A2 Coursework Brief - what you have to do

What you have to produce:

Planning and Research Blog                                                   (20)

Main Task: A music promo (music video)                                (40)

Ancillary Task 1: Album cover artwork                                     (10)

Ancillary Task 2: Magazine ad for the release of the album   (10)

Evaluation                                                                                    (20)

You will work in threes, pairs or individually. This time you will each work on an individual blog (no group blogs). The first thing to think about is what track you want to produce as a music video...

Ok, here’s the thing, you are strongly encouraged to use a track which does not carry copyright restrictions. Here is the official wording of it from the exam board:

OCR respects the rights of artists and labels and requires centres to ensure materials submitted for assessment are not infringing copyright law (the onus being on centres to interpret current copyright law). If centres use found audio material OCR moderators are not in a position to police such actions: it is the responsibility of centres and candidates to ensure appropriate permissions are sought. As copyright permission plays no part in the assessment criteria, candidate marks will not be automatically penalised. However, centres should be aware that they may potentially be breaching copyright law and this is at their own risk (full links to current copyright law can be found in the appendix of this document). For example, if a candidate places found audio material (accompanying their video) for download on a website homepage they create for a band as part of this brief then this would be at the centre’s and candidate’s own risk if copyright law is infringed.

Copyright free options available for Music Video in G324:

• Approach local bands and get permission to use their material

• Approach unsigned bands on ‘My Space’ etc and get permission to use their material.

• Collaborate with music department/students in your centre on the project

• Create your own music or sound track.

So, while you won't lose marks for using a well-known track by a well-known artist, you might well be in breach of copyright... in practise, the way we run the coursework, the worst that will happen is your video will be removed from Youtube... we've all seen that before.

What you should bear in mind is the wording of the OCR statement that if you DO use copyrighted audio "...candidate marks will not be automatically penalised". If you read into this statement it means you probably have a better chance getting full marks if there are no copyright issues for the examiners to consider.

My advice to you is when choosing a track for the music video, don't let your own music likes/dislikes influence your decision. One guarantee is that which ever track you choose you will hate it with a passion by the end of the project. Also, don't choose a well-known song, or a song with a well-known video - it will almost certainly limit your available marks, because those of us marking the work will not be able to get the original video out of our minds, and your work will suffer by comparison, because, let's face it, it won't be as good.

The ancillary tasks will mean doing your own photography and learning how to use Photoshop.

This coursework is more demanding than at AS. More is expected of you. More skills are required to complete it. You really need to start now. Research task-list to follow.