G321 - The Impact Of Certification

Lower certifications on films and their openings will limit what can be said and shown due to them needing to suitable for younger ages. A way of avoiding this would be to give the film a  higher rating, however this would limit the film's reach across audiences. This means that production companies must make it very evident who their film is aimed for as well as ensuring that the content of the film is suitable for its target audience. If the company gets either of these aspects wrong, it could result in a major loss of both money and success.

The Harry Potter franchise is a perfect example of how certifications can affect a film's viewing. The first 4 films were all given a PG rating, making the film suitable for children aged 8 and up. However, the last 4 films were all rated a 12A. This shows that despite all being from the same franchise, it was the film content itself which decided the film's certification. Simply being a Harry Potter film was not enough to justify a lower certification and the violent scenes involved in films 5-8 evidently caused the rating to be raised.

The most violent scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone:

The most violent scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2:



This information is important when it comes to making my own film as it will ensure that I pay close attention to the content we are including so that our film would not be certified differently to how we first anticipated. If this were to happen it would lose money as the targeted demographic would not be able to view the film.