UNIT 4
You’re on your own!

Follow your interests...

While some elements of Unit
3 will be relevant to Unit 4,
your critical investigation
should not overlap your case
studies

Pose a question, or just start
an investigation, or…

Start with a production idea
and let it suggest an
investigation…

Assessment Objectives
• AO1 — demonstrate knowledge and
understanding of media concepts, contexts,
and critical debates (5% — 16 marks)
• AO3 — demonstrate the ability to plan and
construct media products using appropriate
technical and creative skills (10% — 32 marks)
• AO4 — demonstrate the ability to undertake,
apply and present appropriate research (10% —
32 marks)

Mark Scheme

Research/investigation
top band...
fluent & analytical investigation … clear,
autonomous and critical, …extensive and wide-
ranging research which has clearly been employed
in the investigation and detailed in the
bibliography … a wide range of academic, media
and contextual sources. …Sophisticated research
and engagement with the primary text(s) and a
range of secondary texts.

Research/investigation
middle band
proficient … autonomous research and
exploration.… research has been used and
recorded … making use of some academic, media
and contextual sources. … The work is
reasonably well presented with a basic
bibliography.
The work contextualises the study and the linked
production piece within the contemporary media
landscape.

linked production
top band
creative & aesthetically successful product …
high production values … highly competent use
of technology.
Significant understanding of relevant institutional &
genre codes and conventions.… Highly appropriate
technically, aesthetically and institutionally within the
contemporary media landscape.
…possibly approaching professional standards.

linked production
middle band
realised product … appropriate production
standards & … sound use of technology.
Appropriate technically, aesthetically and
institutionally within the contemporary media
landscape … may not be entirely successful.
Solid, secure and successfully realised … some flaws

No matter how good your
production, it’s worth a
maximum of 32 marks out of
a possible 80.

Choose a primary text...

“Contemporary” means
produced within 5 years of the
start of your A2 year... So
anything since Sept 2004

Identify a number of linked
secondary texts across media
platforms

Identify appropriate theories,
debates, and contexts

produce investigate research

investigate research produce

research investigate produce

Examples

idea: the changing role of the
other in contemporary
American horror films

investigation/research: the
development of American
horror film, with a focus on
the idea of the outsider/other

theoretical toolkit: genre
theory; media effects;
postmodernism; Lévi-Strauss
(binary oppositions); Freud

linked production: an
opening sequence of an
American-style horror film
which emphasises the role of
the outsider.

+ 2,000-word written
investigation (or director’s
commentary)

Example 2

production idea: a few pages
of a new sports magazine
aimed at women

investigation: the treatment
and availability of women’s
sport in the print media (and
elsewhere)

theoretical toolkit: gender
and ethnicity (feminist
theories); audience theories;
semiotics; institutional sexism

Collaboration?

It is possible for a group of up
to 4 students to collaborate on
one (bigger) production, and
then each investigate
different issues, themes &
debates arising from it.

Investigation
of the other
Freudian
approaches to
American the horror genre
Horror Influence of
world cinema on
American horror
Censorship
& the media

Length / quantity of work

Moving image productions:
5 minutes maximum
(though, e.g. TV ads could
be as short as 30 secs)

Print productions: 3 pages
per individual student

Investigation: 2,000 words or
equivalent spoken
commentary

Approval required! DON’T
start work until this is
confirmed!

More exam board examples...

Critical Investigation area
Gender representations in soap operas
Linked Production
The opening sequence for an episode of a new
soap opera
Critical Investigation area
Viral marketing techniques
Linked Production
A viral advertisement suitable for distribution
by mobile phone
Critical Investigation area
Japanese anime
Linked Production
Trailer for a new anime film

Critical Investigation area: Contemporary men’s
lifestyle magazines
Linked Production: Mock-up of the first edition
of a new men’s lifestyle magazine
Critical Investigation area: Machinima &
commercial game trailers
Linked Production: Machinima film for a new
first-person shooter computer game
Critical Investigation area
Shock jocks & local commercial radio stations
Linked Production
Opening section of a new late night ‘discussion’
programme for a local radio station

The best research will always
start with yourself: an
investigation into why you
like/dislike a particular thing