MEDA305 - Major Media Project

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

MEDA100 - Making Digital Movies or MEDA103 Introduction to Screen and Sound Production or MEDA220 Sound Production Studio or MEDA221 Screen Production or MEDA222 Studio Production

Incompatible

MEDA302 - Digital Media Lab

Unit rationale, description and aim

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. Graduates in this space need skills to approach industry engagement, pitch concepts and produce media projects. Just as importantly, media professionals need to be able to bring a critical and ethical lens to the local and international media industry and their work within it. This unit is a capstone unit for the media major and the culmination of the production units offered at ACU. 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 unit will provide opportunities to engage with the wider media industry, deepen understandings of production and inform potential career directions.

 Students will work individually or collaboratively to devise, pitch and 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 relevant creative industries, practicing media makers and academic researchers, to help students contextualise their work in an industry and further education setting.

This unit 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, GA2, GA4)

LO2 - Write a script suitable for production and pitch to industry standards. (GA1, GA2, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6) 

LO3 -Synthesize and apply skills learnt through the course to produce a media project in keeping with industry practice (GA1, GA2, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8, GA9, GA10)

Graduate attributes

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

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

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

Topics will include:

• Analysis of a range of production genres
• Engagement with industry practitioners
• Advanced scriptwriting
• Advanced video camera skills
• Advanced video editing techniques
• Skills in preparing a media pitch

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

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

The unit 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 genres 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. With permission from the lecturer in charge, students may undertake a non-assessed short internship or work-integrated placement in a media setting in this unit.

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 inclusion in 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 t heir 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, as well as a major media production.

To meet the learning outcomes of this unit students must pass assessment three, which is an evaluation of and report on the outcomes of audience research.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Cultural Protocols

Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Cultural Protocols for Indigenous Reporting in the Media https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/tk/en/databases/creative_heritage/docs/abc_cultural_protocol.pdf

Australia Council, Protocols for Using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts, https://australiacouncil.gov.au/investment-and-development/protocols-and-resources/protocols-for-using-first-nations-cultural-and-intellectual-property-in-the-arts/

Terri Janke, Pathways and Protocols: A Filmmaker’s guide to Working With Indigenous People, Culture and Concepts, Screen Australia, https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/getmedia/16e5ade3-bbca-4db2-a433-94bcd4c45434/Pathways-and-Protocols.pdf

REPRESENTATIVE TEXTS AND REFERENCES

Bowe, H., Martin, K & Manns, H 2014, Communication Across Cultures: Mutual Understanding in a Global World, 2nd edn., Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

Pearson, Dainton, M & Zelley, E, 2015, Applying Communication Theory for Professional Life: A Practical Introduction, 4th ed.n, SAGE, Thousand Oaks.

Grove, E., 2014, Raindance Producers' Lab Lo-To-No Budget Filmmaking, 2nd edn., Focal Press, Burlington.

Euson, B 2016, Communicating in the 21st Century, 4th edn., John Wiley & Sons, Australia.

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

Mollison, M., 2010, Producing Videos: A Complete Guide, 3rd edn., Allen & Unwin, Sydney.

Wood, J., 2017, Communication Mosaics: An Introduction to the Field of Communication, 8th edn., Wadsworth Publishing, Boston