BBFC Age classification for film:

The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984.

In order to make sure the content of my film was appropriate to a certain age category, I need to make sure I know what it would be professionally categorised under. To do so I used the BBFC website and looked at each...

This means "universal" allowing the film to be suitable for all ages over 4. Although it is impossible to predict what might upset a child of such a young age. These films include:-Very mild infrequent language (damn...)-Very mild violence (fight scenes)                                                                        however these are quickly resolved. Examples of                                           these films include 'Toy Story' and 'Finding Nemo'. 



This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.
They may :
- explore challenging issues such as bullying, bereavement or racism.
- use mild bad language (such as ‘shit’ or ‘son of a bitch’)
-Violence will usually be mild
Examples include 'Shrek' and 'Inside Out' 

These Contain material that is not generally suitable for children aged under 12. No one younger than this may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult.
The BBFC's Guidelines state that:
- strong language (e.g. 'f***') may be passed at 12 or 12A, depending on the manner in     which it is used.
                                                                               -Aggressive discriminatory language (for                                                                                   example homophobic or racist terms) is                                                                                     unlikely to be passed at 12A 
        -Sex may be briefly and discreetly portrayed
                                                       
Examples of this are films such as 'The Hunger Games'

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a 15 rated video. No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.
They can include; 
- strong violence 
- frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
- portrayals of sexual activity

Examples of this can be seen in films such as 'Paranormal Activity' 



In Conclusion I found that it would be appropriate for our film to be of a 12A audience. This is due to it featuring mild language and violence and no reference to or sexual scenes. 
However due to the psychological threat with in, my film would have to have an adult present for anyone under this age. 

Inspiration for a Psychological Horror

For our genre we decided on a psychological horror, this is because we wanted to build up tension through inferring that there is something there (a monster/ spirit) therefore I did some research into films existing under this genre. 

The first few films i looked at were "case 39" and "Insidious". Case 39 is based around a child that came from a troubled home where the parents appeared to be neglecting and abusing her. As a result of this a woman from social services takes her under her care and allowed her to live with her to keep her safe. However as the story unfolds we learn that the young girl is a demon and is the one causing the trouble. 

Insidious is a story of a family searching for help for their son who fell into a coma after a mysterious accident in the attic. Further into the film we can understand that the young child has been taken over by a demon. 

      

                                

By looking at these and others there was a clear similarity, they both involved children. I also paired this to my own personal scares within a horror and i think young children have a huge impact in a scary film. 

I then looked at scenes involving children to see what the main stereotype of a child horror character is so i was able to select my actors. For this i looked at the opening scene of 'The Woman In Black'.

                   



From this i was able to see that the stereotype was a young girl, pale in skin with long blonde hair. The hair is down with a bow tied in and the girls in the video are in grubby dresses.    

                               

Practice Opening Titles

                   

This is my first draft of opening titles, putting the conventional order of cast and crew into practice.

Film Opening Sequences

Usually in film the opening titles are put over the first scene or have a sequence with music at the start. These titles normally appear in a specific order, this being:

- The logo of the studio that created the film (eg Lionsgate or Disney) 

-The name of the studio/ production company that created the film

-The Main Actor (Protagonist) 

-The Title of the film

-The Camera Operator

-The Editor

-The composer/ Music company

-The Screenwriter

-The Producer

-The Director



A good example of this is James Bonds 'Skyfall' .....

STEREOTYPICAL REPRESENTATIONS IN THRILLERS/HORRORS

The White Female
The victim in a horror film is usually a young white female, this is mainly because this group are easy to present as vulnerable and in need of protection. The female is usually young, blonde and attractive due to the idea being first shown in a more sexist era however as it became the stereotype this idea continued. This is also so she can appeal to a wider male audience. This character is stereotypically dumb and usually the first to be killed off. When this happens it is gruesome and graphic in order to create contrast with her appearance and personality. Finally this characters personality is used to keep the audience on edge as she is usually overly scared and therefore when ever she jumps the audience do too. Examples of this stereotype can be seen in older horrors such as 'Psycho' however we can also see how this has developed in newer horrors such as the woman in black where the protagonist has changed gender.

