Planning

How can we manipulate codes and conventions to create representations?

How are Australian stories structured in fictional and non-fictional media narratives?

1

• Introduce and explore the relevant terminology of the unit, including the way representations are constructed by media creators who manipulate codes and conventions to engage specific audiences.
• Record basic definitions in a workbook linked to examples given to the class.
• View short texts such as advertisements or episodes from television series, then discuss what ideas are being represented.

• Present and discuss Australian media texts such as an episode of ‘Bluey’ or the Australian Lamb campaign’s television commercials, as part of Outcome 1 material.
• How do these products represent?

2

• Have students define the specific codes and conventions used to create a representation in one of the media texts they have viewed.
• Discuss the intended audience for this representation as well as the context of its creation.
• How does the intention of a media creator shape the representations they make?

3

• Introduce a contemporary issue or event that will be the focus for their Outcome 2 production task 1 work.
• Divide the class into small groups and assign each a specific news media outlet.
• In groups, students research the context of their news outlet as well as the shared issue or event.

Outcome 2 production task 1: News article

• In groups, students apply their research into a specific news outlet, and start to plan an article that will represent an issue or event for and appropriate audience.
• Continue in groups to develop their news article, assigning each member a specific role.
• Document the way relevant print-based codes and conventions will be manipulated for their article.

• Compare three different Australian news sites, such as ABC, Sky News and Crikey.
• Discuss how each represents the same issue or event.
• Analyse the contexts of each outlet and how they use codes and conventions to represent issues or events for their target audience.

4

• Document and reflect on the group work in producing a news article that represents the given issue or event for a specified audience.
• Discuss and analyse the nature of the representations the students’ have made.

• Students refine and submit their production group work and present it to the class for reflection. These news articles could also be printed or distributed digitally to the class.

• As part of their Outcome 1 research, suggest students use examples from at least one Australian media representation.

5

• Introduce main representation analytical task for Outcome 1 in one of the formats outlined in the study  design.
• Students select or are given a research topic that will be their focus for analysis of how representations are constructed and read by audiences.

• Students refine and submit their production group work and present it to the class for reflection. These news articles could also be printed or distributed digitally to the class.

• As part of their Outcome 1 research, suggest students use examples from at least one Australian media representation.

6

• Students begin to research the way their topic is represented in a range of media products and texts.
• Students collect and collate examples of media representations that will become the basis for their analytical response.
• Students begin drafting their analysis of the evidence they have found.

Outcome 2 production task 2: Photography

• Students use digital cameras and / or photographic manipulation programs to create a representation of a single character. This could be the creation of a generic stereotype or the representation of an existing character. This could be done in pairs but may work better as an individual task.
• Students plan and document their intentions, including the way they will manipulate visual codes and conventions to create their character representation.

7

• Discuss how the key skills and knowledge are reflected in the rubric used to assess their work.
• Students continue to draft their analysis, collecting more examples to be used in their visual or multimodal responses.

• Students capture or source images for their character representation task.
• Students produce their photographic representation, seeking peer feedback on the way they are using codes and conventions to create their image.

8

• Students submit a written draft of their Outcome 1 analytical task for feedback.

• Students refine and submit their visual representation, which can be printed and displayed in the classroom for audience feedback.

9

• Students respond to their feedback and refine their main representation analysis task.

Outcome 2 production task 3: Audio

• Students use audio recording hardware and editing software to create 30 seconds of dialogue between two people. This could be an interview or a fictional scene.
• Students start by planning the intentions of their scene, the audio codes and conventions they will use.
• Students develop a script or list of interview questions that will guide their production.

10

• Students submit and present their analytical task to the class for reflection and evaluation.

• Students begin production on their audio task, using class time where appropriate.
• As this task requires more planning, discuss what work students will need to do over the term break.
• Examine various media technologies available to them, such as voice recorders and mobile phones, as well as the software needed to edit audio.

11

• Students share their recordings with peers, receiving feedback and suggestions about the way to refine their product.
• Responding to this feedback, students document what they need to do to realise their intentions, outlining specific tasks and technologies required.

Introduce the main task for Outcome 3

• This can be in a range of forms, but to give students practice with exam conditions, one aspect of assessment could be a written test during the last week of class. An example using Australian music videos is provided in the Teaching and Learning support materials.
• Screen the first selected Australian narrative for Outcome 3. Note that at least one must be from an Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander creator or producer.
• In their workbooks, students document notes related to the key knowledge, which they submit for feedback.

12

• Students submit their audio production task. Their work is played to the class for final reflection.

• Screen the second Australian media narrative.
• In their workbooks, students discuss and document their reflections related to the key knowledge of the outcome.

13

• Students complete an ‘open book’ practice test, responding to a range of questions relating to the key knowledge of the outcome.

14

• Students reflect on their notes and revise the key knowledge of the outcome.

15

• Students complete a written analytical task under exam conditions, which addresses aspects of the key knowledge for Outcome 3.

How can we use the production process to create our own media narratives?

What is the impact of new media technologies on us as individuals and as a society?

