Tuesday 25 March 2014

Video Nasties: The Changing Attitudes Towards Film Censorship

Video Nasties: The Changing Attitudes Towards Film Censorship

By Karl Benecke on Apr 6, 10 12:45 PM
In the 1980's many 'video nasties' were banned and refused a certificate, this was mainly on the grounds of The Obscene Publications Act (1959).
The rise in home entertainment and the widespread introduction of video in the 1980's saw new concerns raised about what depraved movies people could be watching behind closed doors. The BBFC addressed these concerns by passing the Video Recordings Act in 1984. This meant a film could be banned if it was unsuitable for home viewing, or the studio would be asked to apply heavy cutting to the movie to make it suitable. Video Nasties such as Cannibal Holocaust, Driller Killer, Evil Dead, Cannibal Ferox and Last House on the Left were either banned or forced to make heavy cuts in order to pass the film.
At the time of the VRA Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government were in office, and often sympathised with conservative agents within the press like the 'Daily Mail' and their calls for these types of films to be banned.
the-controversy-00-630-75.jpg

Headlines like this in the Daily Mail are frequent even in more liberal times
The BBFC can often be pressurised by conservative agents within the press to ban certain types of film , and increase its authority. the Daily Mail is one such newspaper, in 2009 a film called Antichrist was released and passed by the BBFC, this prompted an online article on the Daily Mail website titled: 'What Does it take for a film to get banned these days'? Speaking of the movie Antichrist the article says: ' As censors approve a movie that plumbs grotesque new depths of sexual explicitness and violence, one critic (who prides himself on being broad-minded) despairs...A film which plumbs new depths of sexual explicitness, excruciating violence and degradation has just been passed as fit for general consumption by the British Board of Film Classification'.
The board also has to balance its liberal stances with conservative fears of film harming its audiences. This again shows the BBFC are moving its classification structure with the times, if the conservative government of the early 80s were in power today, the liberal stance of the BBFC would more than likely succumb to the censorship wishes of news organizations such as The Daily Mail.
In the early 90s there was a succession of dealers in illegal videos, who were tracked down in 1992. The people were in possession of titles banned at the time like 'Cannibal Holocaust' and banned pornographic material. The media at this time became increasingly concerned with the clampdown on video censorship

4.5.1 Lesson Plan Recap & Video Nasties



How can you link this to our question:

Film censorship is motivated by fears about audiences and technologies.Discuss this statement in reference to the concerns expressed about uncensored and unregulated video content in Britain in the early 1980s. [30]

Explain on Post Its

New Info:
The Rise of the Blockbuster, Format Wars and Multiplexes (1972 -84)

This was one of the more popular topics in this section, and the question on multiplex cinemas
proved very popular. Generally, many candidates were able to demonstrate a good
understanding of the fundamental changes occurring in cinema in Britain and America in the
relevant time period. There was much useful discussion of ‘fleapit cinemas’ and good
understanding demonstrated of how the development of the multiplexes facilitated an upgrade in
the quality of the cinema experience. 

Stronger responses were distinguished by the ability to use macro level facts – such as the fact that 1984 represented the low point in British cinema admissions. Some candidates’ responses lacked historical specificity, writing about the attractions for audiences in multiplexes in the present tense. Given that the time period covered by the topic is clearly marked in the specification and on the examination paper, it is important that centres and candidates ensure their work is appropriate to the time period covered by the topic.
 
Video Nasties
The majority of responses were able to present their views on what the key
reasons were for the emergence of statutory regulation for home video in the early 1980s. Key
reasons cited were the uptake of VCR from the late 1970s onwards, the growing availability of
home video and the quick spread of home video rental shops and sections within newsagents,
petrol stations and other local shops, the work of censorship campaigner Mary Whitehouse and
the moral panic over the so-called ‘video nasties’.
 

In a small minority of cases, some candidates took an overly general approach to the question, attempting to shoehorn all parts of the topic into an answer to the question. This rarely worked well as this left candidates without the time and space to develop their points into cogent whole, and as such this approach to responding to the questions is to be discouraged.  

