Cambridge
TECHNICALSOCR LEVEL 3
CAMBRIDGE TECHNICALCERTIFICATE/DIPLOMA IN

MEDIA
ANALYSING MEDIA PRODUCTS
AND AUDIENCESLEVEL 3 UNIT 1
VERSION 1 OCTOBER 2013

WHAT CENTRES ARE ASKING ABOUT THE
CAMBRIDGE TECHNICALS IN MEDIA
Level 3 Unit 1 - Analysing Media Products and Audiences
Equally when selecting an institution and its associatedproduct it would be advisable to select institutions who havesome association with a UK Regulator such as BBFC, Ofcom,
Press Complaints Commission (or other relevant body), ASA,PEGI, although this does not limit Centres to the study of UK
based institutions. It would be advisable that Centres do notselect a media product which has not been released yet as thismakes information gathering difficult for learners for Learning
Outcome 1.

1. Do you recommend I start with the mandatory unit or
are there any other delivery possibilities I should consider?
You could consider starting with a unit such as Unit 16 Planningand Pitching an Audio Visual Media Product to get your learners
immediately engaged with creative work. You could then follow
with the mandatory unit, which would allow your learners toinvestigate how the production process they have just lookedat actually works within the media industry.

5. To achieve P1 what kind of detail is OCR looking for inrelation to the components listed?

You could start with Unit 41 - Production and Post-Production
for Film or Unit 14 - Producing a Print Media Product as thisgives learners the opportunity to introduce audio-visual andprint skills.

To achieve P1 a) you would be expected to provide full detailsof the media institution’s ownership structure such as who are
the board of directors and CEO? Is there a parent company,
and who are the individuals and groups that are the major
shareholders?

2. Can I accommodate Unit 1 into a project based delivery?
Yes you can. For example this unit could be delivered as aninformation website or as a review section on a film company’s
website or as an online or hard copy press pack.

To evidence b) the operating model of the institution, youwould be expected to describe the structure of the media
institution with a brief description of the departments andhow they work together as a media institution to produce its
products. A flow diagram is often a useful way to illustrate how
the media institution operates, how they do business (Ie what
products do they produce), how do they produce them, how
they distribute them.

3. Do you have any suggestions of media institutions that I
could use as a contextual basis for this unit?
You could use media institutions across a range of disciplinesthat are well known to the learners, which would engage theirinterest. For example you could choose Rockstar Games who
produce the Grand Theft Auto video game series or Eon Productions
who produce the James Bond film series. In print production
you could choose the Bauer Media Group who produce Heatmagazine. In audio production you could choose Def Jam
Records who produce artists such as Rihanna and Kanye West.

To evidence c) learners need to evidence the products that theinstitution makes and you would be expected to describe atleast three distinct media products made by that institution.
To evidence d) market position, you would need to identify
the commercial success of the institution in relation to it’scompetitors in the market and include information such as theannual profit of the institution and what are its most successfulproducts.

4. When choosing a suitable context for the unit are there
any areas I should be looking to avoid?

To evidence e) competitors you would need to identify thosemedia institutions which produce competing media products
and describe some of the products that rival those of yourchosen institution.

You should avoid areas where they would be a grey area interms of regulation. This would apply to websites where anational regulatory framework does not exist.

Level 3 Unit 1 - Analysing Media Products and Audiences2

6. Should there be a logical flow through the unit? AmI expected to take my initial context and ensure allremaining criteria hang off it?

10. What resources could I draw on when delivering thecontent of this unit?
There are resources such as www.imdb.com that covers TV
and film production. You could use www.mobygames.com forvideogame production. Print production can be covered usingwww.magforum.com.

You do not have to complete the unit in chronological order.
For example you could start with the analysis of genre ofyour chosen media product then go on to investigate theinstitution that produced it at a later stage. What you must
do though is ensure that all the Learning Outcomes for thisunit are evidenced through your learners’ investigations of theinstitution and the chosen media product produced by thatinstitution.

11. If my candidates do not achieve one of the merit criteria
in its entirety what are the implications of this for theoverall grade that can be awarded?
If your learners do not achieve one of the merit criteria they will
only be able to receive a pass grade overall.

7. What format do you recommend learners should adopt
for evidence generation in this unit?
Learners should adopt a presentation style format that caneasily visualise the required evidence. There are many options todeliver this other than PowerPoint. Online tools such as
www.prezi.com, www.gliffy.com, and www.lucidchart.com can beused.
8. Some of my candidates want to work as a group when
undertaking research. Is this approach possible for thisunit and are there any pitfalls I should watch out for?
It is acceptable for your learners to work as a group whencarrying out research but the evidence they generate to meet
the assessment criteria must be solely their own. You should
watch out for any work that has been submitted by learners
that appears to be duplicated across the group. To get aroundthis problem you could have learners work in research groups
focussed on a specific genre such as action films and thenget them to produce evidence on differing institutions andproducts.
9. The unit appears quite theoretical in nature. Are there
any practical activities I could introduce to bring thecontent of the unit to life and motivate learners?
To give this unit more of a practical focus you could ask
learners to produce their evidence as a documentary film or
animation that covers all of the assessment criteria. It may evenbe possible to combine this unit with Unit 17 Producing an
Audio Visual Media Product where the evidence of planningand making a documentary covers Unit 17 and the content
covers the mandatory unit as long as the evidence is distinctly
evidenced by learners for each unit.

Level 3 Unit 1 - Analysing Media Products and Audiences3

12. I am struggling to understand the progression required
to move from P2 to D1. Can you provide an example of
how the coverage required in P2 could be extended toachieve a successful outcome in D1? What would theevidence look like for example?
In P2 learners are asked to analyse each of the listed individualcomponents. To progress to D1 they would need to show
an understanding of how these elements combine to create
meaning within the media product as a whole. For example,learners would need to demonstrate an understanding of how
the use of CGI has become conventional in the production
process of a sci-fi movie as this contributes to the constructionof its genre. Learners would also need to demonstrate how
media language is combined in the selected media productand how the media producer uses media language to produce
a desired meaning for their target audience.
13. M2 and D2 look like they could be achieved through apresentation type activity. Is this permissible and are there
any issues in terms of evidence generation that I should beaware of?
A presentation activity is permissible. Learners should be awarethat they must clearly analyse all of the components in P3
before moving onto a more detailed analysis at M2 and D2. Any
presentation activity should be clearly evidenced with audio oraudio-visual evidence, and if working in a group, individual learners’contribution to the presentations should be supported by awitness statement from the tutor.

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Level 3 Unit 1 - Analysing Media Products and Audiences
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