1. Jenn Bunn
INTRODUCTION TO MS3 COURSEWORK MODULE
1. The Research Investigation (45 marks)
For this written part of the coursework, you are required to
undertake an individual investigation into a specific area of study
focused on one of the following concepts:
 Genre
 Narrative
 Representation
Your research should draw on a range of both primary and
secondary sources (i.e. actual case study texts which you will
analyse, and research material drawn from books, the web, etc)
enabling you to reach a conclusion that will then inform your
production.
Once you have come up with a particular topic area that you wish
to focus on, you will need to work in conjunction with your tutor to
negotiate a focused question/title.
For this investigation, you need to consider two key areas:
o Choose a topic that you are interested in! This will
make the whole process much more enjoyable
o Choose a topic that you can then do some follow-up
production work on
Potential topic areas:
Whatever topic area / question you decide on, you must come up
with 2-3 focus texts which will be your main case studies and will
be the basis of your own analysis.
You must base your investigation around one of the following
areas:

2. REPRESENTATION:
1. Representation of women
2. Representation of men
3. Representation of youth
You can choose your own texts/genres to base your investigation on. Successful
investigations in the past have included areas such as:
• A comparison of the representations of women in pop and rock music
(e.g. comparing representations of 2 contrasting artists, looking at how
they are represented in music videos, press articles/images, album art
work, websites, etc)
• Representations of men or women in men’s lifestyle magazines
• Representations of young people in TV drama (e.g. comparing US and UK
teen dramas)
• How have the representations of women in horror films changed over
time?
• How might we account for the rise in representations of female action
heroes?
GENRE:
1. How a genre has changed/developed over time
2. How a particular text conforms to or challenges a given genre
You can choose to base your investigation on either the horror or action film
genres, the reality TV or soap opera TV genre, lifestyle magazines, or beauty or
charity advertising.
NARRATIVE:
1. Compare and contrast the narrative techniques of 2 texts
(e.g. a one-off drama and a soap opera; or a tabloid and broadsheet newspaper; )
2. Explore the narrative structure and techniques of a particular genre (e.g. soap
operas, crime dramas or crime films)
Once the investigation is complete, you must then go on to your production

3. piece, and finally an evaluation.
The Production piece is worth 45 marks, and is informed by your research
investigation. It must demonstrate high level creative and technical skills, and
must be undertaken individually.
Digital and print-based media productions should be 3 – 4 pages in length,
with the majority of the images being generated by you. (N.B. You CANNOT
produce any magazine material as this is what you did for AS
coursework)
Examples of successful production pieces include:
• Marketing materials (e.g. posters, flyers, viral marketing materials)
• CD covers, DVD covers, music artist photo shoots, tour posters, etc
• Press packs
• Websites and other digital materials
Remember:
The production must be directly connected to your investigation and its
research. So, for example, if your investigation was into how representations
of women in horror films have changed over time, your production piece might
be, say, a series of teaser and theatrical posters for a new horror film with a
female protagonist, which either conforms to, or subverts, the traditional
representation of female victims. (i.e. there must be reference to what you
have found in your research in the production piece itself)
Finally, the evaluation (worth 10 marks, and 500-750 words in length)
explores how the research undertaken into a particular media concept
(genre, narrative or representation) informed the production, i.e. what did
you learn in your research that you have either used in your own production,
or perhaps deliberately challenged, and why?
A2 Induction work
Your tutor will be setting you specific tasks and deadlines which you must hit
before the start of the A2 course in September, but broadly speaking, you
must have the following completed in this summer induction period:
• A firm, specific title for your investigation, which has been agreed with
your tutor (N.B. the title must contain one of the following words: genre,
narrative or representation)
• Selection of 2-3 case study texts, which you must watch, analyse and
make detailed notes on in relation to your chosen research area
• A decision on what your production pieces will be (agreed with tutor),
and completion of some practical skills building work as appropriate
• The beginnings of your bibliography, using books, websites, journals,
magazines, etc (see notes on referencing on next page ). You
must start making notes on particular theories and other useful
research, which you can use to ‘beef up’ your investigation to take you
into the higher grade bands
REFERENCING

4. First and foremost, ensure you keep a note of the necessary details of
every book, website, article, video/DVD, etc you use as part of your
research!
IF YOU TAKE SOME INFO FROM A BOOK, BE IT DIRECTLY QUOTED, OR
A PARAPHRASED IDEA, IN YOUR NOTES YOU MUST JOT DOWN THE
BOOK’S NAME, AUTHOR, PUBLISHER, DATE OF PUBLICATION, AND
THE PAGES YOU ARE REFERENCING.
IF YOU USE SOMETHING FROM A WEBSITE, YOU MUST MAKE A NOTE
OF THE FULL WEBSITE ADDRESS, THE AUTHOR (IF KNOWN), AND THE
DATE THE PAGE WAS ACCESSED.
IF YOU USE ANY FILMS OR TV PROGRAMMES, MAKE A NOTE OF THE
NAME OF THE TEXT, ITS PRODUCER AND DATE OF RELEASE.
DO THIS AS YOU GO ALONG – YOU WILL THEN SIMPLY BE ABLE TO
PUT ALL OF THIS TOGETHER TO CREATE YOUR BIBLIOGRAPHY.
You will lose marks if you do not have a complete and thorough
bibliography.
Coursework Proposal Form
Topic area Disney cartoons and adult cartoons

5. Proposed question How are women represented in disney
cartoons compared to women in adult
cartoons
Proposed case
study texts
Disney- Cinderella, Aladdin, beauty and the beast,
snow white
Adult- The Simpsons, family guy, American dad
Proposed
production pieces
Film promotion posters, dvd covers
Of how Disney princesses would look like in adult tv
shows and how adult cartoon characters would look
like in Disney films
Initial vital
research to be
undertaken
(e.g. potential
theories,
background
reading, case
study analysis, etc)
Propps character theory
Papers people have already written on
representations of women in Disney

6. Proposed question How are women represented in disney
cartoons compared to women in adult
cartoons
Proposed case
study texts
Disney- Cinderella, Aladdin, beauty and the beast,
snow white
Adult- The Simpsons, family guy, American dad
Proposed
production pieces
Film promotion posters, dvd covers
Of how Disney princesses would look like in adult tv
shows and how adult cartoon characters would look
like in Disney films
Initial vital
research to be
undertaken
(e.g. potential
theories,
background
reading, case
study analysis, etc)
Propps character theory
Papers people have already written on
representations of women in Disney