VCE Media

2018 - 2022

Implementation briefing
May – July 2017
© Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2017

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 Implementation in 2018
Units 1 & 2 and Units 3 & 4
Available online on VCAA website
• Study Design
• Advice for Teachers
• List of resources
• School Assessed Task Assessment Advice (February 2018)
• Sample exam / exam questions (early 2018)
Part 1

STUDY OVERVIEW
 VCE Media Study Design
Teachers should thoroughly familiarise
themselves with the Study Design including:
• Introduction, Rationale and Aims (p. 5 - 6)
• Structure (p. 6)
• Assessment and Reporting (p. 8)
• Cross-Study specifications (p. 9 - 11)
• Units 1 – 4 (p. 12 – 29)
Study Overview: Units 1 & 2
Unit 1: Media forms, representations and Australian
Stories
• Area of Study 1: Media representations
• Area of Study 2: Media forms in production
• Area of Study 3: Australian stories

Unit 2: Narrative across media forms

• Area of Study 1: Narrative, style and genre
• Area of Study 2: Narratives in production
• Area of Study 3: Media and Change
Study Overview: Units 3 & 4
Unit 3: Media narratives and pre-production
• Area of Study 1: Narrative and ideology
• Area of Study 2: Media production development
• Area of Study 3: Media production design

Unit 4: Media production and issues in the media

• Area of Study 1: Media production
• Area of Study 2: Agency and control in and of the media
 Key changes
2012-2017 2018- 2022
12 Areas of Study Units 1 - 4 11 Areas of Study Units 1 - 4
• Unit 1 – 3 AOS • Unit 1 – 3 AOS
• Unit 2 – 3 AOS • Unit 2 – 3 AOS
• Unit 3 – 3 AOS • Unit 3 – 3 AOS
• Unit 4 – 3 AOS • Unit 4 – 2 AOS
• Content focused • Stronger relationship between
• Memorisation the Areas of Study.
• More application of knowledge
and skills in production.
• Enquiry based, critical and
creative thinking.
• Higher order thinking
 Assessment weightings
2012 - 2017 Weight 2018 - 2022 Weight

Unit 3 & 4 Assessed 18% Unit 3 & 4 Assessed 20%

Coursework coursework
• U3 Outcome 1 • U3 Outcome 1
• U4 Outcome 2 • U4 Outcome 2
• U4 Outcome 3
School Assessed Task 37% School Assessed 40%
• U3 Outcome 2 & 3 Task
• U4 Outcome 1 • U3 Outcome 2 & 3
• U4 Outcome 1
End of year examination 45% End of year 40%
• U3 Outcome 1 examination
• U4 Outcome 2 & 3 • All outcomes of
Unit 3 & 4
Part 3

CROSS STUDY SPECIFICATIONS

 Cross Study Specifications
Pge 9 - 10
• Cross Study Specifications have been added in
the front of the Study to clarify the key concepts
that underpin all 4 UNITS of the Study.
• Evidence of these are found in each Area of Study.
• The Cross-Study Specifications will be assessed in
the examination, School Assessed Task and
School Assessed Coursework.
 Media Products
Media products are the consumable output
designed by media creators and producers
that are distributed to, engage with, consume
and read by audiences. Media products may
be described as tangible or intangible.

• Tangible the length of time the audience engages

with the product. EG: Posters, photography, print

• Intangible – the creator or producer structures the

time the audience will engage. EG: Film, television,
radio/audio
Cross Study Specifications – Pge 9
 Media Forms
• Construction of a media product is dependent on
the style and genre of the product and the
intended audience, location, context and time
in which the product was created, produced,
distributed, consumed and read by
audiences.
• Refers to the technological means and channels
by which the media is created, produced,
distributed, consumed and read.
Cross Study Specifications – Pge 9
 Media forms
• Moving image
For example: Film, television, video, animation
• Still image
For example: Photography – analogue and digital
• Audio
For example: Radio, podcast
• Print
For example: Magazine, zine, comic, graphic novel, newspaper,
poster
• Digital
Online video and audio, podcast, magazine, comic, graphic novel,
newspaper, video game, blog, website, app
• Convergent or hybridised media
The combination or joining of two media forms
 Media Codes and Conventions
Follow the language of the Victorian and Australian Curriculum.
Media Codes
• Technical, written and symbolic codes used to construct or suggest
meaning in media forms and products.
• For example, camera, acting, setting, mise en scene, editing, lighting,
sound, special effects, typography, colour, visual composition, text and
graphics.
Media conventions
• Rules or generally accepted ways of constructing form and informing
meaning in media products.
• For example, story principles, form and structure, generic structures,
character and story arcs, cause and effect, point of view, the structuring
of time, elements of a page layout, paper stock for print, titles and credit
sequences, hyperlinking, framing and mounting of images.
Cross Study Specifications – Pge 10
 Media Narratives

