The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) are basically a large group of people who are in no way linked to the government, which provide legal classification for every single film sold in the UK.  The decisions that are made are usually respected by others, however can be overridden.

Every film that goes through the BBFC is assessed by at least two examiners, usually the examiners are able to come to stern agreement about the film, but if there is disagreement or concern occurs then a decision may be made by the senior directors. The main focuses are language, nudity, sexual scenes, discrimination, drugs, horror and violence. However, if it shows nudity for an educational purpose, then the film will be given a lower classification. If a movie was to be released on DVD, then there is a chance it will have a higher classification as it is more easily accessible to people of the wrong age.

There are seven different classification certificates that are given out, these are listed below:

Universal (U) - All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children.

Parental Guidance (PG) - All ages admitted, but certain scenes may be unsuitable for young children. May contain mild language and sex/drugs references. May contain moderate violence if justified by context (e.g. fantasy).

12A – Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for very young people. Those aged under 12 years are only admitted if accompanied by an adult, aged at least 18 years, at all times during the motion picture. However, it is generally not recommended that children under 12 years should watch the film. Films under this category can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, moderate swear words, infrequent strong language and moderate violence, sex references and nudity. Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Sexual violence may be implied or briefly indicated.

12 - Nobody younger than 12 can rent or buy a 12-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game. The content guidelines are identical to those used for the 12A certificate.

15 - Nobody younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, frequent strong language and limited use of very strong language, strong violence and strong sex references, and nudity without graphic detail. Sexual activity may be portrayed but without any strong detail. Sexual violence may be shown if discreet and justified by context.

18 - Nobody younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category do not have limitation on the bad language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and explicit sex references along with detailed sexual activity are also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context. Very strong, gory, and/or sadistic violence is usually permitted. Strong sexual violence is permitted unless it is eroticised or excessively graphic.

Restricted 18 (R18) - Can only be shown at licensed adult cinemas or sold at licensed sex shops, and only to adults, those aged 18 or over. Films under this category are always hard-core pornography, defined as material intended for sexual stimulation and containing clear images of real sexual activity, strong fetish material, explicit animated images, or sight of certain acts such as triple simultaneous penetration and snowballing. There remains a range of material that is often cut from the R18 rating: strong images of injury in BDSM or spanking works, urolagnia, scenes suggesting incest even if staged, references to under age sex or childhood sexual development and aggressive behaviour such as hair-pulling or spitting on a performer are not permitted. More cuts are demanded in this category than any other category.

After looking into the films I have analysed and seen what certificate they are, I feel if we planned on sending our thriller to the BBFC, it would get a 15 certificate. I believe this because it is hinted throughout the film that someone has died an unpleasant death. We feel it shouldn't be an 18 because there is no strong language used or any sort of sexual references.

History of RAF Nocton Hall

RAF Nocton Hall was a 740-bed hospital under RAF control from the 1940s until 1984. It was used by civilians and forces personnel until 1984, when it was leased to the USAF as a United States Air Force wartime contingency hospital. During the Gulf War, over 1,300 US medical staff were sent to the Hall and many were billeted at RAF Scampton. Fortunately only 35 casualties had to be treated. In its later days 13 American personnel remained to keep the hospital serviceable. RAF Nocton Hall was handed back to the Her Majesty's Government by the USAF on 30 September 1995.

Make-Up Idea

As the location of our chosen place burnt down many years ago, we wanted to play on that history, so we have looked into having burns on the face of the character that was left in the fire, we took inspiration from 'The Dark Knight' when Two-Face is first revealed.

We have completed some trial runs on the make up and it ended up being very successful.

Here are some photos of our trial run. 

 

 

 

I feel that the trial run was very successful and will give our production a very professional feel.

Media Pitch

This is our media pitch, we had to preform this pitch in front of our class and teacher, this was to show how confident we were about our ideas and also to gain positive and negative feedback to help us build on our chosen idea.

Prop Planning

When thinking about props we need to try and put things in the scene that are almost old, this is because we are doing an old scene at an old location we need to think very carefully about our plot and the props we will need to make this plot seem realistic. As our plot surrounds a boy who was left in a fire by his father when Nocton Hall burnt down we need to consider this fire. We have done this by burning some of the photos we are going to use and making sure they look old and realistic to this time period by coffee staining them and crumpling them up.

Also to make this scene more realistic we need to make sure we think about what the boy in the chair is now wearing, we have considered putting him in old RAF costume to give the scene a sentimental scene, that he is wearing his father's RAF uniform, is a weird yet wonderful gesture to his farther.

We are then going to have an old television in the room, maybe some kind of old bedding and a vinyl player, the vinyl player will be playing music through the scene and will get louder as the teenager gets closer to the room.

In an earlier scene a typewriter will also be used to introduce the beginning of a thriller, this has been used in other movies such as Sherlock Holmes, but we feel it is very fitting to this thriller opening. We have made sure that we are paying attention to detail by making sure we have the correct header on the letter that we are writing.

Health and Safety

When filming there are a few things that we need to do to make sure everybody is safe and nobody gets injured. We are going to do the following to ensure our safety:

·         Make sure that each of us has an emergency contact number in case anything was to go wrong and make sure that we have each other’s phone numbers.

·         Everybody must be calm and take responsibility for their own actions

·         Everybody will be dressed in relation to the weather, wearing suitable footwear so we do not slip, fall and become injured.

·         No one is to act stupidly, running around our location, climbing etc. Make sure we are careful in where we step and what we do.