1

• Introduce the topic, going over the key skills and knowledge points of Outcome 1.
• The main aspect of this outcome is for students to see that both genre and style can be defined as the way specific codes and conventions are applied in media products and by media creators. In particular, focus on the different categories of conventions; those that belong to media forms and products, those that define genre, and those that are common to all narratives.
• Screen the opening sequence of the first narrative text.
• Students record notes about the way codes and conventions are used to engage audiences.
• How has the production context shaped the construction of the narrative?
• What are the intentions of the media creators who made this narrative?

• Introduce the main group production task.
• This could be teacher-directed projects in specified media forms, however in Area of Study 2 more student agency could be introduced.
• The class could begin to prepare a ‘pitch’ for a group project. Each student is required to document and present their idea for a media product to the class in week 3. A detailed breakdown of how to apply this concept in Outcome 2 is presented in the Teaching and Learning support materials.
• The pitch must cover the media form, genre, style and narrative outline, as well as the key technologies and roles required.
• Inform the class that everyone will vote on each pitch, and that depending on the class size, 4 or 5 will be ‘greenlit’ for production.

2

• Continue watching the first narrative text, looking at how conventions such as setting, cause and effect, and character are constructed with specific media codes.
• Students compile notes linking specific sequences and scenes to their analysis.\How has the reception context shaped the way audiences engage with the narrative?

• Students continue to develop their pitch, identifying a media form, genre, style and narrative.
• Students document their pitch in a presentation format such as a PowerPoint, gathering evidence of similar genres, styles and narratives.

3

• Complete the screening and analysis of the first narrative text. Students focus on the opening, development and resolution of the narrative.
• How do audiences respond to the media narrative?
• What are the views and values of the narrative?

• Students complete their pitch documentation.
• Begin the process of pitch presentation to the class.
• Each student presents their concept, and the class can give feedback and rate each on a rubric supplied by the teacher.

4

• Complete a short analysis of the first narrative in class, responding to a range of key questions related to the key skills and knowledge of the outcome.
• Give feedback on their responses, focusing on the media language of their answers.

• Complete the pitch presentations and evaluations. Compile the class feedback and select the projects that will be selected based on the rubric as well as teacher judgement.
• Present the final selected products to the class. Each student whose pitch did not get selected must make a preference of at least 3 of the selected projects to work on and the role or responsibility they are willing to take on in that production.

5

• Students select a second narrative text to analyse based on the genre or media form of their group project.
• In their production groups, students discuss and analyse the codes and conventions of the second narrative text.
• This analysis is documented in their Outcome 2 production plan and focuses on the way they will use codes and conventions to engage their identified audience.

• Facilitate the final production teams for each greenlit project. Outline the roles and responsibility of each member of the groups.
• Each team starts pre-production planning, refining the concept and narrative of the product. This should be collated in a shared production plan.
• Clarify the specific workflow and production timeline of specific media forms. Detail how media technologies will be used.
• Document the analysis of a second narrative text for Outcome 1, relevant to the media form or genre of their group production.

6

• Each student in the group focuses on a key technical aspect of their production related to their identified role or responsibility. For example, the Director might select the code of acting and research how the director of the text they are analysing cast and instructed actors to create engaging characters. While the student responsible for sound may look at the way the sound designer recorded dialogue and selected non-diegetic audio to convey the emotions of a scene.

• Students continue the pre-production of their group project.
• Each member of the group defines the specifics of their technical and symbolic responsibilities. They detail their intentions documenting how they will apply codes and conventions to engage the audience of their planned production.
• Students explore relevant media technologies to experiment with their application.

7

• Students continue to research the production context of their second narrative text, identifying how any social, cultural, economic, political and / or historical factors might have influenced the production and audience readings.
• This analysis is documented in their workbooks, and they respond to an exam-style practice question, using their selected text as evidence in their answers.

• Students document their technical exploration, reflecting as a group on how well they met their genre, style and narrative intentions.

8

• Students work through model analytical answers related to Outcome 1, identifying the structure of well written media analysis.
• Students respond to questions about the way cultural and historic contexts shaped the audience reading of both narrative texts.

• Each group defines their production timeline, identifying the workflow of each role and responsibility. They negotiate how people will work together on specific tasks.
• When this documentation is complete, the teacher gives the students permission to begin production.

• Students identify the development of specific media technologies related to their group project.
• How have these new forms of media creation and consumption changed the way audiences engage with media narratives?

9

• Students begin production in their groups, documenting and reflecting on the technical challenges related to their specified form.

• Reflection on the characteristics of media technologies and processes related to the student group productions in Outcome 2.
• The key aspects of Outcome 3 are clarified and will be focused on after term break.
• This project will be a presentation that covers the key skills and knowledge of Outcome 3 and can be completed as a research presentation on a key media technology. A detailed example on the impact of Artificial Intelligence is given in the Teaching and Learning support materials.

10

• End-of-unit short-answer test completed under exam conditions related to the key skills and knowledge points of Outcome 1.

