BBFC Certificate 15 guidelines
These are standards set by the British Board of Film Classifications for a film that is rated 15
Discrimination:
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behavior.
Drugs:
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity:
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex:
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.
Theme:
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.
Violence:
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
Horror:
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
Limitable behavior:
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language:
There may be frequent use of strong language. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable. (JC)
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behavior.
Drugs:
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity:
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex:
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.
Theme:
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.
Violence:
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
Horror:
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
Limitable behavior:
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language:
There may be frequent use of strong language. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable. (JC)
Why we chose to do a 15 rating.
We decided that we wanted to go with a rating of 15 for our teaser trailer because we looked at other examples of films we wanted to base ours on, such as Sinister (2012), were rated as a fifteen. We also thought that the mass target audiences are 15-25 males, so our trailer would be able to be watched by all of this mass target audience. We also thought that making something that would be an 18 could be too graphic for the people watching it, since not everyone in our group is 18 it made sense to stay below that age rating. We also did research into what the guidelines were for the age rating of 15 and we then discussed it and agreed that they were not too constricting considering that at the time we only had a basic idea of what we were going to film.(JB)