Film Certificate

BBFC's guideline is there to protect people, especially children from unsuitable content in films and videos. They look at issues including discrimination, drugs, horror, dangerous and easily imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex and violence when making their decision.
Every film has a certificate, so I have done research on 12A and 15 certificate as my film lies somewhere between the two, so that when it comes to my film I have chosen the right age certificate.

Here below is the link to the website I used to do my research.

BBFC Website

The guideline for 12A Films:

Films classifies 12A contain content that is not generally suitable for children aged under 12. No one younger 12 are permitted to see a 12A unless with an adult.

Here are the guidelines of a 12A film:

• The misuse of drugs should not be frequent. 
• No promotion of potentially dangerous behaviour, which children are likely to imitate. Easily accessible weapons, such as knives are not allowed to be showed and no endorsement of anti-social behaviour. 
• There may be moderate language. Strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who it is using the language, its frequency within work as a whole and my special contextual justification. 
• There may be nudity, but in a sexual context it must be brief and discreet. 
• Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Moderate sex reference are permitted, but frequent crude references are unlikely to be acceptable. 
• There may be moderate physical and psychological threat and horror sequences. Although some scenes may be disturbing, the overall tone should not be. Horror sequences should not be frequent or sustained.
• There may be occasional violence but it should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated, and its depiction must be justified by context. 

The guideline for 15 Films:

No one under the age of 15 is permitted to see a 15 in the cinema. No under 15 is allowed to rent or buy 15 rated video.

Here are the guidelines of a 15 film:

• The work on a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour, although there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory themes and language. 
• Drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse (for example, through instructional detail). The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable. 
• Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Whether the depiction of easily accessible weapons is acceptable will depend on factors such as realism, context and setting. 
• There may be strong language. Very strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency within the work as a whole and any special contextual justification.
• There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. There may be nudity in a sexual context but usually without strong detail. 
• Sexual activity may be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. There may be strong verbal refferences to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.
• There may be strong threat and horror. A sustained focus on sadistic threat is unlikely to be acceptable. 
• 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 violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal referenced to sexual violence but the depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context. 

Potential Crew for my Billing

In order to make my teaser trailer and poster billing, I want to use real crew to give my teaser trailer and poster an added authenticity, hence I need to research crew who would work on the production of my film. I used teaser tailer and poster billings, along with IMDB to research different people, like Producers, Editors, Casting Directors who have previously worked on film belonging in the same genre as my film (Film Noir).

Director: Christopher Nolan - Christopher Nolan is an English-American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and editor. He is most well-known for directing and writing Inception and Interstellar. He also wrote and directed Memento as well as directing the Batman trilogy staring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger both films belong to the film noir genre.

Producer: Elizabeth Avellan - Elizabeth Avellan is a film producer and had produced films in the film noir genre including From Dusk Till Dawn and Sin City.

Cinematographer: Andrzej Sekula - Andrzej Sekula is a Polish cinematographer and film director. He has worked on films such as Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.

Casting: Marci Liroff - Marci Liroff is casting director known for Insomnia and Blade Runner.

Music Composer: Cliff Martinez - Cliff Martinez is an America musician and composer, know for composing music for film such as The Neon Demon, Drive and Only God Forgives.

Costume Designer: Mary Zophres - Mary Zophres is a costume designer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for True Grit. She is also know for No Country For Old Men and Fargo.

Editor: Dody Dorn - Dody Dorn is a film and sound editor known for working with Christopher Nolan including his film Memento.

Production Designer: Linda Pearl - Linda Pearl is a production designer known for The Last Seduction.

Billings Analysis

I am going to look at 3 different billings from "Blade Runner", "L.A Confidential" and "Memento".

After looking at and analysing these 3 billings, I have noticed that they all include the same information, and mostly display the information the the same order.
Here is the order:

1. The production company or companies
2. Name of director
3. Name of main actors
4. Name of film
5. Names of important crew members, including who wrote the screenplay, the executive and co-producer, music composer, visual effects artist, editor and more
6. Producers name
7. Directors name again

The billing may not always be in this particular order, but now I know what to include and roughly in what order.

