The Impact DCP Goes To The BBFC For Classification
8 May 2022 · 2 min read
The final DCP* for The Impact is coming out just over 100GB, fitting nicely on an old SSD ripped from a dead laptop.
And it’s now time to submit the film for BBFC classification. This is a legal requirement if we are to show the film publically, and also part of the evidence trail for the World Record attempts we will make at the premiere. The most directors and most writers on a feature film.
What certificate will it get? Well there’s no sex, drugs use (well maybe there kind of is, but you can judge yourself at the premiere), no bad language or violence. But the themes are thought provoking and some sequences are emotionally intense. My guess would be a 15 but I suspect I am also living in a different era and it will likely get a 12 or 12A.
Much like seeing a book you have written in a Waterstones, getting the BBFC certificate and seeing it on the front of your film is a kind of sign that the film has finally made it into the wild.
Also, rather happily the BBFC seems to have been overhauled with a new pricing structure.
For a film like The Impact, to get it classified used to cost around £1,500, maybe more. Now small indie films can be classified for a flat fee of £500, so long as they are showing on 20 screens or less. This is great news for indie filmmakers and lowers another barrier to entry for theatrical distribution.
*What is a DCP? This is the digital file played back in a cinema and is mastered to a very specific and rigorous format. It’s short for Digital Cinema Package. It can be encryted with smart keys that will lock playback to times and locations – useful for massive films of course. For indie filmmakers it’s now pretty simple and can even be hosted on your Dropbox or Google drive accoutns for download at festivals. Short films will very often be sent on USB memory sticks. It’s important to get the film to the venue early so the projectionist can check that…
They can open your drive.
They can copy the film and it plays back as expected. Ideally you can even check this yourself.
To avoid panic before hand when both of the above inevitably happen!
One tip, do check sound levels as adverts can be played loud and so theatres sometimes turn the sound down and NOT back up for your film that is not mixed to within a DB of its life (like some adverts are).
Worth a note, you will need a DCP for a trailer if you plan to show in cinemas too.
Put a stciker on the drive with EVERTHING on it. Including your contact details.
See you at the premiere. It’s all getting VERY real! Tickets here… www.impact50film.com/tickets
Chris Jones
www.Impact50film.com
Written by
Chris JonesPassionate about all things film, I have spent my life watching movies, making movies and helping others make their movies too. Most recently I have been directing Splinter Unit on 'Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning', parts 1 and 2 for Paramount. I also executive-produced 'The Enfield Poltergeist' for Apple TV+. Deeper into my past, my early major projects include action thriller 'The Runner', serial killer thriller 'White Angel' and paranormal horror 'Urban Ghost Story'. I co-created and authored The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook series, published by Bloomsbury. There are now eight books in the series. More recently I have run a series of London-based festivals, kicking off with the London Screenwriters Festival which attracts over 1,000 professional screenwriters from around the globe annually. I also set up and run TEDxEaling, an annual TEDx conference on storytelling and human communication. In 2009, I made the multi-award-winning and Oscar-shortlisted 'Gone Fishing', the whole process being heavily documented on my blog. In 2014 I completed my fourth feature film, the crowd-created 50 Kisses which entered the Guinness Book Of Records for most screenwriters on a feature film. Following this success, I founded Create50 to continue the idea of crowd-created projects. Twisted50, our first book, was published on Halloween 2016 and immediately toppled Stephen King from the top spot on Amazon. Five books have followed in the Twisted50 series and we are working on the sixth now. During the summer of 2016 I trained to become a master Firewalk instructor and now regularly take people across the hot coals for charity. Late 2017 I directed the short film 'Seeing Him' which collected a ton of awards too. Over the following years I continued to make award-winning shorts, such as Meet The Nativity and Never Too Late. In the summer of 2022 I premiered Impact 50, the second feature-length movie from Create50. This time I directed the segment at the start of the film, with Olivia Williams as the President, and written by Joe Eszterhas. In the summer of 2022, I also joined the Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 productions as Splinter Unit director. At Halloween 2023, the Apple TV+ show that I co-executive-produced, 'The Enfield Poltergeist', premiered. I run regular filmmaking workshops for filmmakers both online and in person. Some people ask how I began making films? Like most filmmakers of my generation, it was with a Super 8mm camera, summertime and school friends, usually after watching a behind-the-scenes TV programme on a Hollywood movie like Star Wars. My first film was a zombie horror called Necronomicon, heavily influenced by John Carpenter's The Fog. And I was hooked for life. Contact me at Ealing Film Studios, Ealing Green, London, W5 5EP, UK
