Tuesday, 22 April 2025

Coursework brief for submission in 2026

The following information is for students completing their NEA (non exam assessment, AKA coursework) for submission in 2026. This information will NOT be correct for any other student group. Please use the blog to find the correct information for your year. 



Brief

A cross-media production for a new artist or band in a popular genre (or sub-genre/hybrid) of your choice.

Create an original music video and associated print material (an album cover and a double page spread) to promote the same artist or band.

You should create a cross-media production for a record label that is a division of one of the ‘Big Three’ record labels (such as Sony Music Entertainment’s Epic Records, Universal Music Group’s Republic Records or Warner Music Group’s Fueled by Ramen). Your cross-media production should target a 'Generation Z’ audience (in 2025, this means 13 - 28 years old, and are the first generation to have typically grown up with digitally convergent media as a cultural dominant)


Additional information


For this project, you will create your own music artist/band. Although you will use a pre-existing song for the music video, all other aspects of the artist/band should be invented by you.


Task 1 - Create an original music video to promote your artist or band.


Learners undertaking this brief should ‘invent’ a new artist or band. For example, they might select a track by an existing artist/band but create a new artist/band and persona, using a classmate (or classmates) to perform as the artist/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 2 - create an album advertisement for the band's new album and a double-page feature article from a new bi-monthly music magazine


Three pages. Your print production must construct representations of at least one social group and include at least 5 original images in total.


Album advertisement


  • At least one image (different from the images in the magazine article)
  • Name of artist or band
  • Name of the album
  • Release date
  • Social media or streaming service links

Double-page feature article about the artist/band from a new bi-monthly music magazine (or opening from a longer article):


  • Headline and stand-first
  • Feature article/article opening (approximately 200 words) on the artist or band, including quotations from an interview
  • Column layout appropriate for a music magazine
  • 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 should appear on each page

How to get an A in the media studies 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 subsidiary of 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 media studies 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!