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Glossary

To help you understand some of the terms used on this website, we have put together a glossary explaining them.

  • 35mm film = The type of film used for movie theatres.
  • Adult magazine = Sexually explicit magazines.
  • Bestiality = Sexual conduct involving humans and animals.
  • BSA = Broadcasting Standards Authority. The New Zealand agency responsible for complaints about standards of television and radio broadcasting.
  • CCF = Chief Censor of Films. From 1916 until 1994 the Chief Censor of Films was responsible for classifying all films intended for public exhibition in New Zealand. Banned films were said to be 'rejected for classification'.
  • Cinematic version = The version of the film that is shown in movie theatres. It is usually on 35mm film and sometimes on DVD. It is just the main feature film, with no extras.
  • Classification = A legal statement about who can have access to a publication. A classification can make a publication unrestricted (G, PG, M), restricted (RP or R), or objectionable (banned).
  • Classification Officer = Official title for a censor. Classification Officers examine publications when they are submitted for classification.
  • Consideration sheet = filled in by Classification Officers during the classification process. This document is designed to ensure that each point of classification law, that might have relevance to the publication under examination, is considered.
  • Cross-rating = A system of rating unrestricted films where the unrestricted classification (G, PG, or M) from Australia or the UK is given to films in New Zealand.
  • Cut = A segment of film that must be removed before the film can be made available to the public. Cuts are also referred to as 'excisions'.
  • Descriptive note = The extra wording on a classification label which warns people of content in the film e.g. 'M: contains sexual references and offensive language'.
  • Dominant effect = The main impact on the audience/viewer/reader/player
  • Excisions = Bits cut from a film or publication to meet a classification requirement.
  • Gratuitous = Over the top, extreme, unnecessary.
  • IPT = Indecent Publications Tribunal. The IPT was responsible for restricting and banning books, magazines and sound recordings between 1963 and 1994. Banned material was classed as 'indecent'.
  • Judicial review = An appeal case to the High Court on a point of law. For example, if a person thinks that the Board of Review made an error in interpreting the Classification Act when they made a decision on a publication, the person could seek a judicial review.
  • Objectionable = If a publication is objectionable it is banned. It is illegal to posses, import or distribute an objectionable publication.
  • OFLC = Office of Film and Literature Classification. Since 1993 the OFLC has been responsible for classifying all publications, including films, videos, books and video games. Banned films are classified as 'Objectionable'.
  • Opaque bag = A bag you can't see through which covers up explicit content on magazine covers.
  • Publication = The definition of 'publication' includes a number of things, such as film, DVDs, books, video games, sound recordings and computer files.

    Read the full definition of 'publication' in the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993

  • Public Consultation = When the Classification Office seeks the opinions of a group of people (eg a specific community) about a publication being classified.
  • Pre-release film = A film that has not yet been shown to the New Zealand public.
  • Rating = A consumer advice statement given for films and DVDs by the Film and Video Labelling Body: G, PG, or M. Ratings can be overturned by classification decisions from the Office of Film and Literature Classification.
  • Record of Assistance = A written report of a consultation such as a 'Public Consultation' (see above). The Classification Office may show a publication to any person it considers could help it to form an opinion of the publication on which to base a classification decision.
  • Soundtrack = Music, spoken words, sounds effects in a film.
  • Subject matter gateway = In 2000, a Court of Appeal decision about a publication first coined the phrase 'subject matter gateway'. The Court said:

    [28] The words used in s3 [of the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act] limit the qualifying publications to those that can fairly be described as dealing with matters of the kinds listed. In that regard, too, the collocation of words "sex, horror, crime, cruelty or violence", as the matters dealt with, tends to point to activity rather than to the expression of opinion or attitude.

    [29] That, in our view, is the scope of the subject matter gateway.

     

    - Court of Appeal decision 6 HRNZ 28 (2000)

     

    For a publication to be classified it must in some way deal with one or more of sex, horror, crime, cruelty or violence.
  • Summary of reasons for classification = Sometimes called decisions, this is produced by the Classification Office detailing the reasons for giving a particular classification to a publication. These can be requested from the Office.
  • VRA = Video Recordings Authority. Between 1987 and 1994 the VRA was responsible for restricting and banning videos intended for private use. Banned videos were classed as 'indecent'.

 

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