f media on the audience have mainly been conducted in relation to TV audiences and focussed on the issue of violence. For example, in laboratory conditions children have been shown violent film clips and then their behaviour has been monitored afterwards to see if they act more aggressively than a control group that has not been shown violent films.
Content Analysis has also been employed to count the number of acts of violence, violent language and related actions in a specific film. A high score would rate the film as being more likely to inspire aggressive reactions than a low scoring film.
Polls and surveys, and test screenings are another means of determining how an audience responds to a film.
Group Activity: View a film sequence and note the incidents of violence contained in it. Afterwards discuss the pros and cons of this content analysis in relation to censorship. Critics claim that such studies are limited as they do not consider the wider context of the film and its effect on the viewer. A direct cause and effect - viewing a violent film causing aggressive behaviour - has been very hard to establish on a scientific basis.
The BBFC notes that it gives more allowance to Art House movies, or films that bring important issues to a wider audience e.g. Spielbergís Schindlerís List or Saving Private Ryan. It also gives different allowances to different genres - e.g. it will except more violence in a cartoon than a crime movie.
Group 1. Imagine you
are making a Horror film
What elements would you need to feature in your groupís chosen film genre? What areas of censorship would you have to consider? E.g. in terms of nudity, sexual activity, language, presentation of criminal acts, violence, moral message of the movie, the target audience. How would you tackle the issue of censorship?
This activity shows
that different genres have different audience
Beyond the film itself we have to consider its wider social context.
For example, after a terrorist outrage - such as immediately after 9/11 film makers avoided making films that touched on this topic. E.g. Spielberg deleted a reference to terrorism in his re-release of E.T. yet in 2005 released his version of The War of the Worlds which depicted the destruction of US society by Ďaliení warfare.
On an informal basis we employ individual and collective censorship. As an artist/ film maker we might never want to make a film that would feature a subject repugnant to ourselves or we might meet resistance from financial backers if we did try to make such a film. The commercial basis of film making and the need for box office success can dictate and censor the type of films than can or cannot be made.
In the 1950 and 1960s
the affluent/permissive society broke down many
traditional barriers and previously taboo topics
became the subject of films. Violence and nudity
became more graphic. The innuendoes of the Carry
On films gave why to the more explicit Confessions
films of the 1970s.
Activity: What film topics would you like to censor now? Is free speech and censorship compatible?
New technology presents new problems for film censorship. The perfection of special effects especially with the introduction of digital technology in the early 1990s means that all forms of graphic violence can be depicted. Furthermore, the technological means of delivering films to an audience has evolved. Video technology of the 1980s brought about the fears of video nasties being viewed in the home. Similarly video games portraying graphic violence and scenarios have created equally powerful moral panics. Currently the Internet has prompted fears about the easy distribution of uncensored films and other visual material to people in their homes.
ACTIVITY: Is censorship necessary or possible in the future? Is classification alone able to Ďcontrolí what we view?
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