• Students continue production on their group project, adapting their workplan accordingly.
• Each member of the group reflects on their role and responsibilities.

• Students select their key media technology from their Outcome 2 production work and begin their research into the history of its use and development, as well as the current way this aspect of media technology is used in contemporary media products.

11

• Students finish production and begin the post-production stage of their group project.
• Student groups clarify the roles and responsibilities of the post-production timeline.

• Students present their individual presentations on a specific development and use of a media technology related to their Outcome 2 productions.

12

• Focus on a case study of a social media platform such as YouTube, Facebook, or TikTok, and a particular issue in its use.
• Students analyse all the media technologies that are involved in the production, distribution and reception of this media platform, as well as the effect or influence it can be said to have had on audiences.

13

• A draft of their project is presented to the class for feedback. This draft is relevant to their selected media form, for example a rough cut for film narratives, or page design for print and web products.

• Students summarise key aspects of the selected case study in preparation for the end of unit test.

14

• Groups work together to realise their media product.
• Documentation of feedback from a range of sources is used to refine their product.
• Individual roles, responsibilities and work are documented and reflected on.

• Students complete a practice short answer test on aspects of the case study.

15

• Final projects are submitted and showcased to the class.

• Students complete a short-answer written test under exam conditions related to the key skills and knowledge of Outcome 3.

Term 1

How are ideas, research, investigation and experimentation used in the development of media products?

How do students refine their ideas and concepts to create media products?

1

Outcome 1 introduction

• Key knowledge and skills outlined.
• Introduce the selected narrative.
• Students begin to organise their notes in workbooks, reflecting on the media form of the selected narrative. What is its genre, and how was it distributed to audiences? How have codes and conventions been used to engage audiences?

Advise students that Outcome 2 requires them to complete the development stage of the media production process:

• Research media forms and narratives for their School-assessed Task.
• Document two production experiments.
• Evaluate their research and experimentation.

Share with the class:

• Authentication record form
• School-assessed Task assessment criteria
• Timeline for the completion of research and two production experiments.

Term 1
2

• Students research or are presented with information regarding the production context of their media narrative.
• Who was involved in the development of this narrative? What were the intentions of the creators? What social, cultural, economic, political and / or historical contexts influenced the development of this narrative?
• Students take notes on the narrative conventions under the three headings of:
• Conventions of media forms and products
• Genre conventions
• Narrative conventions
• How does the context of reception shape the way audiences read this narrative? Is this reading different for audiences in different contexts, such as that of the original production and distribution, or for audiences in a different culture?

• Students begin research into selected media forms. Examples are provided in the Teaching and Learning support materials for Unit 3, Area of Study 2.
• Students annotate examples of existing media products, identifying and analysing the technical codes used to create their form, genre and narrative conventions.
• Students analyse how audiences receive and are engaged by selected media products.

Outcome 3 media form options.

• Students review the different media forms as listed in the study esign for Outcome 3. Note that they do not have to select their form yet, but this list should guide their research and experimentation.

Term 1
3

• Discuss the timeline for the student production of this task:
• Analysis
• Collecting and organising multimodal and analytical evidence
• Technologies that will be used to present the analysis.
• Revisit the sequence of the selected narrative.

• Students continue to research the codes and conventions of selected media products.
• Students develop potential concepts for their own narrative, identifying potential genres, characters and plot structures for their product.
• Students plan their first production experiment for Outcome 1, identifying the convention they intend to create, and the technical and symbolic codes they will manipulate to create it.

Term 1
4

• Students develop their narrative analysis, writing their video essay script and identifying the evidence they will use to support their analysis.
• Students organise their evidence, compiling folders of video, image and audio files for the construction of their presentation.
• Students review the key knowledge and key skill points under both Narrative and Context, using these as a guide for their analytical response.
• Screen existing video essays related to film analysis and identify key aspects of their construction.
• Discuss the technology that will be used to record and edit audio and video.
• Demonstrate the process of production.

• Students complete their first production exercise.
• They record their work in an appropriate format and reflect on whether their experimentation realised their intentions.
• Students seek audience feedback for their first experiment and reflect on how their work engaged their intended audience.

Term 1
5

• Students receive feedback on their analysis structure using the assessment rubric developed by the school. They identify areas for further development.

• Students plan their second production experiment.
• It is important that the two experiments demonstrate their exploration of a range of technical and symbolic codes and conventions.
• Students document their intentions for their second production experiment.
• What technical and symbolic codes will they use this time to construct a convention relevant to their product?

Term 1
6

• Students continue to develop their video essay or multimodal presentation.
• Students seek peer feedback on rough drafts or sequences of their video essay, reflecting on their analysis and construction.

• Students complete their second production experiment.
• Students record the production and pre-production technologies and processes they used.
• Students evaluate their work, reflecting on the realisation of their intentions. How has their experimentation changed their intentions and plan for their main production?

Term 1
7

• Students finalise their video essays, seeking feedback about the technical and theoretical nature of their analysis.
• Instruct the class about the process of exporting finished video or multimodal presentations. How will this work be submitted for assessment?