     


Dracula-
1897 Gothic novel, Dracula was created by the author Abraham "Bram" Stoker. Here the stereotype of Dracula first was created and since this has created a stereotype of what a vampire villain should look like. Stoker presented this character to be tall and pale in appearance, always dressed in a red waste coat, white collared shirt and long black cape. This character also had 2 sharp fangs on his top set of teeth and lives of the blood of humans. Stoker also set his scene in "Transylvania" and therefore the stereotype also possesses a thick transylvanian accent. As well as the male gender involved in the original Dracula character, class is also a feature of the vampire. His name is 'Count' Dracula, presenting him as an upper class figure involved in 'aristocracy' which also is tied in with the fact he usually lives in a large abandoned castle or mansion, normally situated somewhere out of the way however most citizens of the town know about it and avoid it. Other denotations of the character include him being able to turn into a bat, water burning his skin, garlic and a stake through the heart being able to kill him and him drinking human blood. This stereotype has been shown from the original "Dracula" to much more modern films such as the animation "Hotel Transylvania". However much like other horror stereotypes, the vampire character has been developed into modern films like "Twilight". 

Scripting, Storyboards and Props

Since this story board was created we have opted for a male babysitter in order to go against the codes and conventions of stereotypical horrors. The story board also helped us to have some idea of the shots we would use for each scene.

We also used a male for the role of the interrogator as we thought this would appear more intimidating towards the audience. 

Props 

We used an A4 book that was drawn by another 10 year old child in order to make it look realistic. This was used in the bedtime scene to present the un seen character of Charlie. The pictures were also drawn in colouring pencils, this is to add to the idea that the book was drawn by the young girl.

This file was used in the psychiatric interview at the start of our film. On the front it states the name of the girl, her case number and "evidence". This not only makes the situation seem more professional but also is red in colour adding to the idea of the situation being dangerous. 

This is an A3 bright red drawing of the historical event 9/11. This drawing was drawn in a way a much younger child would have drawn it. This is because the story line explains Lily drew this the same time the event occurred therefore she would have been 5 years old. Again the bright red paper emphasises the danger of the suspect, this colour also appears much brighter compared to the surrounding in the film due to the colour mix filter put over each clip. 

Scripting

 

In order to make this more realistic and natural we didn't stick directly to the script. We used this as a base to go off, we told the actors what the script said however once recording we allowed them to change it to suit the character they interpreted. 

Mind Mapping for the final idea

Filming Schedule

As this isn’t filmed on private land, permission is not necessary to film. The only precaution is to ensure the house is free on the day to minimise unrelated background noise and disturbance when filming.

MR JUDGE FEEDBACK

Alex, please check the tracking list below and make sure those tasks are completed ASAP.

	TASKS COMPLETED/ TO BE COMPLETED:	YES:  TICK	N0:   X	If N0 – when will this be completed – Date (   / /15)
1.	VIDEO: EMBEDDING PRELIMINARY TASK FROM OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL: TV TAMWORTH	/
2.	WRITING: PRELIMINARY TASK EVALUATION	/
3.	TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: BLUE VELVET/ SPECTRE	/
4.	IMAGE/VIDEO EMBEDDING: BLUE VELVET VIDEO/ IMAGES/SCREEN GRABS	/
5.	TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: SE7EN OPENING	/
6.	IMAGE/VIDEO EMBEDDING: SE7EN VIDEO/ IMAGES/SCREEN GRABS	/
7/8 - N/A
9.	GENRE THEORY: FILM NOIR - HSR	/
10.	WRITING: FILM OPENING SEQUENCES - HSR	X		PRIORITY TASK
11.	FILM NOIR TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: MALTESE FALCON + VIDEO/IMAGE EMBEDDING - HSR	X
12.	MEDIA THEORY: STEREOTYPICAL REPRESENTATIONS IN THRILLERS/HORRORS (Dracula/Single White female) + EMBEDDING IMAGES	X		PRIORITY TASK
13.	TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: DIFFERENCES/SIMILARITIES BETWEEN HOLLYWOOD STUDIO LOGOS	/	More studio  logo images required	PRIORITY TASK
14.	EMBEDDING YOUR STUDIO LOGO/TITLE SEQUENCE	X		PRIORITY TASK
15.	ANALYSING BFI DATA ON GENRE & AUDIENCES	/
16.	ANY SCRIPTING/DRAFTING/STORYBOARD PLANNING EVIDENCE	X		PRIORITY TASK
17.	PRODUCTION SCHEDULE: TIMES/DATES OF FILMING	X		PRIORITY TASK