Who should have the right to decide if audiences should be protected - and from what?

As it stands, the BBFC examines and age rates films and videos before they are released. These age ratings are there to protect us and primarily children from seeing (what they deem as) inappropriate things for their age, this might be based on factors such as violence, sex scenes, nudity, drug use, language, themes and horror.

One view is that the government should have the right to decide if audiences should be protected. This is because, we feel it is the government's responsibility to protect us from harm,  and things that might be distressing, for example, a young child going to see a violent horror film, would not be seen as acceptable. Another reason why the government should have the right to decide if audiences should be protected, if because, if they did nothing, and set out not age ratings, or guidelines, and children were to see an unacceptable film, it would automatically be the government's fault, as they made it too available and did not do their job in protecting us.

One other view, is that parents should have the right to decide if audiences should be protected. This is because, parents/guardians are trusted to protect us, and bring us up, so why should they not be able to determine what films e can and cannot watch? They should also be responsible, as if they were to let their child see something inappropriate, they have to deal with the consequences  for example, a young child who watches a horror film, might go onto have nightmares, therefore, it is only the parents' fault. Parents should also have the right to decide if audiences should be protected as they do anyway. The only places that can monitor what films get seen and by who are really cinemas, and shops, as it is now available to watch films on the internet, which might have some parental protection, but children can easily get around this. Films can also be brought from things such as ‘on demand’ now, and some films might even be watched illegally, which means that it is impossible to monitor who sees what, and this means that we trust parents to monitor what children watch anyway.

Another view, is that we, ourselves should have the right to decide if audiences should be protected. This is simply because, we know ourselves what we like, and don’t like and therefore we should decide what films we want to watch, and if we are to watch something we don’t like, or is inappropriate, then it is our fault. We are in control of ourselves and make decision everyday whether they be big or small, so we should in turn, be in charge of what films we see.

In conclusion, in some ways, all of these groups/people should have the right to decide if we should be protected, but what it comes down to, is that these ratings are mostly only there as a guideline, as we can only monitor who is protected from what as far as cinemas and shops.

Notes

Distribution

• It is the third part of the film supply chain, and is often referred to as 'the invisible art' 
• Distribution is often considered the most important part of the film industry because it is the point when completed films are brought to life and connected with an audience
• Distribution can be divided into 3 sections (licensing, marketing and logistics)
• In the UK, distribution is very much focused on marketing and sustaining a global product in local markets
• Independent producers have to sell their films to different distributors in each territory 
• The distributor will usually pay the producer a minimum guarantee for the licence

The Launch of the Film

• In the UK, feature films are release initially theatrically. A theatrical opening is seen as the most effective way to create interest in a new film
• Months after the theatrical release, a film will be packaged and released on DVD and VHS video, then on various forms of pay television, and after a couple of years of it being in the cinemas, on free-to-air TV
• Incest as much as is needed in promoting the films to draw out the maximum returns

Marketing

• In the UK, new films are released theatrically on Fridays
• A further consideration for scheduling a release is the seasonality of the film
• The distributor will try to position the film distinctively and avoid a release date occupied by other films with similar traits (story, subject, country of origin)

The Theatrical Release

• The costs of theatrical release are often referred to as 'P&A' or prints and advertising
• P&A also pay initial fee for right, and can range from £1,00 to £1 million for the release of a film in the UK

The Logistics of Distribution

• The distributor will enter into an agreement with the cinema to screen the film on certain 'play-dates'.
• It is the responsibility of the distributor to arrange the transportation of the film to the cinema as part of its wider coordination of print across the UK
• Logistics represent the phase of distribution at its most basic - supplying and circulating copies of the film to theatres of tapes and DVDs to shops and video rental stores, and managing the effectiveness of the supply
• For UK theatrical exhibition  the distributor typically handles 35mm of film print. These are generally broke down into smaller reels
• Each print is made for repeat use, this means that they may get damaged as they pass through different projectors and projectionists

Catfish
Catfish is a 2010 American film, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, involving a young man being filmed by his brother and friend as he builds a romantic relationship with a young woman on the social networking website Facebook.

• Hit at the Sundance Film Festival
• Distributed by Momentum Pictures
• The release was first available on Video On Demand/Pay Per View and at the cinemas simultaneously, then just two weeks later was released on DVD, also on Lovefilm
• £67,000(P&A funding) was awarded to launch the film on a wider scale
• The lead in the film, Nev Schulman also did a Q&A discussion, where he took questions from audiences at cinemas, and from twitter (technology, more promotion, gets more people talking about it, widespread advertising)
• Catfish grossed £48,469 in its opening weekend, and by the second week the box office was £89,721. By the end of the eight-week theatrical run the film had grossed £144064
• Most successful simultaneous multi-platform release in the UK 
• Multi-platform message did not take away from the cinema performance, however the DVD sales did not actually benefit from the very short window

Another Year

A look at four seasons in the lives of a happily married couple and their relationships with their family and friends.

• Another Year premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2010
• A portion was allocated to expand the UK premiere from the London Film Festival's Mayor of London Gala. Footage from the premiere and the Q&A session was beamed to 33 sites in Greater London and across the UK, who also screened the film to paying audiences. This event cost about £13,00