Outcome 3: Pre-production planning

Term 1
8

• Students complete Part A of Unit Outcome 1. Analytical video essays.

• Students continue to document their pre-production. Identifying how they intend to engage audiences and what these audiences might read in their narratives.
• Students document how their intentions have been shaped by their developmental research and experimentation.

Term 1
9

• Screen completed video essays to class.

• Students begin the documentation of their planned media production.
• Students view examples of student productions from previous years. These may be from the school, or those that were part of previous VCE Season of Excellence Top Screen exhibitions.
• Students also view examples of pre-production planning from previous students.

Term 1
10

• Students revise the key knowledge and key skills for Outcome 1.

• It is recommended that students visit the VCE Season of Excellence Top Screen and Top Designs exhibitions to gather ideas for their own productions.
• Students begin detailed documentation of written planning aspects of their selected media form.
• Students identify key roles and responsibilities required to produce their planned production.
• Students identify the media technologies required for production and post-production.

Term 2
1

• Revise key aspects of the selected media narrative, reviewing key scenes and student video essays.

• Students share their narrative plans with peers, getting feedback on the conventions of character and plot.
• Students continue to develop their written planning documents, focusing on the structure of their narrative.

Term 2
2

• Revise the key knowledge and key skills for Outcome 1 in preparation for Part B of the School-assessed Coursework task.

Term 2
3

Students complete Part B of the School-assessed Coursework task.

• Students begin visual documentation of their planned production, for example:
• Storyboards
• Lighting designs
• Page layouts
• Character design
• Costume design.
• Students annotate these visualisations, refining their planned narratives and updating their timeline.

Term 2
4

• Students refine their visual documentation, making sure each technical aspect of their production has been accounted for.
• Students continue to research relevant products and processes related to their planned productions.

Term 2
5

• Students refine their planned narratives through tasks such as recording round-table script reads with their cast and crew or animating their storyboards to get a sense of pacing and structure.
• Students experiment with placeholder media, such as soundtrack elements or stock footage to construct more refined visualisations of their production.

Term 2
6

• Students document feedback on their visualised narratives, reflecting on the audience engagement and response to things such as animated storyboards, pre-visualisation animations, page layouts or recordings of round-table script readthroughs.

Term 2
7

• Students finalise their pre-production plan. Their timeline should reflect the entire production and post-production schedule.
• All cast, crew and assistants need to have their roles and responsibilities documented with call sheets and contact information. All talent release forms should be signed and collated, as well as location permissions and copyright clearance for any third-party material.

Transition from Unit 3 to Unit 4

Term 3

Who holds the power and influence – the media or audiences?

1

Students begin production on the School-assessed Task, Unit 4, Area of Study 1.
Detailed examples of approaches to the production are provided in the Teaching and Learning support materials.

• Students document their work in a production diary. This could be a continuation of the document they used to record their development and pre-production, but must be clearly labelled as Unit 4, Media Production.
• Discuss the nature of managing and coordinating a media production.
• What challenges might the students face?
• Students begin to work through their production timeline.
• They annotate changes to their schedule, as well as any alterations to their narrative due to production constraints.
• Students share accounts about the challenges they faced during the term break, and workshop solutions.
• Students reflect on their production schedule and annotate any alterations they need to make to their timelines or narrative.

• Students begin taking notes on the key terminology for Unit 4, Area of Study 2.
• Teacher presents introductory material related to the concepts of agency and control.
• The student’s performance on the outcome is assessed using one or more of the following:
• A written report
• An essay

It is important to supply the format of and the criteria for assessment of the School-assessed Coursework task to students at the start of Unit 4, Area of Study 2. Detailed examples and case studies are provided in the Teaching and Learning support materials.

• Students document and reflect on the way each media production stage relates to the topic of Agency and Control.
• Production (including development, pre-production, production and post-production).
• Who produces media products and pays for their production?
• Distribution: Who owns the mediums and platforms through which media products are shared?
• Reception: What technologies do audiences use to consume media products?
• Students compare contemporary media products with older examples, reflecting on the changing relationship between media and audiences in each stage listed above. While there is no clearly defined transition point between old media and new, it might benefit students to use the definitions of the ‘Broadcast era’ of the 1900s to 1980s, and the ‘Post-broadcast era’ of the 1980s to present day.
• Set a research task in which students collect evidence of the changing way media products are produced, distributed and received. This could be completed in the Term 2 holidays.
• Students work in small groups, each assigned to one of the media production stages, to create posters or charts in which their research is summarised and presented.

Term 3
2

• Students begin post-production work, editing and refining the footage, audio or images they have produced so far.
• They reflect on their timeline and amend as necessary to realise their production.

Students complete their group posters and display or present them to the class.

• Short analytical or discussion questions related to the changing relationship between media and audiences are given to the class.
• Students respond to these questions in their workbooks, comparing their answers to worked examples.

Term 3
3

Meet individually with students and authenticate production work on the School-assessed Task.

