Year 12 Media Studies - Writing the Report

The pre-production and production must be accompanied by a report of 1200 – 1600 words. This report must be completed individually and will:

•Outline the research undertaken by the candidate.
•Explain how the research has been used to inform the pre-production.
•Outline and justify the target audience for the production – and explain HOW the audience has been targeted.
* Evaluate the production, summarising its strengths and weaknesses; preferably by comparing it with similar products.





Breaking it Down

If you break it down therefore you can see that there are THREE main parts to the essay:

Part 1: 
What research was undertaken?
How did you use the research?
Word Count: 700

Part 2: 
Who was your target audience?
How was this audience targetted?
Word Count: 150-200

Part 3: 
Was the production effective?
What were its strengths?
What were its weaknesses?
Comparison to real crime dramas.
Word Count: 700


Part 1:  Research
What research was undertaken and how did you use it?

1.  Think about what texts you used in your research and how you researched them.
Make a list of these.

2.  Think about what television crime drama conventions you identified.
Make a list of these.

3.  Think about which of these conventions you used.
Did you subvert any conventions? Did you challenge any stereotypes?
Did you stick very closely to the conventions?
Make a list of examples.

Part 2:  Target Audience

Who was your target audience and how did you target them?

1.  Think about who your crime drama was aimed at. 
Note this down.

2.  Think about ways in which you targeted them. 
Did you choose a particular channel?  A time slot?  A style or sub-genre? A particular day for transmission? Graphic violence? Sexual content? A particular character type?
Make a list of examples.

Part 3: Evaluation

Was your production successful?

1.  Think about whether your production was effective in a general sense. 
Note down answers to the following:  Was it good? Did it work as a TV crime drama?  Did it look like a real crime drama?

2.  Identify 2 real television crime dramas which are as close to your production in terms of style, sub genre and target audience as possible.

Use these examples to compare your production against.  Does it look as good as them?  is it in line with them?  In what ways is it?  In what ways is it not?

3.  Identify 3 positive points about your production.


4. Identify 3 negative points about your production.

Wrapping it up.

Create a detailed essay structure.

Identify which examples will be used.

Identify what will be in each paragraph.

Identify how many words each paragraph needs to be.