Clarification details
Updated December 2017. This document has been updated to address issues that have arisen from moderation.
The brief
Students will produce a media product which meets the requirements of a brief and demonstrates a controlled use of production technology and media conventions.
At level 8 of the curriculum students should be able to apply understanding of media conventions and technology to craft media. Teachers need to ensure that the brief they set will allow students to create a media product of sufficient complexity to demonstrate this understanding.
For example, this might include a short film with a layered narrative or a multipage magazine spread with an extended feature article or selection of articles based around a particular theme/target audience. Localising these will allow students to incorporate a range of interview subjects and primary research.
The brief also outlines the target audience and ethical or legal issues that may need to be considered. Teachers should ensure that the products the students produce do not contain material that may be considered inappropriate for the target audience, particularly for a school audience or members of the community. This could include reference to adult themes (e.g. suicide or self-harm) and/or other sensitive topics.
Group work
If students are producing their media products as part of a group, it is important that each student’s individual contribution is able to be tracked. The Conditions of Assessment provide guidance on how student contributions in group work can be tracked.
Technology and Conventions
In order to reach Achieved, students need to show sufficient consistent control of production technology and media conventions. It is necessary that all students take on a technical role in the creation of the production.
For a print production, conventions might include things such as effective use of space, balance between images and text, consistency of design across pages, original photography, images scaled to fit and free of pixilation, captions, drop caps, gutters, pull quotes, fonts, graphics, leads and nutgraphs, active voice, varied sentence length, angles, research, interviews, integrated quotations and effective narrative structure.
For moving image, consistent control over production technology and conventions might include audible sound levels, lighting, framing and composition, colour, variety of shot types, motivated cuts and editing, level tripods, a clear and effective narrative structure, and conventions such as character types, setting, themes and plot devices as appropriate to the genre of moving image produced.