• Teacher presents the first case study. Multiple examples should be made available to meet all aspects of Unit 4, Outcome 2. However, some case studies touch on all key knowledge and key skills for Unit 4, Outcome 2, so they can act as a major focus for study. Other examples may also be used as major topics for analysis.
• Advertising campaigns, whether commercial, political or for public safety, work very well when analysing and evaluating the extent of the influence of the media and audience, as there are clear intentions by the producers of these media products to influence or change audience behaviours or beliefs.
• Analyse contemporary media products such as advertising campaigns that claim to have an effect on audience behaviour.
• What evidence supports this claim? Is it strong enough to claim causation, or is it perhaps a correlation with other factors in need of consideration?
• Analyse case studies where audiences are said to have influenced the production or distribution of a media product.
• What evidence is there to support this claim?

Term 3
4

• Students continue production and post-production as indicated on their schedules.
• They seek feedback on rough drafts of scenes, shots or sequences.
• They record this feedback and amend their plan and timeline as required.

Teacher presents a new case study or expands on the one already under analysis to explain how media is used by globalised media institutions, governments, and individuals.

• Research different examples in which governments, individuals and global media institutions have used social media platforms.
• What examples demonstrate positive use, such as social activism and community engagement?
• What examples can be described as negative, such as political propaganda or illegal file sharing and exploitation?
• What examples can be described as economic, such as brand advertising or influencer marketing?

Term 3
5

• Students document and reflect on their use of equipment, materials and processes related to their production.
• They continue to annotate their timeline to realise their intentions.
• Authentication of School-assessed Task.

Using one of the analysed case studies, expand on the evaluation of evidence that is used to support claims of audience influence.

• What arguments or media theories support these claims?
• Compare traditional arguments and evidence related to media influence and audience agency, such as the Uses and Gratification or Two-step flow theory with more contemporary concepts such as Filter-bubble or Spreadable Media.
• What arguments do contemporary media theories, concepts or models make about the extent of audience agency? What evidence is there to support these claims?
• Select a case study in which audience agency is evident. In what stage of the media production process does this occur, and what technology or platforms do audiences use to exert their agency?
• Select a case study in which audience control is evident. What theory or contemporary argument helps explain this effect?

Term 3
6

• Students continue production as required but should be working through the post-production tasks of their product.
• They seek more detailed feedback on rough drafts of their product, documenting how audiences read and respond to their work.
• They reflect on how successful their intended application of codes and conventions is, based on the audience feedback.
• Students make amendments and refinements to their product and timeline.

Students begin their School-assessed Coursework Unit 4 Part A

• Students continue to document notes in their workbooks, expanding on the case studies they have analysed with reference to contemporary media arguments that help explain the relationship between the media and audiences.
• Students make visualisations of contemporary media arguments or theories, indicating how they explain the influence of the media and agency of audiences.

Term 3
7

Students meet with teachers to review their progress on the School-assessed Task and for authentication.

• Do they need to seek more feedback from more specific audiences?
• Are they using media language to respond to the feedback and make amendments and refinements to their product?

Select a new case study of an example of a media product produced or at least distributed to an Australian audience. These can be fictional media texts, such as children’s television shows, or another example of advertising. Explain how regulation of media functions in Australia, using the case study as an example.

• Research organisations such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
• What do these organisations do?
• Look at legislation such as the Australian Content and Children's Television Standards 2020, the National Classification Code, and the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code.
• Discuss what these standards do, and how they are implemented.
• Research Australian Classification.
• How are media products classified and what benefit does classification provide to audiences?
• Research the role Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) and Ad Standards play in self-regulation of Australian media.

Term 3
8

• Students refine and complete post-production of their media narrative product.
• Students seek feedback on their finished work, making any final adjustments or refinements that time and technology constraints allow.
• Students reflect on a checklist to realise their media product, in particular how their product communicates their intentions as documented in their pre-production plan.

Building on the case studies presented already, discuss the issues and challenges relating to regulation and control of the media. This does not have to stay limited to an Australian context, however it can work well to expand on the examples of Australian media regulation for this key skill.

• Research more examples of media regulation, such as community complaints about specific content or the classification and censorship of a media product. What issues and challenges were there in these examples?
•  Discuss the technology and organisations involved in regulating specific media products. What challenges do regulators face when attempting to control media products?
• Consider the current case studies such as regulating AI programs or social media .

Term 3
9

Students submit their product and production journal for the School-assessed Task, Unit 4, Outcome 1.

• Building on the examples from last week, evaluate the ethical and legal issues in the media products and case studies.
• Examine issues such as privacy, data-harvesting, illegal file sharing and copyright laws.
• Research a case study in which a particular legal or ethical issue is evident. What is the concern and what can audiences or media producers do to overcome these issues?
• Students review the many examples and case studies in their workbooks, summarising each and using the key knowledge points of the outcome as headings.

Term 3
10

Screen and present students’ productions to the school community.

Students sit the Unit 4, Outcome 2 School-assessed coursework task.

