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VCAA Top Screen is an annual screening of the best work from VCE Media students. The films are screened at Federation Square and shown as part of the Season of Excellence exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. If you haven't had an opportunity to see Top Screen or Top Design, several students have uploaded their work to the internet:

Power of Imagination	Through Her Eyes	21:24	The Patient	My Redemption
Derrick & Jonathan	Push	Timmy	The Black Pages	My Spectacular Student Film

School Assessed Task: The Criteria

Before you start planning your school assessed task, it's a good idea to understand the criteria that will be used to assess your media product.

Criterion 1. Use of media equipment, applications and/or processes to present ideas and/or achieve particular effects.
Criterion 2. Development of a media production design plan.
Criterion 3. Understanding of media form/s, conventions and style/s appropriate to the media product.
Criterion 4. Development of an individual and/or distinctive product.
Criterion 5. Skill in the use of production equipment and/or facilities.
Criterion 6. Understanding of the management and organisation of the production process.

If you are planning to achieve a good grade for the SAT, you need a meticulous and detailed production design plan. For a description of the qualities required to achieve very high results for each of these criteria, consult pages 24-29 of the VCAA Bulletin.

Production Design Plans

The VCE Season of Excellence is a great source of outstanding production design plans. These design plans are a good indication of the amount of work and detail that goes into a thorough production design plan.

Power of Imagination - Video - Alex Clapp

Through Her Eyes - Video - Alyssa Chhim

21:24 - Video - David Collins

Everyday I Dream of Sneakers - Video - Sam Ayre

Molly Jane - Video - Emma Rozsa

Concrete Cage - Animation - Josh O'Keefe

The Wrong Step - Video - Nicholas Rickard

Getting Started

Your production design plan should be divided into the following sections:

• Investigation. Collect and annotate examples of media texts that have inspired you. If you're creating a video, you might choose a film that has inspired you and write about its use of editing, mise-en-scene and camera techniques. Your investigation should incorporate research and an exploration of ideas or options.
• Concept. This should include a written and/or visual exploration of your ideas. It may include brainstorming, mapping, feedback, experimentation, reflection and evaluation. You might start by listing different ideas for your production. These might simply be words or visual images. Your inspiration can come from anywhere. Beneath these headings, begin to flesh out each of the ideas. When you’ve developed these ideas, you may discover that one or two of them have more merit than the others. Select these ideas and begin to develop them further, setting aside an entire page in your folio for each idea. Seek feedback from other people about these ideas and document that feedback in your folios.
• Intention. Your intention should include a discussion of your purpose, impact and the desired outcome of your media product.
• Audience. Your description of audience should cover their attitudes, expectations and knowledge.
• Media choice. Explain why you have chosen your medium over others, discussing its strength and qualities of this form of communication.
• Written planning document.
• Visual planning document.
• Depending on which medium you have selected, your production design plan should cover each of the following production design plan specifications:
  
  • Film/Video/Animation: intention; audience; style and/or genre; storyline and/or outline of content; techniques of engagement; location and/or setting; dialogue, narration and/or interview questions; camera: framing, position and movement; edit details and transitions; lighting; music and/or sound effects.
  • Radio/Audio: intention; audience; style and/or genre; storyline and/or outline of content; techniques of engagement; location and/or setting; dialogue, narration and/or interview questions; edit and/or sequencing details; music and/or sound effects.
  • Photography/Images: intention; audience; method of presentation and exhibition; style and/or genre; techniques of engagement; subject(s) and/or topic; location; lighting; composition; techniques, for example, selective focus, filtration, manipulating contrast, use of specialty papers, toning, colouring, typography.
  • Print: intention; audience; style and/or genre; techniques of engagement; content; typography; layout; presentation, including paper stock, method of printing; visual material such as photographs, illustrations, graphics; advertising.
  • Multimedia: intention; audience; format; style and/or genre; techniques of engagement; method of presentation or exhibition; content; sequencing; screen design and/or page design; functionality and/or interactivitytypography; images and graphical elements, for example, photographs, tables, buttons, hotspots, links.

Ideas for Investigating

1. What do you like? Make a list of all the films, magazines, radio programs and other texts that you've found appealing. If you've already decided on a medium to work in, focus on that, listing examples of what you find interesting and explaining why you enjoy it.
2. What do you want to make? Think of the type of media product you'd like to create. Maybe it's a fashion magazine or a horror film. Find examples of the type of media text you'd like to create. What are considered the best and most influential?
3. Think about a media product that has influenced you profoundly. It could be a horror film, a magazine or an exhibition of photographs. Why did this media text engage you?
4. Select examples of media texts that have inspired you and annotate them, explaining which aspects of the text appeal to you. For example, if you are investigating a film or television program, you might annotate stills to illustrate an aspect of colour grading or mise-en-scene that appeals to you.
5. Investigate a media professional. Perhaps you're drawn to the work of a particularly director or photographer. Read as much as you can about this person, their style and influences.
6. Think about the technology you have available to create your media product. What have other done with this technology? What is possible? Research and explore what the technology is capable of.
7. Compare two media texts. Whether you're making a magazine or a film, collect two good examples of the media form and compare their use of different techniques.

Brainstorming Tools