• Narrative is used to describe fictional and

non fictional media stories in all media
forms.
• The term ‘story’ refers to all events that
contribute to the narrative

Cross Study Specifications – Pge 9

 Media Narratives
• Media industries are built upon the creation and
distribution of stories.
• Stories are constructed in the form of a
systematically organised series of
interconnected images, sounds and/or words
using media codes and conventions.
• The creator and the audience share an
understanding of both the construction,
distribution, consumption and reception of
stories.
Cross Study Specifications – Pge 9
 Media Narratives
• Digital media forms enable creators and
participants to develop and distribute
stories in hybrid forms
• Collaborative and user-generated content,
challenging the traditional understanding of
story forms
• Advances new modes of audience
engagement.
Cross Study Specifications – Pge 9
 Media production process
• Audience engagement, consumption and
reception.
• Constraints – budget, time and skills
• The stages are not static or linear but
iterative and interrelated.
• Underpinning and ongoing analysis,
reflection and evaluation. Critical, creative
and reflective thinking.
Cross Study Specifications – Pge 10
 Stages of Media Production
Process
• Development
Exploration, experimentation, research
• Pre-production – planning
• Production
Including reflection and evaluation.
• Post –production – resolution, audience
• Distribution – in context with feedback.
Cross Study Specifications – Pge 10
 Media language
• Design, production, distribution, engagement,
reception, reading and critique.
• Terms used by media practitioners and institutions.
• Used in construction of media products.
• Used in the discussion of the ways the media
communicates meaning to audiences.
• Shared understanding of media codes, conventions
and technologies dependent on media form, intent
of the product, genre, style and the making of
meaning.
Cross Study Specifications – Pge 11
Part 5

UNITS 1 & 2: SPECIFIC CHANGES

AND ASSESSMENT
Understanding the Study Design
Each Outcome is described in terms of
key knowledge and key skills
Key knowledge Key Skills
Provides the Provides the Application
Content For example:
• Explain
• Discuss
• Analyse
• Explore
• Develop
• Document
 Understanding the Study Design
Unit 1 AOS 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 and read by audiences.

Key knowledge Key Skills

Media codes and conventions that Analyse the media codes and
are used to construct media conventions used to construct
products and meanings in different media products and meanings in
forms. different media forms from different
(extract from study design) periods of time, locations and
contexts.
(extract from study design)
Unit 1: Media forms, representations
and Australian stories
• Area of Study One:
Media representations
• Area of Study Two:
Media forms in production
• Area of Study Three:
Australian stories
 Unit 1 AOS 1:Media Representations
• Construction of meaning through representation.
• Representation of values by the media creators and
audience at the time, location and context of construction.
• Social, technological, industrial and economic factors
influencing representations.
• Concept of audiences – participation, consumption,
reception, production, curation and distribution of media
products.
• Construction of identity in media products – audience,
creators, producers.

Analyse and discuss

 Unit 1 AOS 2 : Media forms in production
• The media production process – pre-production,
production and post production and distribution.
• Focus on representation, construction of meaning,
distribution, audience engagement, consumption and
reception as inspiration
• Students must work in two or more media forms that
represent concepts studied in Area of Study 1.
• Evaluate how the characteristics of their selected media
forms influence the representation and construction of
their productions.