The student’s performance on the outcome is assessed using one or more of the following:

• A written report
• An essay

Development

Development involves exploring the ideas, intentions, narrative and audience of a production. In this stage, media practitioners may research other media products, analysing codes and conventions, narrative, genre or style and may consider the societal context of a product. Media practitioners may investigate equipment, materials and technologies in a range of media forms relevant to their audience and intention. They may perform experiments using materials, equipment and technologies to develop their skills.

• Inquiring
• Pose questions about what media technologies students will explore and experiment with.
• Pose questions about what narrative texts engage them emotionally and cognitively.
• Identify the emotional and cognitive effect media products have on audiences.
• Identify how media codes and conventions are used to generate specific emotional and cognitive effects on audiences.
• Organise and process information to explore and research media production processes.
• Generating
• Imagine possibilities and connect ideas through the research into media products and experimentation with production process.
• Consider alternatives by investigating the practices of other media producers.
• Seek solutions and put ideas into action through experimenting with media technologies.
• Create genre or stylistic conventions in media products.
• Analysing, synthesising and evaluating
• Apply logic and reasoning in analysis and experimentation.
• Draw conclusions from the experimentation to develop media products and narratives.
• Evaluate practices and processes used by media producers.
• Evaluate the use of materials, techniques and processes used in experimentation and development of media products.
• Reflecting on thinking and processes
• Transfer knowledge into new contexts by applying the knowledge of artistic practice into the student’s own artistic practice.
• Decide on the use of visual language to represent ideas and communicate meaning.

Pre-production

Pre-production planning considers the concept, audience, intention, narrative and context of a media product. Pre-production involves planning a narrative, including how it will engage, be consumed and read by an audience. Media codes and conventions, genre and style, are considered in the construction of the narrative. Documentation and planning may take visual and written forms, such as production notes or storyboards. Media practitioners may undertake technical tests and experiments prior to production, reflecting on their success or failure. Equipment, technologies and materials to be used in the production are documented. Media practitioners plan how the product will be distributed to an audience and the context in which it will be consumed.

• Inquiring
• Pose questions that guide the student’s reflection of their narrative intentions.
• Identify and clarify the way audiences will engage with media products.
• Identify and clarify the production contexts of their own media products and that of other media creators.
• Investigate available media technologies and timelines for production.
• Generating
• Imagine possibilities and connect ideas to further explore and develop concepts.
• Document written plans for media products.
• Visualise planned media narratives.
• Seek solutions through experimentation and development of media products to further expand, refine and resolve intentions.
• Analysing, synthesising and evaluating
• Apply logic and reasoning by structuring the reflection and evaluation based on intentions and production constraints.
• Draw conclusions throughout the planning process to develop and refine intentions.
• Reflecting on thinking and processes
• Reflect on the strategies used in planning media products and the analysis and interpretation of the emotional and cognitive effect of media products.
• Reflect on the processes used in organising media productions.
• Transfer knowledge into new contexts by applying knowledge and skills to expand ideas and approaches to media productions.

Production

Production is when a product is captured or recorded. Production may be a collaborative process involving a number of people with specific roles or it may be an individual process. Reflection and evaluation of the production can occur through written documentation, oral feedback and / or visual feedback.

• Inquiring
• Pose questions that guide the student to refine their intentions in their planned production.
• Identify and clarify their intentions by researching examples of other media products.
• Investigate media production technologies to refine their intentions.
• Generating
• Imagine possibilities and connect ideas in creating their intended productions.
• Consider alternative approaches to the student’s investigation and planned process.
• Seek solutions through experimentation and development of media products to further expand, refine and resolve their intentions.
• Analysing, synthesising and evaluating
• Apply logic and reasoning to refine media products.
• Draw conclusions in the resolution and refinement of media products.
• Evaluate the use of media production technologies to refine media products.
• Reflecting on thinking and processes
• Reflect on the processes used to effectively refine media products.
• Reflect upon and present the processes used to produce media narratives.

Post-production

The production is refined and resolved considering the intention, audience and planned narrative. Codes and conventions are used to resolve ideas and engage audiences. Specific equipment and technologies are used in editing. Feedback is sought and the creator and participant will reflect upon the product and its relationship to the specified audience and intent.

• Inquiring
• Pose questions that guide the student to resolve their intentions in their planned production.
• Identify and clarify their intentions by researching examples of other media products.
• Investigate media production technologies to resolve their intentions.
• Seek audience feedback on refined media products.
• Generating
• Finalise media products for intended audiences.
• Create alternative versions of the student’s intentions.
• Apply codes and conventions to engage audiences.
• Analysing, synthesising and evaluating
• Apply logic and reasoning to resolve media products.
• Evaluate the use of media production technologies to resolve media products.
• Evaluate media products in consideration of audience feedback.
• Reflecting on thinking and processes
• Reflect on their use of codes and conventions to engage audiences.
• Reflect on their intentions and alterations made to their production.

Distribution

The product is delivered to the specified audience in a planned context and location. At this point the creator and / or participants will seek feedback for future productions based on audience response and personal reflection.