·         Make sure each member of the group knows how to use the equipment so that nothing gets broke and nobody hurts themselves with the equipment.

We have visited the location to make sure we know of any potential dangers when we are shooting. This will help us to make sure that nobody gets hurt and the opening to this thriller is a good one. We must also make sure that each of us act responsibly and respect our surroundings.

Audience Research Questionnaire

Are you male or female?

Male           

Female        
 
What is your age range?

12-14          
15-17          
18+   

What is your ethnic background?

White British                  

Mixed British         
Asian                     
Black African                   
Black Caribbean     
Chinese                 
Other                    

Do you watch thrillers?

Yes    
No      

Do you like thrillers?

Yes   

No      

What location would best suit a thriller?

Woods
Abandoned 
Everyday Setting
Bedroom
Other

(If yes) What type of thriller do you like?

Crime thriller                  

Action thriller                  
Psychological thriller       
Religious thriller              
Medical thriller                
Mystery thriller                
Legal thriller      
              

Who do you watch thrillers with?

Family        

Friends        
Other           

Where do you tend to watch films? 

At home                
At the cinema        
Other              
      

Where do you hear about films?

Newspaper  

TV               
Internet       
Radio
Magazines   
Other 

What makes an advert catch your attention? (Pick Two)

Bold colours         

Bold title               
Dramatic music     
Pictures                 
Special effects       
All                    
     

In the beginning of a thriller do you like a main event taking place to set the story?

Yes   

No      

Do you prefer old fashioned thrillers (e.g. Psycho) or the newer thrillers (e.g. Cabin In The Woods)?

Old fashioned       

New                    
  

What music do you prefer at the start of a thriller?

Bold and Dramatic         

Quiet and Tense         
    

At the beginning of a thriller do you prefer?

Dark and mysterious      

Weird and eerie 
Other           

How much would you consider on paying for a movie?

£0 - £5
£5-£10
£10-£15
£15-£20

Does the opening of a thriller to you have to be?

Action packed        
Gun fighting         
Mysterious   
Other        

Lighting Plans

We want to rely on non-natural lighting, so we have got ourselves three 800 watt redhead lights, doing our lighting like this will benefit what we want to do as we can increase or decrease lighting in certain areas to helps us manipulate the audiences focus. Also if it was to get dark we would be fine as we could increase the intensity of light.

800 Watt Redhead Light

Script For Thriller

Reading out of the letter at the start whilst the typewriter is going on:

"Nocton Hall was home to 1300 U.S staff and 35 Casualties from World War 2 it however sadly burnt down in 1841.

11 lives were lost within the burning rubble of the hall.

It was rumoured that Cpt. Thomas Johnson luckily escaped the fire, having to leave his only child, Benjamin Johnson.

The body was never found...

To this day locals report music being played from the building, even though the remains of the building has been abandoned for 178 years.

Sincerely,

William T. Turner"

Then as Jake turns the music off he asks the other character questions such as:

"Are you okay?"

"Do you need help?"

"Can you hear me?"

Shooting Schedule

9:00 - All getting picked up from Tesco garage in Bourne by Max.

10:00 - Arrive at RAF Nocton Hall, then all go in and take a quite look around the inside of the building.

10:30 - Set up so we are ready to film as quick as possible and take some practise videos to see what it will look like.

11:00 - Start our actual filming, taking our time with the shots and making sure everything is professionally done.

12:00 - Filming.

13:00 - Filming.

14:00 - Filming.

15:00 - Filming.

16:00 - Finish filming, make sure we have every shot we need and then pack up and get back to the car.

Actors

We wanted to keep the amount of actors to a minimum so you are more drawn to them and the focus can stay on the plot.

Jacob Anderson - The character who is walking through the building to discover where the music is being played.

Kieran Hill - The army captain's son that was left in the fire.

Sound Plan

After looking for music on various sites, we found this off the movie 'Insidious' and we thought it would suit our thriller well to give an eerie feel.

As well as this music, we will use diegetic sound of the typewriter and also the scratching of the vinyl as it is turned off.

Location Shots - RAF Nocton Hall

The last location we visited was RAF Nocton Hall, after visiting this we feel it has the best feeling to it and a chilling history behind the place, this location is more accessible than the others and also is a little closer.

This is a picture of the front of the building, even though it was dark, you can still see the sheer height and setting of the building.

Whilst we were inside we found a room we though would be good to use, its a very open and high room, making lighting easy to place and is very clear, making it safe to film in.

This is a overhead shot taken off Google, it helps show location and helps show how the house is very alone and shut in with trees around the area.

Location Shots - Spalding Museum

We knew this location as we had discussed it before, the exterior of the building is perfect for what we wanted, it has a nice old feel to it, however the inside is very reconstructed  as it a museum, so we feel we wont be able to shoot our idea here.

The is a shot from outside of the building showing the beautiful design of the building and the dying tree in front adding to the effect.

This is a shot of the 'Ice House' in the garden of the museum, we thought we could use this as a cool idea and play on claustrophobia as an idea for a plot.

Location Shots - Lincoln Mental Asylum

We wanted to pick a large, old style building because we wanted it to have history and a story behind how it has got to be how it is, so we first chose Lincoln's Mental Asylum.

This is a shot of the back of the building, I have edited it slightly to give it more of a creepy feel.

This picture is of the side of the building, the way is set out makes for a weird and eerie feel, the buildings connected by only one tunnel.

This picture shows off the water tower, a large white building standing higher than the others.