Describe, research, apply, evaluate

 Unit 1 AOS 3: Australian Stories
• Fictional and non fictional Australian
narratives (stories) in two media forms.
• Individual style through the use of crafting
narrative and structures to engage
audiences.
• Audience engagement and readings of
Australian stories.
• Factors that impact audience engagement,
reception and consumption.
Analyse & Discuss
 Assessment Unit 1- Pge 15
For all three outcomes a range of assessment tasks
can be used including the following:
• Audio-visual or video sequence
• Radio or audio sequence
• Photographs
• Print layouts
• Sequences of presentations using digital
technologies
• Posters
• Written responses
• Oral reports
 Unit 2:Narrative across
media forms
• Area of Study One:
Narrative, style and genre

• Area of Study Two:

Narratives in production

• Area of Study Three:

Media and change
 Unit 2 AOS 1 : Narrative, style and genre

• How narratives construct realities and meaning for audiences.

• The personal and distinctive style of media creators and producers
in constructing narratives.
• Historical, cultural and contextual factors and their influence on the
construction of narratives.
• Audience engagement, consumption and reception and their
influence on the construction of narratives. Individual characteristics
of audiences.
• Students must study two narratives in different media forms.

Analyse
 Unit 2 AOS 2 : Narratives in production
• Use of the media production process in the construction of
narratives.
• Development of skills in the use of media technologies
• Specific audiences and constraints of contexts in the
creation and production of media products.
• Ethical, legal and community constraints in the production
and distribution of media products.
• Roles and responsibilities in the media production process.

Design, Produce, Apply, Develop

 Unit 2 AOS 3: Media and change
• The nature and forms of new media technologies and
their relationship to traditional media technologies.
• The growth of digital technologies and their impact on
audiences.
• The influences of technological development, media
convergence and hybridisation on society, audiences,
individuals, media industries and institutions.
• Social, ethical and legal issues in the media industry.
• Technologies, processes of production,
characteristics, distribution, consumption and
reception of media products in new media forms.

Identify, analyse, discuss, explain

 Assessment Unit 2 – Pge 19
For all three outcomes a range of assessment tasks
can be used including the following:
• Audio-visual or video sequence
• Radio or audio sequence
• Photographs
• Print layouts
• Sequences of presentations using digital
technologies
• Posters
• Written responses
• Oral reports
Unit 3: Media narratives and pre-production
• Area of Study One:
Narrative and ideology

• Area of Study Two:

Media production development

• Area of Study Three:

Media production design
 Unit 3 AOS 1:Narrative and ideology
• The relationship between narratives and audiences and
how they frame the nature, form and development of
discourses in society.
• How the construction, distribution, reception and
consumption of narratives influence ideologies in society.
• The framing of the nature, form and structure of narratives
by ideologies in society.
• Social, cultural, ideological and institutional contexts
relating to periods of time and locations of production.
• Purpose, genre, style, content, distribution, consumption
and reception of media narratives.

Explain, analyse, discuss

 Media narratives for Unit 3 study
• Fictional and/or non fictional narratives
• Film and/or television and/or radio and/or audio (that
can be broadcast or streamed) and/or photographic
and/or print products.
• One of the following:
o At least two feature length film products of one hour or more
in length or the equivalent in television, streamed, radio or
audio products.
o Two photographic series of at least six images each.
o Two print productions of at least 15 pages each.
• One media product must have been released in the
five years prior to the commencement of the study.
 Unit 3 AOS 2: Media production
development
• Students undertake an investigation of the media
form to inform the development of their proposed
production.
• Contributes to the production design.
• Research narrative, genre, style, media codes and
conventions and aspects of the work of media
practitioners relevant to the proposed production.
• Production skills in a selected media form.
• Documentation of research and annotated production
exercises, reflection, experiments and evaluations.
Explore, analyse, record,
document, develop skills, evaluate
 Unit 3 AOS 3: Media production design

• The production design communicates creative

vision and thorough planning.
• Outlines the proposed audience in detail.
• The production design includes a fictional and/or
non fictional narrative for a specified audience in
a selected media form.
• Students must take into account the codes and
conventions for the selected media form.