• Inquiring
• Identify and clarify media technologies used to distribute media products.
• Identify and research methods to collect audience feedback.
• Generating
• Finalise media products for distribution to intended audiences.
• Analysing, synthesising and evaluating.
• Evaluate media products in consideration of audience feedback.
• Reflecting on thinking and processes
• Reflect the media production process.

Media literacy and language

• What terms do media producers and analysts use to describe and evaluate media products?
• What terms do media producers and analysts use to discuss media audiences?
• What terms do media producers use to plan and produce media products?
• How are the VCAA command terms applied in the key skills for each outcome, in the performance descriptors and assessment criteria for the School-assessed coursework task and School-assessed Task?

Media codes

• List the audio and visual components for specific forms.
• What technology is used to capture or produce each aspect of a media product in a specific form?
• What emotional or cognitive effect can specific applications of these technologies create in an audience?
• Generate a table to document the technical and symbolic application of media codes in a specific product, text or media genre.

Media conventions

• What is the emotional or cognitive effect a specific image, shot, scene, sequence, or audio recording generates in an audience?
• What codes are used and in what way are they combined to generate this effect?
• What common traits do media products belonging to a single genre have in common?
• What is the ‘recipe’ for generating a specific emotion in an audience?
• Analyse some familiar tropes or clichés from existing media products or narratives. What emotions or ideas do these conventions convey to audiences?
• Research the historic development of media technologies to construct media products. Are there examples of innovations in media production that have been adopted as wide-spread practice?

Audience

• Investigate who a specific media product is made for? How do we know it is made for them?
• Research why this audience is engaged by the specific emotional or cognitive effect generated by the selected media product or narrative.
• Can a media product have more than one target audience? Can you find examples of scenes, shots or sequences in a selected media product that are made to engage different audiences?
• How do the methods of distribution change the way audiences receive, engage and respond to media products?
• How do new media technologies give audiences the agency to respond to media products?

Style and genre

• Research and define the recipe of a particular media creator’s style.
• Research and define the recipe for a particular narrative genre.
• Present these findings in a visual poster or digital presentation.

Media forms and technologies

Research and document the media technologies and production process used to produce each of the media forms listed in Unit 3, Area of Study 3.

• What is the production process of each media form?
• What roles and responsibilities are involved in each stage of production?
• Research and document the media technologies available to students and experiment with their safe use and handling.

Media production process

Development

• What concepts and emotions do you want to convey to an audience?
• What genre or style might be appropriate to these ideas and feelings?
• What media form do you want to produce a narrative in?
• What technology is used to make narratives in this specific media form?
• Who is your target audience and why will they be engaged by your concept?

Pre-production

• What planning documents are needed for yourself and any cast or crew who will help you make your narrative?
• What timeline and workflow will you adhere to make this media product?
• What visual documents will help you and any collaborators conceptualise and plan for a successful production schedule?
• What roles and responsibilities are involved in making a production in this selected media form?

Production

• What methods are you using to record your production work?
• What changes need to be made to the original plan?
• What technical challenges are you facing during production?
• What organisational challenges are you facing during production?
• What feedback helps guide the choices and changes you might have to make?

Post-production

• What technologies are you using to refine and realise your product?
• What feedback are you seeking from your specified audience to guide your refinements?

Distribution

• What platforms are used to distribute similar media products to your own?
• What technologies are used to distribute these types of products?
• What technologies are used by audiences to receive your product?
• How do you know if your media product has been successful?

Different media forms have specific workflows. Some, such as film making or audio production, have linear stages with sequential roles, responsibilities and associated technologies; but others, such as game design, have non-linear workflows with adaptive roles and responsibilities.

Likewise, there are common written and visual planning documents for traditional media forms like fictional film production that include aspects such as scripts, storyboards and shot lists organised into shooting schedules. However, there is no specified list for each media form and students must research and create those they identify as necessary for a successful production. Some common written and visual documentation types are provided for each media form as an initial guide for further inquiry.

• A video or film production of 3–10 minutes in length, including title and credit sequences.
• Script, storyboards, character designs, prop and mis en scene design, lighting design, sound design, cinematography style, colour mood-board, casting, location scouting.
• An animated production of no more than 10 minutes in length, including title and credit sequences.
• Character designs, script, storyboard, colour design, sound design, style guide, voice acting casting.
• A radio or an audio production of a minimum of 8 minutes in length, including title and credit sequences.
• Script, sound production, casting, interview questions.
• A digital or an analogue photographic presentation, sequence or series of a minimum of 10 original sourced images shot, processed and edited by the student.
• Camera style, composition sketches / mock-ups, lighting design, prop and mis en scene design, location scouting, studio design.
• A digital or traditional print production of a minimum of eight pages produced and edited by the student.
• Page layout, composition sketches / mock-ups, font design, paper / print stock, colour design, copy text, photographic content, digital design content.
• A digital and / or an online production that demonstrates comparable complexity consistent with the other media forms.
• Page layout, site map, composition sketches / mock-ups, font design, colour design, copy text, photographic content, digital design content, multimedia content.
• A convergent or hybridised media production that incorporates aspects of a range of media forms and is consistent with product durations and the descriptors listed.

