MEDA302 - Digital Media Lab

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

MEDA100 Making Digital Movies AND MEDA201 Online Video Production

Unit rationale, description and aim

Screen-based media is a gateway to global cultures and communities. The screen is inhabited by personal, corporate and political interests, and is also a melting pot of traditional and emergent content and production practices. There is a need for graduates in this space to bring a critical and ethical lens to bear upon their own work and the diversity of potential meanings that circulate with it, both locally and abroad. Also, graduates need to engage with the wider media industry to deepen their understandings of production and also inform their potential career directions.

Students will work individually or collaboratively to produce a major media production. This production will allow students to apply the skills and theory learned in previous media production units and will provide a significant contribution to the students’ prospective work portfolio increasing the chances of future employment. The unit will also interact with screen industries, practicing filmmakers and academic researchers to help students contextualise their work in an industry and further education setting.

MEDA302 aims to bring together the theory and practice of creating content for a range of media platforms and will provide students with experience of planning and implementing a major media project from concept to publication.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

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

LO1 - Research and evaluate existing media practices (GA1, GA4)

LO2 - Write a script suitable for production and pitch to industry standards. (GA1, GA4, GA5, GA6)

LO3 - Synthesise and apply what they have learnt through the course to produce a media project in keeping with industry practice (GA1, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8, GA9, GA10)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Students will research and evaluate a range of online media sites. They will design and work collaboratively to design an online presence for media sharing. Students will produce a range of media projects for inclusion on the site and will learn strategies to select submissions from other sources. They will work collaboratively to ensure the ongoing success of the site.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Classes will take the form of 3-hour workshops with a practical bias where students will be introduced to advanced skills and concepts. These workshops will also include guest speaker seminars where students can interact with the wider media industry.

MEDA302 is a culmination of the production units offered in the Media major. As such it will provide students with the opportunity to apply the skills and theory developed in previous media units to produce a major media production.

 The students will be introduced to a range of media genre to help with their research into their major projects. They will be offered masterclasses in areas such as camera operation, editing and scriptwriting to enhance their learning experience.

They will attend industry seminars that will introduce them to an authentic real-world experience and help broaden their options. This will include guest experts with real direct linkage to the industry where available.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment strategy for this unit is designed to allow the students to produce an industry informed major production suitable for in inclusion on a work portfolio. Assessments will provide authentic experiences. These are sequenced in accordance with constructivist principles from formative tasks completed mainly in workshops, to a more complex summative task that allows students to apply their skills to a major media project

The assessments will be based on industry models where students will conceive of a project, write a script and pitch this to an industry panel. They will then work individually or collaboratively to produce their major production. The assessment will also reflect student engagement with an aspect of the media industry that supports their production focus or career goal.

Students will undertake the production of a media project which will be informed by theory and research. Assessments may include a media industry report, the writing of a script and a pitch of that script, and a major media production.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Bowe, H, Martin, K & Manns, H 2014, Communication across cultures: mutual understanding in a global world, 2ndedn, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne.

Pearson.Dainton, M & Zelley, E 2015, Applying Communication Theory for Professional Life: A Practical Introduction, 3rdedn, SAGE, Thousand Oaks.

Grove, E 2014, Raindance Producers' Lab Lo-To-No Budget Filmmaking, 7thedn, Focal Press, Burlington.

Euson, B 2013, Communicating in the 21st Century, 3rdedn, John Wiley & Sons, Australia.Owens,

J & Millerson, G 2012, Television Production, 15thedn, Focal Press,.

Mollison, M 2010, Producing Videos: A Complete Guide, 3rdedn, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.Wood, J 2014, Communication Mosaics: An Introduction to the Field of Communication, 7thedn, Wadsworth Publishing, Boston