Potential Production Companies

All the teaser trailers I looked at had production company logos, therefore my teaser trailer will need them too. They should be at the beginning of my teaser trailer and at the bottom of my poster, to make them appear as authentic as possible. To find the right production company to produce my film I have looked at films in the same genre and compiled a list of potential production companies.

Potential Production Companies:

1. Focus Features
Focus Features is an American film production and distribution company owned by Comcast. It distributed independent and foreign films Internationally. It has produced Brick, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Its a funny kind of story and many more.

2. Open Road
Open Road Films is an American production and distribution company. It has Produced films such as End of Watch, Snowden and Dope.

3. Bold
Bold is an independant film production and film finance company. They have produced films like Nightcrawler, Whiplash and Only God Forgives.

4. Miramax
Miramax is an American entertainment company based in California. It known for production and distributing films and television shows. Miramar has produced film including. Dusk till Dawn, Pulp Fiction, Adventureland.

5. The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American mini-major/independent film studio, founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein in 2005 after hey left Miramax. It has produced films including Easy Money and The Artist.

Specific Genre Magazine

After looking at Sight and Sound I have decided to do a more specific magazine in terms of target audience. I am going to make a magazine targeting audiences who like film noir and similar genres, such as crime and thriller, and make the magazine a Noir special.

Here below are existing specific genre magazines:

• The cover line at the top of the magazine instantly lets the audience know what genre of book's, film and tv the magazine sole focuses on "Crime"
• A majority of the audience will know of "Poirot" and instantly be able to recognise the name along with the central image and will associate it with the genre of crime.

• The cover line at the top instantly allows audience to see that the magazine is all about sci-fi, fantasy and horror films. 
• The central image along with the main cover line are promoting Spider-Man 2 a film that belongs to the super-hero genre, a genre that has elements of sci-fi and fantasy. 
• The smaller images are of films that again belong to the sci-fi and fantasy genre. 
• The almost 3D, metallic lettering of the title of the magazine instantly suggests to the audience that the magazine will at least partially focus on sci-fi films. 

• The colour scheme instantly indicates the noir genre.
• The font used for "Film Noir" is in lower case letters, something smaller more independent magazine often do. 
• The mise-en-scene immediately indicates that the film is set in the 1940's, which is when classic noir were made.
• The smaller cover line also indicates to the audience that inside the magazine there will be details about the greatest crime films. 
• The red of the title and underneath the main cover line adds an element of noir, as red is often associated with the femme fetale as they are often perceived as manipulative, dangerous and seductive all elements that the colour red is often used to represent.

• The name alone of the magazine "scream" indicates to the audience that it is a horror magazine.
• The font used for the title of the magazine adds to the element of horror, making it more clear to audiences what genre the magazine belongs to. 
• The smaller images are dark and together with the blood like splatters are a clear indication for audiences that the magazine focuses on horror.
• The cover line above the masthead "blood, guts, gore and more" is yet another indication that the magazine focuses on horror. 
• The main cover line "The Walking Dead" has skulls and a hand reaching as though coming out of the ground, again hinting at the horror genre. 

In conclusion all of these magazines had certain elements indicating their specific genre, such as the type of font, the cover lines, the images and the colour scheme. Therefore when I start creating my magazine I will have to think carefully about each convention and how to lay them out.

Sight and Sound Cover Analysis - 5

Below is a Sight and Sound Magazine front cover.

• The front cover is of a well known director mainly known for his films from the 1940's and 1950's including "Citizen Cane", "Touch of Evil" and "The Magnificent Ambersons"
• The dominant image is a medium shot and is in black and white
• The font is done in 1930's/1940's style
• The cover lines mention things from that era of film such as silent film and Marilyn Monroe 
• The font is in colour but is plain 

Sight and Sound Cover Analysis - 4

Below is a Sight and Sound magazine front cover.

• The dominant image is of "The faces of the new French cinema" which are not well-known and are unrecognisable to a lot of audiences
• The colour scheme, (French colours) reflect the cover line "New French Cinema" 
• The cover lines include lower budget foreign films, such as Girlhood, The tribe and Phoenix
• Again the simplistic font is used