extent, for example, is it necessary to see in close-up the wounds of an injured man? Is a genuinely new dramatic point made by zooming-in on the blind eyes of a brutally tortured victim? Pro- ducers should examine with particular care the nature of the emotions aroused when gratuitous violence is used for effects, as, for example, in some of the "Chinese Boxing” films.
11. Producers should give careful thought before filming sequences calling for prolonged fights, with or without weapons. or scenes or sequences of fights in close succession to one another. Riots, demonstrations, knives, stabbings, firearms, and gang warfare in any form or at any time require similar deliberation. Close-ups of weapons will rarely be permitted. The added impact of colour, especially the colour of blood, should not be overlooked. Gore in black and white has a different effect from gore in colour and technicolour blood in excess is likely to be cut.
12. There are three basic rules for producers when considering the portrayal of violence whether physical or mental bullying or intimidation, humiliation or cruelty.
They are---
(a) The Context of Violence
Examine the dramatic context in which violence occurs. To what extent is it a means to an end-and what sort of end?
(b) Violence for its own sake
If you are thinking of including violence for its own sake to attract a certain type of audience-don't. It will probably be cut.
(c) The Intensity of Violence
Think
A long shot of an ambush is one thing-a close-up of facial agony as a result of that sequence is another. carefully about the intensity of violence you portray. Although the tendency must be to exclude unnecessary violence from film entertainment, there are occasions when film makers must use violence to make a substantial point·'
about society and human relations. For example, it cannot be overlooked that violent situations sometimes evoke qualities of courage and leadership which are admired by the majority of people. However, care should be taken not to portray violence as in itself heroic. When film makers make use of violence with integrity then their right to portray it should be upheld.
13. Lastly, where film makers are planning adventure films for family entertainment which include some violent sequences they should consider the protection of children. Within this broad frame of reference, great care must always be taken in the presentation of the following:
(i) Scenes likely to frighten children
(There are degrees of fear, from the mild and half- pleasurable fear of climbing a tree or a mountain to abso- lute unmixed terror, and children vary greatly in their susceptibility to fear. Horror deliberately presented as an entertainment should be prohibited--but see paragraph 19. below.)
(ii) Scenes likely to unnerve and unsettle children
(Care must be taken to guard children against the im- pression that they are entering a world in which they can count on nothing as settled, reliable and kind, and in which they must make their way at the expense of others, resort- ing to physical or mental violence whenever it will pay them.)
(iii) Scenes likely to cause pain to children
(Pain witnessed, except by a brute, is pain felt. When witnessed, the pain of others stirs sympathy, and the desire arises to relieve the weak and helpless against it. This is a stage of moral growth. But there are degrees of suffering altogether too painful for children to watch. The more helpless the victim, such as the aged, the infirm, or an animal, the greater the pain induced in a good- hearted child.)
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