Guidelines for the Classification of Films 2012
Assessing impactAssessing impact
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Assessing impact
The Guidelines use the following hierarchy of impact:
- very mild - G
- mild - PG
- moderate - M
- strong - MA 15+
- high - R 18+
- very high - RC
Assessing the impact of material requires considering not only the treatment of individual classifiable elements but also their cumulative effect. It also requires considering the purpose and tone of a sequence.
Impact may be higher where a scene:
- contains greater detail, including the use of close‑ups and slow motion
- uses accentuation techniques, such as lighting, perspective and resolution
- uses special effects, such as lighting and sound, resolution, colour, size of image, characterisation and tone
- is prolonged
- is repeated frequently
- is realistic, rather than stylised
- encourages interactivity
Interactivity includes the use of incentives and rewards, technical features and competitive intensity. As a general rule:
- except in material restricted to adults, nudity and sexual activity must not be related to incentives or rewards
- material that contains drug use and sexual violence related to incentives or rewards is Refused Classification
Impact may be lessened where reference to a classifiable element is verbal rather than visual. For example, a verbal reference to sexual violence is generally of less impact than a visual depiction. Also, some visual impacts have less impact than others: for example, an incidental depiction may have less impact than a direct one.
The classifiable elements
The six classifiable elements in a film are:
- themes
- violence
- sex
- language
- drug use
- nudity
The classification takes account of the context and impact of each of these elements, including their frequency and intensity, and their cumulative effect. It also takes account of the purpose and tone of a sequence, and how material is treated.
The Categories
G GENERAL
Impact test
The impact of the classifiable elements for material classified G should be very mild only.
Note: The G classification is for a general audience. However, it does not necessarily indicate that children will enjoy the film. Some G films contain themes or story‑lines that do not interest children.