Coursework: Summer Project 2019

The summer project is a fantastic opportunity to start planning your TV advert.

Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be researching TV adverts for body spray brands, creating a new TV advert idea and then writing a Statement of Intent first draft. However, if you wish to plan and film your production over the summer while you have time and actors available we would fully support you in this approach.

Summer project tasks

Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your Media blog called 'Summer Project: coursework planning':

1) Research: lifestyle TV adverts

Watch the following TV adverts that use narrative and media language to create an aspirational lifestyle and brand. Answer the questions for each advert:

Nike: Nothing Beats a Londoner




Narrative: What is the story of the advert?

Audience: What does the advert suggest about the lifestyle of someone who uses this product or brand?

Representations: What representations of young people can you find in this advert?


Publix: Graduation



Narrative: What is the story of the advert?

Audience: What does the advert suggest about the lifestyle of someone who uses this product or brand?

Representations: What representations of young people can you find in this advert?


Lynx: Is it OK for guys...


Narrative: What is the story of the advert?

Audience: What does the advert suggest about the lifestyle of someone who uses this product or brand?

Representations: What representations of young people can you find in this advert?


Additional research: optional extension
Depending on your coursework plan and the type of advert you wish to create, you may want to research additional TV adverts. You can make optional additional notes on other TV adverts here.


2) TV advert planning and Statement of Intent

Plan out the brand of body spray you will advertise and the narrative for your new, original TV advert. Next, write the first draft of your genuine 300-word Statement of Intent. The final draft of this will be submitted to the exam board alongside your TV advert and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.

Guidance is provided by AQA in their NEA Student Booklet but we strongly recommend you also look at our Statement of Intent suggested content document too.


Summer project deadline: all tasks above due in first week back in September



Summer project: optional extensions

Pre-production tasks
Some students have already expressed an interest in filming their TV adverts over the summer break. This makes a huge amount of sense - far more availability of actors, much more time to schedule filming etc. However, if you want to do this, you need to complete the following aspects of pre-production:

Script
Write a script for your TV advert. You'll find guidance for writing a script for a TV advert... .

Shot list
Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film for your advert AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find an example here for a student film shot list. It makes sense to write your shot list by scene or location rather than a huge list of every shot in the extract in chronological order. 

Mise-en-scene
What iconography or mise-en-scene are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre, lifestyle and setting of your advert? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. This can be simply completed using your blog or Microsoft Word - the key aspect is to have planned all the critical details. 

Shooting schedule 
Plan a shooting schedule for your filming over the summer. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. Again, this can be on Word or Excel or you could simply use your blog. The most important thing is that you've planned it!

Non-assessed participants
You will need to provide a written record of all non-assessed participants in your production work. Keep a record of everyone involved - actors, camerawork, sound etc. You will also need a keep a record of any non-original sound you used and note it on the Candidate Record Form. Keep these on your blog for easy reference when submitting your work later this year.

Production: Filming 
Once you have completed your pre-production tasks, you can film as planned. If you are unable to film over the summer, we will have time to film this production in September.

Good luck!