IB Film comparative study: structure and script steps

The comparative study is an externally assessed Film task at SL and HL. It is a recorded multimedia study of at most 10 minutes, including a 10-second slate, marked on 3 criteria for 32 marks. This structure has 3 sections: the slate, a narration script and a list of sources, and it times the script as you write.

At a glance

Task	Comparative study (recorded)
Guide	Film guide, second edition, first assessment 2023
Sessions	May 2027, November 2027 and May 2028
Levels	SL and HL
Assessment	External
Weighting	30% at SL and 20% at HL
Limit	A recorded multimedia study of at most 10 minutes, including a 10-second black slate; the examiner stops watching at 10 minutes. Examiners stop reading at the limit.
Criteria	A Task components (12), B Comparing and contrasting (12), C Assembling the comparative study (8): 32 marks.
What is changing	No new Film course is announced, so one structure covers all 3 sessions.

The structure, section by section

1. Slate

Required by the IB

The area of film focus, the 2 film titles and the topic, on screen for 10 seconds.

Enter the area of film focus.
Enter both titles and the topic.
Start the narration as the slate appears.

2. Narration script

Common practice (the IB assesses the recording; the script is a working document) · Criterion: Task components, Comparing and contrasting, Assembling the comparative study

The spoken text of the study.

Plan the script against the 3 criteria.
Time it as you write: the whole study, slate included, must stay within 10 minutes.
Mark where each clip or still appears.

3. List of sources

Required by the IB · Outside the word count

Both films and every other source used.

Log each source when you first use it.

What counts toward the limit

The workspace turns the words of your script into minutes at 130 words a minute, slate included, as a planning estimate. The list of sources is outside the timing, so check the real recording against the 10-minute limit.

The limit: A recorded multimedia study of at most 10 minutes, including a 10-second black slate; the examiner stops watching at 10 minutes. Examiners stop reading at the limit.

Graphs and visuals

Screen-grabs Image, common
Stills for the recording. Use minimal labels with timecode and source.

The frequencies are our estimates, from what the IB guide expects and what teachers advise. We did not count them in marked work.

Citations

The IB prescribes no style and your school chooses; MLA 9 is common in film studies. The list of sources has to reference both films.

The workspace keeps your sources and writes the bibliography in MLA 9th to start with. You can switch to APA 7th, Chicago author-date, Chicago notes (footnotes) or Harvard at any point.

Pitfalls

A recording over 10 minutes: the examiner stops watching at 10 minutes, and the 10-second slate counts toward the time.
A slate that leaves out the area of film focus, the 2 film titles or the topic.
Films you have studied in depth, or films from the textual analysis list.
2 films from 1 country without a justification of how their cultural contexts differ.
A list of sources that leaves out 1 of the 2 films.

Write it in the workspace

These sections in order with their steps, a word counter that counts the way this page says, your sources and a bibliography, and graphs from your own data. Export to Word or PDF.

Open this structure in your workspace

The workspace is free with an account, and it never writes or rewrites your text. What we will and will not do with your coursework →

Sources

The IB documents behind this page, checked 29 October 2026. The linked ones are on ibo.org; the others are IB documents we read in copies hosted elsewhere, so we name them without a link. Everything above is in our own words: the official wording is in your subject guide, which your coordinator can give you. LimeAdmissions is independent of the International Baccalaureate Organization, which has not endorsed this page. Every coursework structure →