The following information is for students completing their NEA (non exam assessment, AKA coursework) for submission in 2025. This information will NOT be correct for any other student group. Please use the blog to find the correct information for your year.
Regulations
- You must complete an individual cross-media production, applying your knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework (media language, representation, media industries, audiences).
- Unassessed participants may act in, or appear in the media production, or operate lighting, sound, recording and other equipment under your direction if required.
- “The cross-media production must be conceptualised as a complete package of interrelated products in two forms, reflecting the nature of the contemporary media and the importance of different platforms in distributing, and enabling audiences to access, the media”
Brief - you must create:
- A cross-media production for a new artist or band in a popular genre (or subgenre/hybrid) of your choice.
- Create an original music video and associated print material to promote the same artist or band.
- You should create a cross-media production for a record label that is part of a global conglomerate (such as RCA Records or Parlophone Records). Your cross-media production should target a mainstream global audience of 18–35 year olds.
- You must create a convincing brand identity for a new artist that appeals to your designated target audience
Task one - Create an original music video to promote your new artist or band.
Length: 3 minutes - 3 minutes 30 seconds. Longer tracks may be edited or faded out to meet the required length.
The music video must construct representations of at least one social group and include the following:
- Two or more filming locations appropriate to the chosen genre, such as a studio, rehearsal or live performance setting, and other locations to establish the narrative
- A wide range of camera shots, angles and movement
- A range of shots of the artist or band to establish a clear image/identity
- Performance footage (rehearsal and/or live), lip-synched appropriate to the chosen popular genre
- Clear structure with an element of narrative (such as enigma, conflict, resolution or character types) to visually interpret the lyrics
- Editing of original footage to the music track
- Graphics depicting the name of the fictional artist or band and title of the track
Task two - Create an international tour poster AND a double-page feature article from a new British newspaper’s weekend supplement about the artist or band trying to become successful outside the UK
Length: 3 pages.
Your print production must construct representations of at least one social group and include at least 5 original images in total.
International tour poster:
- At least one image (different from the images in the newspaper article)
- Name of artist or band
- Name of tour
- Tour dates
- Information about where to buy tickets
- Social media links
Double-page feature article from a new British newspaper’s weekend supplement (or extract from a longer article):
- Headline and stand-first
- Feature article (approximately 200 words) on the artist or band’s attempting to ‘break into’ another country
- An interview with the artist or band
- Column layout appropriate for a newspaper’s weekend supplement
- One main image and additional smaller/minor images (all original and different from the images on the poster); these may include photographs of the artist/band on the music video set, but ‘stills’ from the music video must not be used
- At least one pull-quotation
- A running header and page numbers
How to get an A in the music video coursework
Use media language to demonstrate intertextuality and/or generic hybridity
Convey a complex representation of a social group using media language
Subvert and challenge typical representational stereotypes
Present an ideological context typical to a major music label
Create a magazine that demonstrates clear stylistic, thematic and ideological links to your music video
How to actually get an A in the music video coursework
Start shooting the first day you are able
If someone lets you down, deal with it and shoot someone else
If your venue falls through or your location shoot is rained off, shoot somewhere else
If you accidentally delete all your work, take a deep breath and start again
If your teacher tells you your footage is not up to standard, take a deep breath and go out and reshoot
You do NOT need ANY technical skills to get full marks in this project, just hard work and resilience!