methods, document, apply, create

 Fictional and non-fictional products
• A video or film production of 3 – 10 minutes in length, including credit
sequences.
• An animated production of no more than 10 minutes in length, including title and
credit sequences.
• A radio or an audio production of a minimum of 8 minutes in length, including
title and credit sequences.
• 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.
• A digital or traditional print production of a minimum of 8 pages produced and
edited by the student.
• A digital and/or an online production that demonstrates comparable complexity
consistent with the other media forms.
• 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.
 School based Assessment Unit 3

Outcome Assessment tasks

Outcome 1 Assessed with one of the following:
• A written report
Analyse how narratives are • An essay
constructed and distributed, and they • Short responses
engage, are consumed and a read by • Structured questions
the intended audiences and present • An annotated visual report
day audiences. • An oral report
• A presentation using digital
technologies.
Total Marks: 40

Assessed by School-assessed coursework for Unit 3: 10 percent

Unit 4 : Media production and issues in the
media
• Area of Study One:
Media production

• Area of Study Two:

Agency and control in and of the media
 Unit 4 AOS 1:Media Production
• Production and post production of the media production
process.
• Use of media codes and conventions in production and
post-production
• Documentation of iterations and evaluation of the product
after feedback.
• Development, refinement and resolution of the media
product is documented.
• Sole direction of the student and documented in the media
production design plan.

methods, realise, apply, reflect, document

Unit 4 AOS 2: Agency and control in and of the
media
• The arguments and issues surrounding control of the
media in a digitised world.
• The dynamic and changing relationship between the
media and its audiences.
• The use of the media by globalised media institutions, the
government and the individual
• Regulation of the relationships between the media and its
audience in Australia.
• Ethical and legal issues in the production, distribution,
consumption and reception of media products.

Discuss, analyse, evaluate

 School- based Assessment Unit 4
Outcome Assessment tasks
Outcome 2 Assessed with one of the following:
• A written report
Discuss issues of agency and control • An essay
in the relationship between the media • Short responses
and its audience. • Structured questions
• An annotated visual report
• An oral report
• A presentation using digital
technologies.
Total Marks: 40

School-assessed coursework for Unit 4 will

contribute 10 per cent to the study score.
School Assessed Task Unit 3 & 4
 Units 3 and 4 assessment
weighting
• Unit 3 School-assessed coursework 10%
• Unit 4 School-assessed coursework 10%
• Unit 3 & 4 School-assessed task 40%
• End-of-year examination 40%
 Assessment of Coursework
and tasks
• School Assessed Coursework tasks and
School Assessed Tasks have changed:
• To ensure authentication of student work:

o Commercially purchased SACs and SATs must be

always modified.
o School Assessed Task and SAC information used from
previous years must always be modified.

It is the responsibility of the teacher to

ensure that all SAC and SAT student work is
authenticated.
VCE Media Advice to Teachers
• Published online
• It includes:
Advice about developing a teaching and learning
program
Glossary of key terms
Ideas for learning activities
Assessment advice
 VCAA Bulletin Online
• The VCAA Bulletin VCE, VCAL and VET is
now online
• A free subscription is available at
www.vcaa.vic.edu.au
• See ‘Subscriptions’ at the bottom of the page
• Follow the prompts to enter your details
• Ensure your email address is entered
correctly
 Authentication Advice
 Please refer to the Authentication information in the VCE and
VCAL Administration Handbook, the Advice for Teachers and
the information issued with the School Assessment
Administration published by the VCAA each year.
 The Authentication Record Form and Student Feedback form
are a record of student’s undertaking of each SAT.
 VCAA requires to view and confirm this documentation for Top
Arts, Top Designs and Top Screen submissions and for School
based audits.
 The Authentication Record and Student Feedback sheets are
the teacher verification that the student work is their own, and
that they have sought copyright release.
 Students are asked to sign after discussion with teacher.
Remind them that they are signing that their work is their own
 Copyright
• Teachers should read
through the information
regarding seeking Copyright
approval for application to
the Season of Excellence.
• Students should apply for
copyright clearance EARLY.
• Information regarding
copyright for the Season of
Excellence is on the Season
of Excellence webpage.
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pa
ges/excellenceawards/seasonof
excellence/index.aspx
Contact details
Kathryn Hendy-Ekers
VCAA Curriculum Manager, Visual Arts & Media
Phone: 03 9032 – 1697

Email:
[email protected]