How our audience Feedback influenced our Thriller Opening

From our audience Feedback we have taken away that the majority of our audience want the setting to be in a forest or in the country side. I think this lead to an advantage for us because we had planned to have the setting in Twyford Woods. We had already arranged this so the luck of the feedback was purely coincidental. The other STATS we got back from our audience were that they would prefer a thriller with the certification of a 15. This result we could’ve almost foreseen because the majority of thrillers are at a certification level of a 15. To make this happen we looked on the BBFC website and had a look at the criteria used so we could work around the criteria of a 15 certificate and meet our Feedbacks audience needs. Below shows the criteria of what we used as a template:

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

[1]Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

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[1] We looked at Imitable behaviour and thought that if we didn’t go into detail and just used the impression that the protagonist was harming these victims then we would be following the guidelines. For example – Spray painting the protagonists t-shirt red – this connoted blood and danger.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

[1]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 or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

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[1] We did not dwell on violence due to not only keeping to one of our conventions throughout the thriller opening (rapid shots) but also to follow the guidelines. There were inferences that violence had taken place but nothing that was inappropriate for the classification.