horror Films

An audience is a group of people who experience a product.

Demographic is the physical differences between people such as gender or age. People can be placed into categories of social grades based on their jobs and social status.

The demographic profile of the target audience is typically for teenagers and adults because the content may not be suitable for younger children. Young adults typically like to seek thrill, therefore a horror film may excite them more than an older audience. Horror films can be suitable for both genders, however, it can be said that males are more likely to enjoy horror films.

Psychographic is when people are divided into different categories based on their personal interests and lifestyle.

The psychographic profile of the target audience is usually mainstreamers. This is because horror films are generally similar. In contrast, horror films can be quite different and create a different experience for the audience. Therefore, the psychographic profile can also be explorers.

Feedback and Questions

After the pitch was presented to the class, they provided feedback on what they thought about it and what to improve on. The class also had a chance to ask questions about the brief. These questions will help me develop the idea for the brief and point out flaws which will need to be fixed.

Question 1: Will you actually have a dog?

Answer: Yes, there will be a dog in some of the scenes. This is because it would seem unrealistic that a girl is walking around alone in the evening. Having a dog in the scene would give the main character a reason to go outside.

Question 2: Do you have suitable actors for the openings?

Answer: We have not yet decided on who the actors are going to be. However, we will be very selective on who will play the roles. This is because we want the brief to look realistic. Therefore, the actors must be around the same age as the characters in the opening scene.

Question 3: What are you going to foreshadow in the opening? What are you actually going to show?

Answer: Seeing that it is only the opening of the horror film, we only want to foreshadow the future events. The opening is going to be set a few months back, so the viewers understand the story behind the main part of the film and how it all begun.

Feedback

It has been pointed out that the opening scene seems rather long and may not fit in to 3 minutes. We plan for the questioning scene to be no longer than a minute and the final scene back in the office would only have a few lines of dialogue. This ensures that there is enough time for the main action to happen.

Another piece of feedback was that the scene seems too detailed for an opening. The rest of the film may not have enough action. To answer this, we have decided not to reveal the identity of the antagonist in the beginning. Alternatively, we could show the shadows of the character so it adds to the suspense-the audience would be drawn in and curious to see who it is.

The Pitch

Me and Izzy had created a pitch to present to the class our ideas for the main brief. This is useful because we can then get feedback on what was good and bad about it and also what can be improved. By showing them our ideas, they can also help identify any flaws or problems. At the end of the presentation, we will allow the class to ask questions online and we will be able to answer them.

Me and Izzy presenting the pitch

Ideas for the Mini brief

I am working with Izzy to plan and produce the mini brief. We have written down a page of different ideas about what would happen in the opening as well as planning the characters, location and sub-genre.

We have decided that the sub-genre of the horror film would paranormal. This is because it seems like the easiest to film; the antagonist would not be shown much due to it being a supernatural being (almost like a ghost). Also, not much blood would be shown so there is no need for the actors to have extreme makeup or costumes.

5 plots were thought up and we used these ideas to come up with a strong plot containing elements of each one.

Plot 1: 

A girl is walking down a street when she hears noises behind her as if someone is following her. She turns around but no one is there. She continues walking and suddenly a person appears behind her.

Plot 2: 

A young girl is walking home at dusk when she hears a low thumping noise. The noise gets louder and louder as she continues walking. The girl decides to look for the source that is making the noise to find it coming from in the ground. She digs it up to find an old broken doll. 

Plot 3:

A teenage girl is having a nightmare. In her nightmare, she is in the forest running away from something. We see glimpses of something moving around her. The girl seems distressed as the forest seems to be constantly changing positions. She is hopelessly lost and everything is disorientating. The girl then looks down to see a puddle of blood coming from her stomach. She then screams, waking her from the nightmare. When she wakes, there is a pool of blood around her and she is covered in mud.

Plot 4:

A young girl is being accused of murder. She is sitting in a police officer's room, a policewoman sitting opposite questionning her. The girl seems distracted and frightened. She can hear voices in her head taunting her.  Supernatural occurances begin.

We then decided to use part of the first idea and plot 4 to be combined them together. This is because it demonstrates the genre and plot clearly. 

Final Idea:

A young girl is being accused of murder. She is being questioned by a young policewoman. The police officer asks her about what happened the day of the murder. The girl then recalls the day where she is walking her dog down the road. There are footsteps and noises behind her but she takes no notice. Her dog then barks towards an alleyway where she decides to walk down to find her sister dead surrounded by a pool of blood. The girl begins to run but voices start to taunt her. A supernatural being then appears behind her telling her to turn around. She flees whilst the being chants her name. A bump in the road causes her to trip and she wakes to find herself still in the office, the policewoman calling her to wake up.

Narrative Structure

Narrative-The Storyline of a film.

There are two types of narrative:

Linear- This is when the story is in chronological order. It has the beginning, middle and end. It also follows the timeline: Past, present and future.

Non-linear- The story does not always start at the beginning. It usually jumps around the timeline of events. This also links in with reverse chronology. It is when the plot is revealed in reverse order.

Todorov's Equlibrium Theory:
Todorov's Equilibrium Theory is that all films follow the same order and is in a structure split into three parts.

Beginning  ---> Middle  ---> End
Equilbrium established, Disruption/disequilibrium, and then equilibrium re-established.

The narrative structure of the main brief would be linear so the narrative is easier to follow. An example of a horror film that follows a linear structure is 'The Purge'.