British Board of Film Classification

I have been looking into the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) to see what our should film should be classified as.

By reading through each of the classifications I feel that our film would be classified as a 15. At first I thought that it would be a 12 as we don't intend to include very strong language, sexual scenes or very much violence in the film however when reading the 12 classification section it mentioned the overall tone of the film and said that this can hugely effect the certificate. Here is the paragraph taken from the official BBFC website:

How important is the tone of a film at 12 or 12A?
The overall tone of a film or DVD, and the way it makes the audience feel may affect the classification. For example, a work which has a very dark or unsettling tone which could disturb the audience would be less likely to be passed 12A even if the individual issues in the film were considered acceptable under the BBFC guidelines. Similarly, if a work is particularly positive or reassuring this may stop it being pushed up a category from 12A to 15.

After reading this I realised that the tone of our film could be seen as unsettling and disturbing to some. I think that our film would be a 15 only really because of the overall tone of the film. I think this as we don't intend to include sexual scenes, very strong language or violent scenes that would often be included in a 15. Here are the other factors that make a film a 15:

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Is 15 really stronger than 12A?
 Yes. 15 works are stronger than 12 or 12A rated works and could include any of the following:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

What about horror works?
Many horror films are rated 15. At 15 there can be strong threat and menace (as long as it is not sadistic or sexualised), although the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

I have also looked into other films related to our genre such as 'The Blair Witch Project', 'Grave Encounters', 'Paranormal Activity', 'Apollo 18' etc. and they all have been classified as a 15.

To make sure that our film stays a 15 we must make sure we do not over step the boundaries mentioned previously above.
Here is the link to the official  BBFC website where all classifications and information can be found.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/