Using Essay Plans and your Liniot, select the most relevant points of context


New Question: "How did the Rise of The Blockbuster affect Production, Distribution and Exhibition of films in the UK and US in the late 1970's and mid 1980s? Refer to specific films to justify your points"

1. Introduction Thesis: Answer the question, How did it develop over time and what social/historical and technological factors? Which Films are relevant to show this Godfather, Jaws, Star Wars, E.T.?

2. Production: affected by Technology ILM, Audience's preference for Blockbusters and spectacle, Star Wars becomes formulaic and simple, cinema attendance increases = limits the diversity of films being made?

3. Distribution: Film Studios invest in Multiplexes to distribute their most popular films (Blockbusters) & encouraging releases in Multiplexes, marketing affected by Star Wars action figures, Jaws & 'The Event' Movie, VHS Home video rentals in stores, big marketing budgets the film becomes hyped and packaged no longer just about the Film Text itself = does this devalue cinema and limit diversity of films?

4. Exhibition: The move from Fleapits to Multiplexes and rise in cinema attendance = part of a social experience does this devalue the cinema experience? Home Video Piracy (ET) and watching cinema at home fashionable to have a VCR - effect on cinema attendance = Encourage more spectacle driven Films to be seen on the Big Screen?

5. Conclusion: How does this demonstrate the effect of social economic and technological forces?








Prepare for Learning20 mins
Task 1
Starter: HumanCentipedeTrailerwho has seen it?
Find out what the story is and why it is controversial


Debate
Should there be such a thing as censorship of films?

Record the debate as a Photobooth & email me the result, what do the class think?

This should take 15 minutes New Information: Exam Question 2 1970/80s
Film censorship is motivated by fears about audiences and technologies.Discuss this statement in reference to the concerns expressed about uncensored and unregulated video content in Britain in the early 1980s. [30]

Task:
Initial Research: For the following words in BOLD - Know about what was happening, define the terms, outline the context, and what relevance they have to the above exam question?
 
Group 1. Adam
The right-wing, pro-censorship response by groups such as the National Viewers and Listeners Association and conservative MPs who wanted the introduction of restrictive laws for access to films on video

Group 2. Aaron
2. The level of take-up/fashion amongst the UK population of home video technologies in the 80s and unregulated home video distributors 

Group 3.Molly
3. The dawning of the home video age - format wars (VHS and Betamax) and the moral panic about the uncensored Video Nasties and unregulated video content and move to regulation of film in the home.

Some basic resources to work through to help - split then across your teams - not all looking:

http://youtu.be/OqbMvbP_j1k?t=6m17s watch from 6m 17s – 11m 34 s


http://leighmediaasfilmessays12.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/1980s-video-nasties-bbfc-home-video.html


Create Meaning
Share your findings with the class as Mentor pairs Mind Map on A3 using highlighters your shared knowledge: write the exam question in the middle and use the notes to write analysis points under the contexts in each of the 4 corners

"concerns expressed about uncensored and unregulated video content available to audiences in Britain in the early 1980s"
Technology

Political 

Social (audience & 1980's Britain)

Economic

Apply to demonstrate:
Each Mentor team should have a MIND MAP with the 3 contexts from the all the above

This should take about 20 mins - photograph & upload the Mind Map to your blog

Apply to demonstrate:
Construct a wheel of decide to assess the class on your terminology and context using Key Words
Wheel 1: Identify key terms, groups or words and social/technological/economic contexts
Wheel 2: Key films and examples, content that was to be regulated/censored

Plenary -
Explain how these are significant to the answer:






Point (which context, what concerns, which groups/organisations)
Example (Films, Case Studies of Video Nasties)
Analysis - explain the reasons on how they affected Film regulation and censorship
Synthesis - your conclusions/argument: is this just political, should there be censorship?

A3 Paragraph - each context
Carousel and add to the paragraph