OCR A-Level Media Studies the cross-media production (NEA): a complete overview

The Making Media NEA (Component 03/04) is the coursework component, worth 60 marks (30%). It is an individual cross-media production made to one OCR-set brief, introduced by an assessed Statement of Intent. This overview ties the component together; each section has a matching dot-point page. Always work from the current OCR brief for your series.

What the NEA is

An individual production: others may assist, but only your own work is assessed. You respond to one brief chosen from a set OCR issues each year, making two interrelated products in two different forms. It tests AO3 (practical skill) most heavily, with AO1 and AO2 in the Statement of Intent.

The brief and the Statement of Intent

Each brief specifies a target audience and detailed requirements (the products, minimum lengths or numbers of pages, original assets, limits on stock material). Before producing, you write a Statement of Intent of around 500 words, which carries the AO1 and AO2 marks and explains, using the framework, how the production will meet the brief and target its audience.

Applying the framework in production

The production puts the framework into practice: deliberate media language (camera, mise-en-scene, editing, sound; or layout, typography, image), intended representations (using or challenging stereotypes), the industry conventions of each form (masthead, web navigation, music-video editing), and audience targeting through the products. The marks are mostly AO3, and originality of your own assets is central.

The cross-media link and assessment

The two products must link into a coherent campaign through consistent branding, style, representation and audience address. Assessment is AO3-led (technical and creative skill, originality), with the Statement of Intent carrying AO1 and AO2. To maximise the mark, meet every brief requirement, make the products genuinely link, apply the framework deliberately, and produce polished, original work.