MPAA Ratings
- Thread starter Stunted
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I don't take ratings into account when I write. It would be just another inner editor to deal with. Besides, the whole MPAA rating system is far too subjective. I've heard of instances where a couple of cuss words that the writers thought would be a problem turned out okay and instead they fall over something completely different.
Limit the violence, sex and bad language to the level of a typical PG13 film. But why would you want to?
http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Ratings.asp
If you're looking to fall within a specific rating, then you need to read that.
There are lots of reasons to do so. Target Audience being the biggest.
Saints and Soldiers for example was a PG -13 war movie. They did it because of their audience. They wanted to appeal to the LDS base and a lot of said base avoid R rated movies. To do so they had to very carefully use the camera and even enlisted established experts to help them edit the film so that it could fall into the PG-13 base.
Another example are kids movies. You do have to be careful what you put into them to get the desired rating. G is going to have the biggest audience by default, PG second, a kids movie that is PG-13 is probably going to not do so well, you just eliminated most of your audience and R is certainly not going to work.
Going for a lower rating does not mean you have to dumb down your work, in some ways you might find yourself having to be more clever to pull it off.
If you're looking to fall within a specific rating, then you need to read that.
There are lots of reasons to do so. Target Audience being the biggest.
Saints and Soldiers for example was a PG -13 war movie. They did it because of their audience. They wanted to appeal to the LDS base and a lot of said base avoid R rated movies. To do so they had to very carefully use the camera and even enlisted established experts to help them edit the film so that it could fall into the PG-13 base.
Another example are kids movies. You do have to be careful what you put into them to get the desired rating. G is going to have the biggest audience by default, PG second, a kids movie that is PG-13 is probably going to not do so well, you just eliminated most of your audience and R is certainly not going to work.
Going for a lower rating does not mean you have to dumb down your work, in some ways you might find yourself having to be more clever to pull it off.
Writers can consider who they want their audience to be and plan & plot based on that. For instance, Denzel is currently shooting a film called UNSTOPPABLE, which will be a PG-13 action film. Something lightweight that younger audiences can see. No on screen deaths or real violence. No "F" bombs. This way the film casts a bigger net. It could easily be an "R" rated film, but that wasn't the intention going in.
Many of the things that effect ratings are out of the writer's control. For instance, I had a film released in July that received an NC-17 rating until we cut 7 seconds - most of which consisted of sound and music - which the Board felt intensified the horror.
So, my advice would be to consider your audience and write accordingly rather than think about the rating - which is wholly out of your control.
Many of the things that effect ratings are out of the writer's control. For instance, I had a film released in July that received an NC-17 rating until we cut 7 seconds - most of which consisted of sound and music - which the Board felt intensified the horror.
So, my advice would be to consider your audience and write accordingly rather than think about the rating - which is wholly out of your control.
I personally don't focus too much on ratings when I write a story. Just cause I know how I might see it in my head, will not be the same thing that is actually shown. Like creativexec said, during production they might be aiming for a particular rating but the writer has no control over that.
The writer may have written a script that in his mind, could easily be an NC-17 film. But produced could be a strong PG-13 or light R. Either way, it's completely out of his control.
I do take into account things like, cuss words, violence, sex, gore, things along those lines when writing, but that's more for storytelling reasons (Is it necessary to the story?). Most of the time, I come up with an answer of "no, it isn't".
The writer may have written a script that in his mind, could easily be an NC-17 film. But produced could be a strong PG-13 or light R. Either way, it's completely out of his control.
I do take into account things like, cuss words, violence, sex, gore, things along those lines when writing, but that's more for storytelling reasons (Is it necessary to the story?). Most of the time, I come up with an answer of "no, it isn't".
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Theme of romance but nothing too explicit. I'd say if you want to do action films or crime films you're probably looking at the US equivalent of a 15. (In Britain, there's U (suitable for all), PG (parental guidance), 12A (only people 12 and above can watch it unaccompanied), 15, and 18.
Just to clarify: Making sure a kids film gets a PG or G rating is of course a good idea as anything higher is cut into your audience, but I strongly believe what is being aimed for is eventually decided by producers and directors. When I made my earlier post, I wanted to encourage the writer to just write what's on their mind and worry about ratings later (or not at all). I obviously wouldn't put hardcore sex in something aimed at kids, but I don't worry as much about violence and language.