VCE Media Unit 1
Unit 1: Representation and technologies of representation

The purpose of this unit is to enable students to develop an understanding of the relationship between the media, technology and the representations present in media forms. The unit involves the study of the implications of media technology for the individual and society. Students develop practical and analytical skills, including an understanding of the contribution of codes and conventions to the creation of meaning in media products, the role and significance of selection processes in their construction, and the creative and cultural implications of new media technologies.

AREA OF STUDY 1 

Representation

This area of study focuses on an analysis of media representations and how such representations present, for example, events, people, places and oganisations. The media represent reality to audiences through the essential elements of selection, construction and representation. Each media form and process constructs an image or representation of an event, idea or story and represents it in a way which is different from the audience’s direct experience of reality.

These representations involve the selection of images, words or sounds and the ways in which they are presented, related and ordered. Often this is not immediately evident in the media product which can present itself as natural and realistic. Media codes and conventions, together with such factors as the degree of realism intended in the text, the cultural contexts of the time and place of production and legal restraints, help shape a product’s structure and meaning. A media product should be approached in terms of how it constructs meaning (and therefore its relationship to reality) rather than solely according to whether the product is realistic.

Outcome 1

On completion of this unit the student should be able to describe the construction of specific media representations and explain how the process of representation reproduces the world differently from direct experience of it.

To achieve this outcome the student will draw on knowledge and related skills outlined in area of study 1.

Key knowledge

This knowledge includes

• representations present in media texts;

• media representation and its relationship to the selection and construction of reality in various media forms;
• the nature of codes and conventions (such as visual, audio, technical and written) evident in media productions, and the meanings they create;
• different kinds of ‘realism’ in media texts; for example, newspaper reporting, fantasy genres, lifestyle and documentary programs, radio news reports;
• representations within the context of values such as those related to gender, age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status;
• influence of institutional practices on the nature of representations, their availability and accessibility;
• representations within the context of media history; for example, the way in which media representations of social stereotypes, presentation styles or generic conventions have emerged and changed.

Key skills

These skills include the ability to

• describe representations in media texts;
• compare the construction of different representations in media texts and across media forms;
• use concepts of representation, selection and construction in the evaluation of media texts;
• discuss how audiences make judgments about how realistic specific media texts are;
• analyse representations within the context of institutional practices, media history and cultural values.

AREA OF STUDY 2

Technologies of representation

This area of study focuses on the production of representations by students in two or more media forms. Students then compare how the application of the different media technologies affects the meanings that can be created in the representations. The implications for the distribution and/or consumption of these representations are also discussed.

Different media technologies represent the world in different ways. Each, through its technology, materials, techniques, applications and processes, produces a particular representation of the world. While the different forms of media (for example, television, radio and the Internet) have practices
that are common, they also have features that result in the production of media products with characteristics that are unique. The use of codes and conventions to convey ideas and meaning in the representations is considered in the context of the media forms in which the technologies were applied and with reference to the specific forms and characteristics of the representations produced.

Outcome 2

On completion of this unit the student should be able to produce and compare media representations
in two or more media forms and compare the representations produced by the application of different
media technologies.

To achieve this outcome the student will draw on knowledge and related skills outlined in area of study 2.

Key knowledge

This knowledge includes

• the nature and use of media technology, materials and applications in two or more media forms;
• techniques and processes used in the production of media representations;
• ways in which codes and conventions (such as visual, audio, technical and written) are used to convey ideas and meanings;
• implications of different media technologies and processes for the production, distribution, and/or consumption of media representations.

Key skills

These skills include the ability to

• identify and explain the characteristics and potential of media technology and materials;
• operate media technology and use materials, techniques, applications and processes to produce representations in two or more media forms;
• discuss how the use of different media technologies affect the production, distribution and/or consumption of media representations.

AREA OF STUDY 3

New media

This area of study focuses on the social consequences of the emergence of new media technologies. The creative implications of new media technologies are considered in the context of the capabilities of the technologies, their relationship with existing media, how they provide alternative means of representation and distribution of media products. Their cultural significance is investigated in terms of how they challenge and alter our perception of the world through the media products that can be produced and consumed, and the changes, possibilities and concerns that may arise in society. Technological advancements in the media occur within the context of the society in which they are created, developed and used. Such developments therefore, not only affect media products themselves but also change the processes involved in production, distribution and consumption. In many instances they may also influence the nature of the reality (the event) being depicted by the media; for example, digital imaging techniques have allowed the manipulation (that is altering, distorting, mutating and reshaping) of photographic representations. The convergence of new media technologies, digitisation, computerisation and high-speed data transfer create new pathways for the transmission, exchange and storage of both existing and new forms of information and entertainment. Issues such as ownership, copyright, privacy and access gain new significance in terms of the relationship between media technology and the circulation of representations.

Outcome 3

On completion of this unit the student should be able to discuss the creative and cultural implications of new media technologies for the production and consumption of media products. To achieve this outcome the student will draw on knowledge and related skills outlined in area of study 3.

Key knowledge

This knowledge includes

• the nature of new media technologies, such as cable, satellite, broadband, streamed, networked, interactive and other computer-based systems, and the relationship between new media technologies and existing media technologies;

• changes in media production and consumption that the emergence of new media technologies introduce; for example, mobile telephone downloads, use of digital printing processes in photography, home entertainment systems, participation in virtual and responsive media environments, digital media transfer such as SMS, MP3 and streamed video and the availability of video and digital information and entertainment on mobile and fixed display screens;

• creative and cultural changes, possibilities and/or problems occurring in society as a result of the emergence of new media technologies; for example, interactive and digital television data-streaming, copyright issues related to online file sharing, digital video installations and networked galleries on the Internet.

