GCSE Media Studies: Coursework

The summer project is a fantastic opportunity to start planning your music video or promotional website.

Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be completing some research around either music videos or sports personality websites, coming up with some initial concepts and drafting a statement of intent for your coursework idea. However, if you wish to plan and film/photograph some key elements for your production over the summer while you have time available we would fully support you in this approach.

Coursework Briefs

Sports Personality Websites: Brief 4

1. Marcus Rashford

2. Cristiano Ronaldo

3. Naomi Osaka

4. Alysa Liu

Music Videos (Community Focused): Brief 5

1. Kendrick Lamar - Alright

2. Justin Bieber - Intentions

3. Pharrell Williams - Happy

4. Beyonce - Brown Skin Girl

Summer Project Tasks

Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your Media blog called 'GCSE Media Studies: Coursework':

Place a heading at the top of your blog post called 'Summer Project Tasks' as this same blog post will later be used for redrafts of your statement of intent and your ongoing coursework tracker.

Task 1: Research and Textual Analysis (Understanding Conventions)

Objective: Understand how industry professionals establish branding, use media language, and create a "house style."

Choose ONE of the options below to analyse, depending on which brief you are leaning toward:

• Brief 4 (Sports Promotion): Find the official website and social media feeds (e.g., Instagram/TikTok) of a real sports personality or presenter (e.g., Marcus Rashford, Serena Williams, Alex Scott).

• Brief 5 (Music Video): Choose an official music video by an established band or solo artist that tells a clear story or features a strong community of fans.

Your Blog Post Requirements:

1. Mise-en-scène & Visual Style: Take 3 screenshots. Use the CLAMPS acronym (Costume, Lighting, Actor placement/movement, Make-up, Props, Setting) to explain how a specific mood or brand identity is created. What are the denotations and connotations of these choices?

2. Target Audience: Who is this media product aimed at? Explain how the language, tone, and visual style appeal directly to this target audience.

3. Branding / House Style: 

• If you chose the Music Video: How does the video make the audience feel like they are part of a fan community? How does it build the artist's brand?

• If you chose the Sports Website: How do they maintain a consistent look (fonts, colours, logos) between the website and social media?

Task 2: Establishing a Concept & Brand Identity

Objective: Practice brainstorming an original concept, identity, and narrative framework.

Now, you will invent a fictional sports personality OR a fictional music artist/band.

Your Blog Post Requirements:

1. The Bio: Write a brief introduction to your fictional person/group.

   • Sports: What is their sport? What is their role? What charity, cause, or social issues do they champion/support?

   • Music: What is the name of the band/artist? What is their musical genre? What is the core style/vibe of their brand?

2. Logo and House Style Mood Board: Create a visual mood board (Collection of images) for your concept. It must include:

• A colour palette (3–4 specific colors that reflect their identity). Tool: https://color.adobe.com/create/color-wheel

• Font styles that fit the genre/sport. 

• Some logo examples that might be used to inspire your own person/band that establishes the brand in the way that you envision.

Task 3: Website/Music Video Planning

Objective: Consider the practicalities of your production and what is required to make this possible.

Plan out the basic details for your website/music video. Complete the following on your blog:

1. Plan for music video/website (narrative/performance/message etc.): 
2. Link to brief (positive role model for website/sense of community for music video):
3. Actors/performers you plan to use: 
4. Locations: 
5. Costume/make-up/props required: 

Task 4: Statement of Intent

On the same Summer Project blogpost, write the rough first draft of your 300-word Statement of Intent for the website/music video you plan to create. The final draft of this document will be submitted to the exam board alongside your music video production/website and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.

Guidance and minimum requirements can be found in the AQA brief from their NEA Student Booklet.

We also strongly recommend you look at our Statement of Intent questions to consider document too.

Extension - Task 5: Going for the Top Bands (Advanced Media Theory)

Objective: Show the examiners you can apply higher-level thinking to push your work into the top grade boundaries.

Look closely at the "In the top bands, students may..." sections on the assessment briefs. Write a short paragraph on your blog addressing one of the following strategies for your project next term:

1. Intertextuality: How could you include cross-references to other famous media products, films, or campaigns to make your project more clever and engaging?

2. Subverting Expectations: How could you create a complex or deliberately ambiguous representation of your artist/athlete to challenge the typical stereotypes or audience expectations of that genre?