Feedback

These are some examples of feedback questions students can ask audiences to respond to in regard to their media products:

• What emotions did you feel when you watched, listened to, read or interacted with my product?
• What questions or ideas did experiencing my product make you have?
• What aspect of my product surprised or confused you?
• Was there any part of my product that was hard to hear, see, read or interact with?

As students refine their own media products, it is crucial that they seek out, document and reflect on the way audiences engage and read their work.

This feedback can occur at all stages of the media production process and should begin with guided questions that encourage critique and feedback from small groups within the class.

As students progress into Units 3 and 4, they should seek more detailed feedback on their experiments, concepts and productions from selected groups or individuals representative of their intended audiences.

This feedback can take the form of survey questionnaires, or more targeted written responses to specified questions. The effectiveness of this feedback to help students refine their media productions is dependent on the quality and specificity of the questions they ask.

Narrative

VCE Media requires students to both study and create their own narrative media products. As such, it is imperative that they research all aspects of narrative construction in the media forms and genres they intend to work in.

Common narrative conventions such as character development, structuring of time, setting, point of view, and resolution should be researched and experimented with.

Students should be given ample opportunity to explore their own story development in written and visual forms, seeking feedback from peers and other audiences about the way they are constructing their own narratives.

They should research and document examples of the stories that have engaged them, reflecting on how they were emotionally or cognitively effected by specific narrative conventions.

Researching feature length narrative texts is good, but equal time must be given to texts of the form and length they will be working in, such as previous years’ Top Screen showcases or other short film festivals.

Research and visually represent the events in a media narrative text.

• Map the main plot points on a graph and rate each for the emotional or cognitive effect it has on an audience.
• In the introduction of a narrative, which characters do we connect to or sympathise with? What do they want? How do they go about achieving their desires or overcoming their obstacles?
• How does the development of a narrative complicate the challenges a character faces and effect the choices they must make?
• How does the resolution of a narrative convey the main ideas, themes or concepts of the text? How do the events of the narrative change the characters in the story?
• Why is cause and effect so important in creating engaging narratives?
• How does a narrative’s genre effect audience expectations about its meaning or plot?

Context

Researching, discussing, analysing and evaluating the contexts of media products reveals the explicit and implicit meanings, views and values of the media creators who made them.

Media texts engage in ideological discourse when they explicitly or implicitly encode social, cultural, economic, political or historical events or concepts into their narratives.

Students of VCE Media research all aspects of such discourse, building on their analysis of representations to evaluate the complex meanings different audiences read in media texts, including how the contexts in which audiences receive and engage with media texts effects their response to them.

When producing their own media texts, students should also demonstrate an understanding of how their contexts help to shape their work.

• When and where was a selected media product made?
• What cultural or historic events were happening before or during the time the selected text was produced?
• Research evidence of the documented intentions of media producers for selected texts and products. What examples from the text can you find to support claims of these intentions? 
• Research and collect evidence of the audience responses to this text when it was first distributed. Did this response match the intentions of the producers?
• Research and document contemporary audience responses to the same text. Are these different to those of the original audiences and why?
• What has changed in history or society that might lead audiences to read media texts in ways other than the intentions of the media creators?
• Is all meaning intentional? Can media texts contain meanings that the creators didn’t intend audiences to read?

Representations

Representations rely on a shared understanding of media forms, codes and conventions and the processes of selection, omission and construction.

Everything we see, hear, read or interact with in media products are representations of some aspect of reality. The skill in identifying, discussing and evaluating representations is a foundational aspect of media literacy and underpins all further discourse on matters of context, agency and control.

Students learn to analyse the processes of selection and omission a media producer uses to construct representations, as well as the application of codes and conventions that embed their views and values into the representations they create.

Students also investigate and apply media technologies to generate their own representations in selected media forms.

• Research common stereotypes in media narratives made for children from both contemporary and older media texts. How have these representations changed over time?
• Evaluate the process of selection and omission to create representations by considering the way people build social media profiles. What do they select to present and what do they leave out?
• Research the media technologies, codes and conventions used to create representations in different media forms.
• How do media producers embed their views and values into representations?
• Compare news articles related to similar events or ideas. How does each news source represent this event or idea for their target audience?

Agency and control

The media is used by corporations, governments and individuals in complex ways. As new media technologies alter the way media products are produced and distributed, new arguments and theories are needed to explain the changing relationship between media and audiences.

Agency refers to the capacity individuals and communities have to engage with, respond to and create their own media products.

Control refers to the institutions and corporations who own the means of media production and regulate media distribution.

Students can begin their inquiry by answering the following questions for the stages of the media production process.

• Production – who finances the production of media products?
• Distribution – who owns and regulates the technologies and platforms used to distribute media products to audiences?
• Reception – what technologies or platforms do audiences use to respond to media products?
• Discuss what complete freedom to produce and distribute media might do to society? Compare this to what complete control would look like.
• What ethical or legal issues would occur in either extreme scenario?
• What arguments or evidence is used to suggest the media can influence audiences?