Media Arts requires students to use a range of media techniques and technologies (known as technical codes) in the creation of their media artworks. It is the combination and manipulation of these codes that allow for complex meaning to be embedded within the media artworks that students create.
There is merit in studying the use of codes through the analysis of existing Media artworks. However, it can be a challenge for students to recognise how and where codes are harnessed independently of each other. This is particularly the case for professional media products that are highly synthesised, and the function of the codes are deliberately obscured (Casinghino, 2015).
Teaching the practical manipulation of codes independently of one another enables students to enhance their understanding of each code's use within the production process. By developing knowledge through the practical application of codes, students are empowered to recognise and more effectively combine codes, and therefore embed more complex meaning within the media artworks they create (Black, 2014).
In the following activity, students explore the practical application of media codes in production groups, creating short explanatory "How To" videos that are then presented to the class (Hits Strategy 5). This activity focuses on all four strands within the Media Arts Curriculum.
- Students are presented with examples of technical codes used in existing media products (Hits Strategy 4).
- In groups of three or four, students are designated a technical code and tasked with the creation of a short two-minute video presentation which explains:
- what the code is
- how it is manipulated
- what meaning is created through its use (Hits Strategy 5)
This can be further scaffolded through the production brief for each group (Hits Strategy 3). For example:
Production Brief
Create a two-minute "How To" video, that explains the Technical Code of one Camera Technique to the class.
Camera Technique: Angle
Your video should clearly explain:
- What High Angle, Low Angle and Eye Level Shots are, and how they are achieved with a Camera and Tripod.
- What Convention each of these shots conveys (that is, what meaning is embedded for the audience)
For example, A Low Angle Shot gives agency to a character, endowing them with higher status.
- The teacher supports groups in the production of their videos, questioning and assisting students to use technical terminology in their presentations (Hits Strategy 7):
- What terminology do you want the class to learn from your video?
- How many Technical words do you remember associated with this Code?
- How will you describe the Convention being created through the Code's use?
- Students present their completed videos to the class.
- The teacher encourages students to take notes on each video and assists the class through questioning to recognise and harness media arts terminology in their writing (Hits Strategy 7):
- What was the technical name used in the video to define that technique?
- Can you remember the word we use to describe that code?
- What is the convention that code conveys to the audience?
- Videos are kept as a class resource so that students may revisit and use to clarify their understanding of codes to support the creation of future original media artworks (Hits Strategy 6).
Curriculum links for the above example: VCAMAE033, VCAMAM035, VCAMAP037 VCAMAR038