Why I Chose To Have A 15 Rated Film

Here are some of the things you'd find in a 12A rated film:

• Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, as long as disturbing sequences are not ongoing
• Weapons should not be flaunted
• Moderate language is allowed
• Mature themes are accepted, but it needs to be suitable for the viewing of the younger audience 
• Not a lot of emphasis on blood, injuries and gore 

Here are some of the things you'd find in a 15 rated film:

• Sexual nudity
• Drug taking 
• Strong verbal references to sex
• Strong violence
• Frequent strong language
• Brief scenes of sexual violence 

Here are some of the things you'd find in a 18 rated film: 

• Strong horror
• Strong blood and gore 
• Discriminatory language and behaviour
• Frequent or very strong language
• Very strong violence
• Strong portrayals of sexual activity

I have decided to give my film a 15 certificate because the scenes featured in my trailer conform more to what is typically found in this age bracket. My trailer would not meet the requirements of a 12A. Weapons will be shown in my trailer and there is a lot of emphasis on blood and injuries. Blood is key for a horror movie so I feel that it is important to show it a lot. In my opinion the emphasis on blood establishes the horror genre, the audience know there's danger. My trailer would not meet the requirements of the 18 certificate either as there is not a lot of strong violence, there's not a lot of strong blood and gore, strong horror is not that evident. From looking at my trailer so far, I would be able to tell that it was meant for the horror genre but it isn't that scary to me. As there is little dialogue used in my horror trailer, there is no room for discriminatory language and behaviour. In my trailer there is not very strong violence that occurs in my trailer so this wouldn't meet the 18 certificate requirement. After careful consideration I have decided to go with the 15 certificate as it is too explicit for the 12A but too soft for the 18 rated film. Although there is no strong violence or strong language used in my horror trailer, there is emphasis on blood, and some violence which would be suitable for my target audience. My target audience fits between 15-20 year olds so 12A automatically is eliminated as I've focused more on creating it for the age group of my target audience. My target audience could fit either 15 or 18 but there isn't enough violence or enough blood for it to be substantial enough to be an 18.