The statement of aims and intentions is a very brief piece of writing that sits somewhere between an essay and a declaration. It is typically completed before the commencement of coursework, although it can and should be edited later. However, since it is written BEFORE the coursework, it should be about what you AIM and INTEND to do. So as a bare minimum, it should be written in the future tense. This means that it is NOT an evaluation!
Cramming in so much content in just 500 words (actually 550 words maximum) is difficult, so here follows a definitive structure which will hopefully make things easier for you.
In order to use this structure, you MUST have open the brief for this year. For the class of 2026, you can find it by clicking here. If you are graduating in any other year, please find the brief that is for you!
Paragraph one: MEDIA LANGUAGE AND INDUSTRY CONTEXT
What are you making for task one and task ? What are the codes of conventions of the genre of music and music video you have selected, And how are you going to get it in to your music video? What are two music videos you have researched that inspired you, and how? What is the name of your artist, and how will they subvert and/or live up to genre conventions? How is your music video and print products going to fulfil their industry context?
Note, the industry context will change from year to year. Sometimes you will be making a music video for a major label, sometimes an indie.
Paragraph two: REPRESENTATION
Who and what are you representing in this cross media production? How is your representation subversive or complex? How will you encode this complex representation through media language?
Paragraph three: AUDIENCE AND DIGITAL CONVERGENCE
Who is your specific audience? How are you going to appeal to them? How will you use digitally convergent technology, e.g. social media links, streaming your music video, encouraging fan participation?
'Exemplar' aims and intentions
This 'exemplar' was produced by a teacher using the 2026 brief and using the above structure. It should help you with structuring your own response. I worked closely with a bunch of official band 5 exemplars and picked and appropriated the best aspects of all of them.
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| Brief reference to theorists, such as David Gauntlett, can really help you present a response effectively within the brutally restrictive word count! |
I am going to make marketing material for an alternative metal band, boomblastandruin. For industry context, I analysed the music videos Memento by Hexis and Doors to Mental Agony by Full of Hell, which contained fast paced editing and religious iconography to create an aggressive mode of address for the gen Z audience. My music video will combine the harsh B&W cinematography and frantic editing, but will subvert genre conventions by presenting positive iconography, such as flowers, which will form a binary opposition with the generic use of skulls. This is an example of Steve Neale's idea of genre fluidity. Both tasks will feature guitars, as a genre convention (metal) and a proairetic code, suggesting immanent music. In the print elements, I shall use saturated colour and stylish costume choices typical of a bimonthly music magazine. My music magazine will be called SLiCE, and will target an aspirational and diverse audience of music fans. This will be encoded through a stylish sans serif headline on a stark white background. The main image will be an intertextual reference to The Beatle's Yesterday and Today, retaining the dolls but replacing meat with flowers, challenging expectations. As my band is part of a major conglomerate, my music video will have high production values and a clear, conventional master shot of the band typical of this. By band will be on Roadrunner, a subsidiary of Warner Music group, who have represented other popular and alternative metal bands such as Slipknot.
While my performers are male, the lead singer wears feminine clothes in both the music video, conforming to Van Zoonen's idea that gendered stereotypes shift over time. This will be encoded through the MES of dresses, heavy makeup and jewellery. Several alternative bands play with gender, including Shinsei Kammatechan, Melvins and Nirvana. This non-conformist gender identity will appeal to a younger and more open minded audience. This constructs a reality that gender is more complex than a simple binary, which links to Butler's theory. This is made more complex through the aggressive performance, with headbanging and moshing. I will establish an unconventional brand identity through the use of uncomfortable ECUs. In the DPS interview, my band will argue that they want to move away from conventional representations of pop stars as 'celebrities'. The pull quote "gender? Celebrity? We don't care about these labels" will help anchor this reading. The narrative of my MV will focus on depression, constructed through the bleak and monochrome cinematography.
My primary audience are gen Z male fans of metal, who have grown up with digital media. I shall address this audience through the selection of younger performers, who the audience can identify with (Gauntlett). I shall address this digital generation with references to the band's socials in both the MV, with on screen graphics, and the magazine, where the interview will have the band discuss the importance of having an online presence. I shall anchor a preferred reading of shock and aggression through a combination of fast paced editing and ECUSs to actively position the young target audience. My music video will be distributed digitally on streaming platforms like YouTube and Daily Motion. I shall also target a secondary audience of international fans, through the lack of stereotypical British identity in my music video. My band will encourage audiences to make fan videos of their songs, a form of active fan participation (Jenkins)