Why Study Media?

This study provides students with the opportunity to examine the media in both historical and contemporary contexts while developing skills in media design and production in a range of media forms. VCE Media provides students with the opportunity to analyse media concepts, forms and products in an informed and critical way. Students consider narratives, technologies and processes from various perspectives including an analysis of structure and features. They examine debates about the media’s role in contributing to and influencing society. Students integrate these aspects of the study through the individual design and production of their media representations, narratives and products. VCE Media supports students to develop and refine their planning and analytical skills, critical and creative thinking and expression, and to strengthen their communication skills and technical knowledge. Students gain knowledge and skills in planning and contribution to contemporary society. This study leads to pathways for further theoretical and/or practical study at tertiary level or in vocational education and training settings; including screen and media, marketing and advertising, games and interactive media, communication and writing, graphic and communication design, photography and animation.

Structure

The study is made up of four units.

Unit 1: Media forms, representations and Australian stories

Unit 2: Narrative across media forms

Unit 3: Media narratives and pre-production

Unit 4: Media production and issues in the media

Outcomes

Outcomes define what students know and will able to do as a result of undertaking the study.

Unit 1: Media forms, representations and Australian stories

The relationship between audiences and the media is dynamic and changing. 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, narrative and media codes and conventions contribute to the construction of the media realities audiences engage with and read. 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. They develop research skills to investigate and analyse selected narratives focusing on the influence of media professionals on production genre and style. Students develop an understanding of the features of Australian fictional and non-fictional narratives in different media forms. 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.

Area of Study 1

Media representations

Outcome 1
On completion of this unit the student should be able to explain how media representations in a range of media products and forms, and from different periods of time, locations and contexts, are constructed, distributed, engaged with, consumed and read by audiences.

Area of Study 2

Media forms in production

Outcome 2
On completion of this unit the student should be able to use the media production process to design, produce and evaluate media representations for specified audiences in a range of media forms.

Area of Study 3

Australian stories

Outcome 3
On completion of this unit the student should be able to 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, and 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, sound, news, print, photography, games, and interactive digital forms. Students analyse the influence of developments in media technologies on individuals and society, examining in a range of media forms the effects of media convergence and hybridisation on the 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.

Area of Study 1

Narrative, style and genre

Outcome 1
On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse the intentions of media creators and producers and the influences of narratives on the audience in different media forms.

Area of Study 2

Narratives in production

Outcome 2
On completion of this unit the student should be able to apply the media production process to create, develop and construct narratives.

Area of Study 3

Media and change

Outcome 3
On completion of this unit the student should be able to discuss the influence of new media technologies on society, audiences, the individual, media industries and institutions.

Unit 3: Media narratives and pre-production

In this unit 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, ideological 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. Students use the pre-production stage of the media production process to design the production of a media product for a specified audience. They investigate a media form that aligns with their interests and intent, developing an understanding of the media codes and conventions appropriate to audience engagement, consumption and reception within the selected media form. They explore and experiment with media technologies to develop skills in their selected media form, reflecting on and documenting their progress. Students undertake pre-production processes appropriate to their selected media form and develop written and visual documentation to support the production and post-production of a media product in Unit 4.

Area of Study 1

Narrative and ideology

Outcome 1
On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse how narratives are constructed and distributed, and how they engage, are consumed and are read by the intended audience and present day audiences.

Area of Study 2

Media production development

Outcome 2
On completion of this unit the student should be able to research aspects of a media form and experiment with media technologies and media production processes to inform and document the design of a media production.

Area of Study 3

Media production design

Outcome 3
On completion of this unit the student should be able to develop and document a media production design in a selected media form for a specified audience.

Unit 4: Media production and issues in the media

In this unit students focus on the production and post-production stages of the media production process, bringing the media production design created in Unit 3 to its realisation. They refine their media production in response to feedback and through personal reflection, documenting the iterations of their production as they work towards completion. 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.

Area of Study 1

Media production

Outcome 1
On completion of this unit the student should be able to produce, refine and resolve a media product designed in Unit 3.

Area of Study 2

Agency and control in and of the media

Outcome 2
On completion of this unit the student should be able to discuss issues of agency and control in the relationship between the media and its audience.

Assessment

Satisfactory completion

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on a decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. This decision will be based on the teacher’s assessment of the student’s performance on assessment tasks designated for the unit.

Levels of achievement

Units 1 and 2

Emmaus College students complete graded Assessment Tasks and Semester Examinations as part of the Assessment process for Units 1 and 2.

Units 3 and 4

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority supervises the assessment of all students undertaking Units 3 and 4.

Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE Media are as follows:

Units 3 and 4 School-assessed Coursework	20%
Units 3 and 4 School-assessed Task	40%
End-of-year examination	40%