Media
OVERVIEW
The media is ubiquitous. Media is deeply embedded within life and culture at a local, national and global level. It entertains, teaches, informs and shapes audiences’ perception of their lives and the world in which they live.
Stories in all their forms are at the heart of the media and its relationship with audiences. Through stories, narratives are constructed that engage, and are read by, audiences. Representations of ideas, realities and imagination are constructed and deconstructed, remixed and reimagined with ever-increasing technological sophistication, ease and speed to engage audiences.
The context of media shapes both production and the audiences’ reading. Contextual influences such as time, place, culture, societal attitudes and values may be reflected explicitly and implicitly in media products. Audiences also read and consume media through this contextual lens. The relationship between media and audience is complex. Students will interrogate notions of influence, power, audience, agency and the role that media plays in shaping views and values.
Developments in technologies have transformed media at a rapid pace. The interplay between print and broadcast media and multinational-networked database platforms has enabled creative communication opportunities and reworked notions of key media concepts including audiences, forms and products, storytelling, influence, institutions and industries.
Media audiences are no longer constrained by physical, social and political boundaries. Audiences are consumers, users, creative and participatory producers and product. This has created a dramatic increase in communicative, cultural and creative possibilities. The greater involvement of audiences has generated enormous changes in the media economy and issues of content control.
The growth of social media platforms means information is produced, distributed and consumed with increased immediacy, raising questions about accountability, regulation and influence. This growth has led to competition with traditional media forms and established media institutions. Traditional media continues to have power and influence, competing, cooperating and evolving alongside social media platforms. Through the study of Media, students gain a critical understanding of media and understand their role as both producers and consumers of media products.
Students examine how and why the media constructs and reflects reality, and how audiences engage with, consume, read, create and produce media products.
Units 1-2
In Units 1 and 2, you will study all forms of modern media, from the impact of social media, to the study of how film, television, photography, print and online media create representations through which ‘stories’ are told and meanings created.
Media graduates are highly sought after.
Pathways may include careers in Film-Making, Journalism, Television, Photography, Print Media, Strategic Marketing, and/or Production Roles involving lighting, camera, sound and editing.
Past Heathmont College Media students have gone on to secure work within the film and television industry, print media, radio and photography.
UNIT 1
In this unit, students develop an understanding of audiences and the core concepts underpinning the construction of representations and meaning in different media forms. They explore media codes and conventions and the construction of meaning in media products.
Students analyse how representations, narratives and media codes and conventions contribute to the construction of the media realities that audiences read and engage with. Students gain an understanding of audiences as producers and consumers of media products. Through analysing the structure of narratives, students consider the impact of media creators and institutions on production.
Students work in a range of media forms and develop and produce representations to demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of each media form, and how they contribute to the communication of meaning.
Students develop an understanding of the features of Australian fictional and non-fictional narratives in different media forms. They develop research skills to investigate and analyse selected narratives, focusing on the media professionals’ influence on production genre and style. They experience the voices and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators to gain an understanding and appreciation of how their stories contribute to our cultural identity.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Students will analyse representations in selected on-line, television or film texts, and use a range of media technologies to create their own media representations.
KEY SKILLS REQUIRED
Research.
Analysis.
Media production skills.
Organisation.
POSSIBLE ASSESSED TASKS
audio-visual or video sequences
radio or audio sequences
photographs
print layouts
sequences or presentations using digital technologies
posters
written responses
oral reports.
UNIT 2
In this unit, students further develop an understanding of the concept of narrative in media products and forms in different contexts. Narratives in both traditional and newer forms include film, television, digital streamed productions, audio news, print, photography, games and interactive digital forms. Students analyse the influence of developments in media technologies on individuals and society; design, production and distribution of narratives in the media; and audience engagement, consumption and reception.
Students undertake production activities to design and create narratives that demonstrate an awareness of the structures and media codes and conventions appropriate to corresponding media forms.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Students will learn about the media production process and how media has changed.
The creative stages of conceptualisation, development, pre-production, production and post-production/exhibition stages will be explored and a media production created.
KEY SKILLS REQUIRED
Research.
Analysis.
Media production skills.
Organisation.
POSSIBLE ASSESSED TASKS
Suitable tasks for assessment in this unit may be selected from the following:
audio-visual or video sequences
radio or audio sequences
photographs
print layouts
sequences or presentations using digital technologies
posters
written responses
oral reports.
Units 3-4
In these units students explore stories that circulate in society through media narratives.
They consider the use of media codes and conventions to structure meaning, and how this construction is influenced by the social, cultural and institutional contexts of production, distribution, consumption and reception.
Students assess how audiences from different periods of time and contexts are engaged by, consume and read narratives using appropriate media language.
Narratives are defined as the depiction of a chain of events in a cause and effect relationship occurring in physical and/or virtual space and time in non-fictional and fictional media products.
UNIT 3
In this unit, students explore stories that circulate in society through a close analysis of a media narrative.
Narratives are defined as the depiction of a chain of events in a cause-and-effect relationship occurring in physical and/or virtual space and time in fictional and non-fictional media products. Students consider the use of codes and narrative conventions to structure meaning and explore the role these play in media narratives. Through the close analysis of a media narrative, students develop media language and terminology and a deeper understanding of how codes and narrative conventions are combined in a narrative. They study how social, historical, institutional, culture, economic and political contexts may influence the construction of media narratives and audience readings.
Through the study of a media narrative, students explore specific codes and narrative conventions and begin the process of research to support their understanding of how they can adopt and employ these techniques in their own works. They investigate a media form that aligns with their interests and intent, developing an understanding of the codes and narrative conventions appropriate to audience engagement, consumption and reception within the selected media form. Students use the pre-production stage of the media production process to design the production of a media product for a specified audience. They explore and experiment with media technologies to develop skills in their selected media form, and reflect on and document their progress. Students undertake pre-production planning appropriate to their selected media form and develop written and visual planning documents to support the production and post-production of a media product in Unit 4.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Viewing then analysing the context of one fictional narrative film.
Designing and completing two short production exercises in a range of media formats.
Completing a design plan for a major media production.
KEY SKILLS REQUIRED
Analysis and research skills.
Media production skills.
Time management skills.
Creative ability.
ASSESSED TASKS
a video essay or multimedia presentation
a SAC analysing the construction of media narratives; discuss audience engagement, consumption and reading of narratives; and analyse the relationship between narratives and the contexts in which they are produced.
A research folio.
A design/preproduction folio.
UNIT 4
In this unit students focus on the production and post-production stages of the media production process, bringing the pre-production plans created in Unit 3 to their realisation. Students refine their media production in response to feedback and through personal reflection, documenting the iterations of their production as they work towards completion.
They also view a range of media products that demonstrate a range of values and views, and they analyse the role that media products and their creators play within the contexts of their time and place of production.
Students explore the relationship between the media and audiences, focusing on the opportunities and challenges afforded by current developments in the media industry. They consider the nature of communication between the media and audiences, explore the capacity of the media to be used by governments, institutions and audiences, and analyse the role of the Australian government in regulating the media.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
The completion of a Media Production SAT.
The analysis of film, television, social media and other media texts focusing on the social, political and cultural discourses that may have existed at the time.
An investigation of the debate surrounding the claim that media can influence our behaviour.
KEY SKILLS REQUIRED
Analysis and research skills.
Media production skills.
Time management skills.
Creative ability.
ASSESSED TASKS
A production SAT.
A written report
An end-of-year written examination.
VCAA ASSESSMENT
The overall Study Score will consist of:
School Assessed Coursework (20%).
School Assessed Task (40%).
2 hour written examination in November (40%)