Media
Subject Guide
Media is a subject that combines critical thinking and analytical skills, with the development of high-level technical skills in media production. It is therefore suitable for academic students with an interest in analysing the role of the media in society, such as the influence of films and streaming television, as well as social media, and AI. It is also for those with an interest in filmmaking, animation, photography, producing graphic novels or comic books, children’s books and more.
Visual Arts Department
headofvisualarts@haileybury.com.au
Unit focus areas
Units 1: Media forms, Representations and Australian stories
Unit 2: Narrative across media forms
In Unit 1, students analyse how media representations are constructed through the use of media codes and conventions to tell stories in a range of media forms and products, and how audiences engage with them Students also gain an understanding of audiences as consumers, but also, as producers of media products. Students work in a range of media forms such as photography, audiovisual production, and print to develop an understanding of the characteristics of each media form, and how they contribute to the communication of meaning.
Students develop strong research skills to investigate and analyse selected narratives. They also experience the voices and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators to gain an understanding and appreciation of how their stories contribute to Australian cultural identity.
In Unit 2, students further develop an understanding of the concept of narrative and the conventions of genre in media products and media forms in different contexts. The production work includes producing comic-book layouts in print, as well as audiovisual sequences in the superhero genre. Finally, students analyse the developments in media technologies in relation to the history of media, and the influence of the media on individuals and society.
Unit 3: Media Narratives, Contexts and Preproduction
Unit 4: Media Production; Agency and Control in the Media
Students consider the use of media codes and conventions to structure meaning in film. Through close analysis of a media narrative, students develop media language, and examine how social, historical, institutional, cultural, economic and political contexts may influence the construction of media narratives and audience readings.
Students research codes and narrative conventions, and undertake preproduction planning appropriate to a selected media form in which they will create a media product in short film, photography, print, or a hybrid media form.
Current developments in the media industry are explored with a focus on the relationship between the media and audiences, as well as the capacity for the Australian government to regulate the ways in which media is used by governments, institutions and audiences in relation to ethical and legal issues such as algorithms, data-harvesting and AI.
Pre-requisites
There are no pre-requisites for studying Media Units 1 and 2.
Assessment
For Units 1 and 2, assessment tasks include research assignments, tests, written reports and essays, as well as production tasks in print, digital photography and video. There is a two-hour written examination at the end of the academic year. For Units 3 and 4, students complete SchoolAssessed Coursework (20%), a School-Assessed Task (40%), and an endof-year examination (40%).
