Audience Research- Certificates

U (Universal)
4years and above.
Mild bad language e.g. 'damn' and 'hell'.
No overt focus on sexual behaviour.
Mild violence.
Brief scary scenes.
Some moments of emotional stress.
Films send out positive messages.

PG (Parental Guidance)

Suites for ages above 8 years old.
Show challenging issues in life e.g. bullying, bereavement or racism.
Mild bad language e.g. 'shit' 'son of a bitch'.
Sex references are unlikely to be shown.
Mild violence.
May be references to drugs.

12A (cinemas)
Requires adult to accompany any child under 12 to view the film.
12 (Retailers)

No child under the age of 12 can buy a  film with the certificate 12.

Films may include some strong language e.g. 'fuck'.
May be some discriminatory language e.g. racist or homophobic terms.
Sex may be discreetly portrayed.
May include nudity.

Moderate violence.
Weapons may present.
Sexual violence may be implied e.g. rape.

Dangerous behaviour may be present e.g. drugs and suicide.

15

Only children over 15 can view these films.
Strong violence.
Frequent strong language e.g. 'cunt'.
Sexual activity and nudity.
Drug taking.
Brief scenes of sexual violence.
Discriminatory language and/or behaviour.
Strong threat and horror.

The dangers are that some teenagers may be influenced by what the watch e.g. drug taking, suicide, self harming and hanging.

18

NO children are allowed to view these films.
Adults can watch, buy and rent.
Very strong language.
Sexual activity and violence.
Strong horror.
Strong blood.

Real sex scenes.

Discriminatory language and behaviour.
Strong and detailed sex scenes.
Strong, crude and explicit sex references.

R18 is a special and legally restricted classification primarily for explicit work of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults.

Only adults can view these films at specially licensed cinemas.

From all of this research we have decided as a group that the right target audience for our thriller will be of the ages 15 and above. We decided that this would be the best age as we think our film would include violence and very strong language that wouldn't be suitable for ages under 15. Furthermore we thought that the ages 15 and above would be more likely to understand our film and find it interesting and shocking whereas younger ages may feel uncomfortable and scared when watching.