Key skills

These skills include the ability to

• identify and describe characteristics of new media technologies;
• analyse the relationships between new and existing media technologies;
• discuss how the emergence of new media technologies have affected media production and the circulation and consumption of media products;
• analyse the creative and cultural impact of new media technologies.


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Remixing Movie Posters
For a Photoshop Phriday competitition at Something Awful, users were asked to take a trashy comedy or action film and make it look like an arthouse movie. There were lots of entries taking films such as The Phantom Menace and Norbit, making them look like high class, intelligent films. Here is my attempt at remixing the Blades of Glory poster.

In a similar competition, users were asked to play around with the conventions of movie posters by making half-decent films look like 1970s grindhouse flicks. Here is my attempt at remixing the poster for Nacho Libre.

Learning Photoshop

If you need assistance mastering the basics of Adobe Photoshop, you can download this document .

For some tips on creating grungy, grindhouse effects in Photoshop, click here.

Video Tutorials

Here are some videos that will help you complete this task:

Grindhouse Photoshop Tutorial (Part 1)


Grindhouse Photoshop Tutorial (Part 2)


Grindhouse Photoshop Tutorial (Part 3)


Grindhouse Photoshop Tutorial (Part 4)

Assessment Task: Remixing Movie Posters

Due Date: Wednesday 27th February, 2007.

Select a low budget comedy or trashy action flick and reconstruct its poster to make it appear like an art house film. Use lots of white space and elegant type faces. You are also required to take a decent film and make its poster look like a trashy, 1970s grindhouse flick.

Assessment Criteria

Criterion 1: Operate media technology and use materials, techniques, applications and processes to produce representations in two or more media forms.

Criterion 2: Understanding of the ways in which codes and conventions (such as visual, audio, technical and written) are used to convey ideas and meanings.

Student Posters

Here is just a selection of the posters that students in Unit 1 Media produced in as part of their assessment for Outcome 2. Students started off by familiarising themselves with Adobe Photoshop, giving a comedy or action film the appearance of an arthouse masterpiece. Following the tutorials on the previous page, students then gave an otherwise decent film the appearance of a low budget 1970s films, in the style of Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse posters.


 

 


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Noir Comics
Article Index
Noir Comics
Recommended Reading
Comic Resources
The Script
Lettering
All Pages
Page 1 of 5

As part of their VCE Media studies, my students are creating their own film-noir style comics in the tradition of Frank Miller (Sin City). As part of this unit, I have put together three video tutorials which take students through the steps of using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to achieve this effect.

Creating a Noir Comic: Part 1
Creating a document, using guides, working with paths, creating a panel, layer styles (stroke and drop shadow), duplicating objects, resizing frames.
Creating a Noir Comic: Part 2
Organising your comic with layer groups, creating speech bubbles, the ellipse tool, the pen tool, using shape layers.
Creating a Noir Comic: Part 3
Taking digital photos, using LiveTrace, importing traced objects into Photoshop, using clipping masks, adding other elements to your comic by changing blending modes.


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Representation
Article Index
Representation
Movie Posters
Narrative Film
Whedonesque Women
Serenity
Serenity Essay
Australian Identity
Realism in Texts
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Page 1 of 8

What is a representation?

A representation is a constructed media text. Representations can take many forms, including: radio segments, newspaper articles, photographs, films, television programs, television news segments. While some media texts - like television news and documentary films - may seem realistic, we have to remember that this is not the same as experiencing it ourselves. At best, the media can only represent reality. What we see on our television screens and on the front page of our daily newspapers is someone else's interpretation of events, ideas and people. Someone has constructed these texts.

What are codes?

In Media Studies, the word ‘code’ refers to any system of signs that are used to communicate meaning. When you think about the real world, we are surrounded by signs: traffic lights, written language, mathematics, clothing, body language.

What is a convention?

Conventions are well-established ways of constructing texts

Consider the front page of a newspaper. The name of the newspaper will feature prominently at the top of the page. Beneath this, we have a number of articles. It is a convention of newspapers that the most important news is placed on the front page. Indeed, the most important articles appear closer to the top of the page than the less important stories. Headlines are another convention of newspapers which tell readers what the article is about. Hard news articles which appear on the cover of newspapers are usually written in in a particular style, often known as an inverted pyramid which features all of the important information first. The important aspects of a story - who, what, when, where, why - are usually included in the lead or introductory paragraph. Photographs will usually be accompanied by a caption to explain their significance.

Here is a good definition to help solidify your understanding of the concept: “As a type of film or television develops, filmmakers and directors find certain techniques that become useful or effective in creating texts. These techniques get used again and again, and eventually they are associated with and are used to define certain types of texts. The techniques then become known as conventions.”

Construction of Texts

All media texts are constructed. As they're being constructed, important decisions are made about how the subject will be represented. Consider a photograph. When you take a photograph, you make a number of important decisions about how the subject will be represented, including:

• lighting
• camera angle
• shot size
• visual composition
• color
• posture and facial expression of the subject.

All of these decisions influence the way people will respond to the photograph. Although this is a simple example, all media texts go through this process of construction. As a result, media texts often reflect the views and values of those who create them and the society in which they were created.

 


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