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 that 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.

Unit 2: Narrative across Media Forms

Fictional and non-fictional narratives are fundamental to the media and are found in all media forms.

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, as well as 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.

Unit 3: MEDIA NARRATIVES, CONTEXTS 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.

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.

Unit 4: Media Production and Agency and Control 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 its 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.