Unit 1: Media forms, representations and Australian stories

The relationship between audiences and the media is evolving. Audiences engage with media products in many ways. They share a common language with media producers and construct meanings from the representations within a media product.

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.

On completion of this unit the student should be able to:

Explain the construction of media representations in different products, forms and contexts, including how audiences engage with, consume and read these representations.
Use the media production process to design, produce and evaluate media representations for specified audiences in a range of media forms.
Analyse how the structural features of Australian fictional and non-fictional narratives in two or more media forms engage, and are consumed and read by, audiences.

Unit 2: Narrative across media forms

Fictional and non-fictional narratives are fundamental to the media and are found in all media forms. Media industries such as journalism and filmmaking are built upon the creation and distribution of narratives constructed in the form of a series of interconnected images and/or sounds and/or words, using media codes and conventions. New media forms and technologies enable participants to design, create and distribute narratives in hybrid forms such as collaborative and user-generated content, which challenges the traditional understanding of narrative form and content. Narratives in new media forms have generated new modes of audience engagement, consumption and reception.

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.

On completion of this unit the student should be able to:

Analyse the style of media creators and producers and the influences of narratives on the audience in different media forms.
Apply the media production process to create, develop and construct narratives.
Discuss the influence of new media technologies on society, audiences, the individual, media industries and institutions.

Unit 3: Media narratives, contexts and pre-production

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.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

Analyse 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.
Research and document aspects of a media form, codes, narrative conventions, style, genre, story and plot to inform the plan for a media production.
Develop and document a media pre-production plan demonstrating the student’s concepts and intentions in a selected media form for a specified audience.

Unit 4: Media production; agency and control in and of the media

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.

The context in which media products are produced, distributed and consumed is an essential framework through which audiences view and read media products. Social, historical, institutional, cultural, economic and political contexts can be seen through explicit or implied views and values conveyed within media products. The media disseminate these views and values within a society and, as a result, can play a key role in influencing, reinforcing or challenging the cultural norms. In this unit, students 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.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

Produce, refine, resolve and distribute to a specified audience a media product designed in Unit 3.
Use evidence, arguments and ideas to discuss audience agency, media influence, media regulation and ethical and legal issues in the media.

Students will be responsible for purchasing their own equipment and materials where there are requirements.

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