IB FILM Standard Level - Independent Study (External assessment)

This is what we will be working on for the rest of the bimester:

Independent study (25% of overall mark)

Rationale, script and list of sources for a short documentary production of 8–10 pages on an aspect of film theory and/or film history, based on a study of a minimum of two films. The chosen films must originate from more than one country. (25 marks)

Length of the rationale: no more than 100 words

Length of the script: 8–10 pages


DETAILS: This component is based on part 2 of the course (film theory and history), but also draws to some extent on part 1 (textual analysis). The aim of the independent study is to encourage students to engage in some depth with a cinematic tradition that is unfamiliar to their own culture.

Genre; theme; direction; use of sound; colour; editing; lightingStudents must produce a script for a complete short documentary production exploring an aspect of film
theory or film history, based on the study of films from more than one country. The documentary should
be targeted at an audience of film students in the 14 to 18 years age range.

The independent study must be presented in the form of a written dossier composed of the following three items: Rationale; Script; Annotated list of sources

The topic should be discussed primarily in cinematic terms.

The prime voice of the documentary must clearly be that of the student, who will also act as the narrator, on-screen host and/or voice-over.
Students must ensure that any comments or ideas they attribute to celebrities or others, such as experts, are fully supported by detailed references in the annotated list of sources.

* Students at Standard Level must make reference to a minimum of TWO films in their independent study. * The chosen films must originate from more than one country.
* At SL the study is not necessarily comparative.
* The rationale must offer a brief, reasoned explanation of the concerns of the topic in no more than
100 words.
* The script must clearly indicate the relationship between the audio and visual elements of the documentary, employing an established documentary format such as “side-by-side” columns for video and audio components.
* All descriptions of video and audio elements must be both detailed and specific.
* Scripts must be 8–10 pages long at SL, using an accepted size of paper (for example, A4 or US letter) and must use 12-point Courier font (not in block capitals) and single spacing.
* It is important that the student treats a topic of film history or film theory in cinematic rather than literary terms.
* The annotated list of sources should refer to all materials used in researching the topic and all materials
used in the documentary itself, including films from which extracts will be shown and quotations from
experts or academics. Annotations should give the source and/or location of the reference.
* A comment on the relevance of the source must be included.
* Assessment of this component is based solely on the written script and the rationale. Actual films or film sequences are not acceptable.
* The materials produced for this component must not be submitted as part of the production portfolio.
* As part of the learning process, teachers can give advice to students on a first draft of the independent study.  Advice on improving the work can be given, but this first draft must not be heavily annotated or edited by the teacher. Constant drafting and redrafting is not allowed, and the next version handed to the teacher after the first draft must be the final one.

Examples of topics for the independent study: -
Suggested topic/Suggested films:

Rites of passage: A study of cinematic At SL the study could be of Walkabout and Cinema
representation of adolescence (and/or childhood) Paradiso.
(Other suitable films could include The Butcher Boy
and Boyz n the Hood.)

The outsider: A study of how representations
of “the outsider” are constructed, with particular
reference to the films of Akira Kurosawa and their
Western remakes
At SL the study could be of The Seven Samurai and
The Magnificent Seven.

Propaganda and film: A study of film as political At SL the study could be of The Triumph of the Will
and/or social propaganda and Why We Fight.

Images of horror: A study of the development
of horror films through cinematic techniques (or
their reflections of cultural fears)
At SL the study could be of Nosferatu and Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein.
(Taken from: IB Film guide First assessment 2010)

Among the topics students may choose to investigate are: