15 Certificate Guidlines

The BBFC website states age certifications for films/TV; the 15 certification has many guidelines as to why only said person aged 15 or above can view films with this certificate and explains what aspects of the film make it classify as as 15, these guidelines are stated below:

Discrimination:
No endorsment of discriminatory language or behaviour will be present in the film.

Drugs:
In the film drugs are permitted to be viewed but in no way must they be promoted to the audience or make the audience want to experience the taking of these drugs. Also its unlikely to be acceptable to show dangerous substances that are accessible to the audience being used incorrectly, for example mis-use of aerosols or solvents.

Horror:
The audience are allowed to see strong threat and menace, however not if carried out in a sexualised or sadistic way.

Imitable Behaviour:
Any viewings of behaviour dangerous to the character (for example, hanging, suicide andself-harming) are not allowed to be shown in great detail to promote ideas to the audience of this behaviour.

Language:
Strong language is acceptable to be used frequently, (for example 'fuck') however the stongest terms (for example 'cunt') are only permitted to used if it fits the context and can be justified by this. However when the use of strong language is repeated in an aggresive way its unlikely to be acceptable for this certification.

Nudity:
Without strong detail nudity is permitted if used in sexual context, more so there are no constraints in non-sexual or educational context regarding nudity.

Sex:
Without strong detail sexual activity is permitted to be portrayed; strong verbal references to sexual behaviour are also allowed. However highly strong references are again unlikely to be permitted unless they can be justified by the context of the film. More so work that is solely purposful for sexual arousal or stimulation are again unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme:
There are no themes that are not allowed as long as provided with appropriate treatment for 15 year olds.

Violence:
No infliction of pain or injury are allowed to be dwelled on when strong violence is used. Strong gory images and strong sadistic or sexualised violence are unlikely to be acceptable. Detailed verbal refernences to sexual violence are allowed but it must be discreet and be highly justified by the context.

How Vertigo is a classic thriller and how it meets conventions.

We looked at the opening of vertigo to study how the film contains conventions.

From the very beginning, there is fast beat music which is a typical convention in a thriller as it adds drama and creates the atmosphere from the introduction.

Straight away the first characters we see you can instantly tell they are binary opposites. There was two goodies (policemen and detective) who are protagonists and the baddie is the antagonists who is running away from the goodies. This is a classic convention which is commonly used in thrillers as they usually give a good storyline.

The audience can immediately see there is a situation at the beginning which is an enigma and it engages the audience from the introduction which is a popular convention so they can see how there will be further complications in the film.

Another convention is a complication (e.g a fear) in the storyline which in this case as vertigo (The fear of falling and heights) This prevents the protagonist from solving in this storyline which adds to the convention.

The lighting was really dark which is non-diegetic which is a convention often used to add a feel to the storyline and give a wary mood.

The sound effects are apart of a typical convention because in vertigo they use exaggerated sounds on crucial moments to add a thrilling element.