At a glance
Pairs · five class periods · one analysis of about 600 words, two linked media texts (primary and companion adaptation), and a note of your own · assessed on Thinking, Application, and Communication
The task
Take apart a media text that works on you, then make two linked media texts of your own using the same techniques deliberately for different audiences and purposes.
Part one: the analysis
Choose one text: an advertisement, a trailer, a documentary segment, a front page, a feed you screenshot yourself, or a piece of political communication. Not one you find stupid — one that works.
Answer, with evidence from the text itself:
- Who made it, and what did they want to happen?
- Who is the intended audience, and how can you tell from the text rather than from a guess?
- What is the stated message, and what is the implied one?
- Which four techniques carry it? Name them from Media Forms and Techniques and say what each does.
- What is left out?
Part two: the texts you make
Produce two linked media texts for two different audiences and purposes, using the techniques you identified deliberately:
- Your primary text: a poster, a thirty-second video, a front page, or a social card — using at least three of the techniques you analysed, aimed at a primary audience you name (e.g., teenagers, customers, voters). It may sell, argue, warn, or persuade; it may not lie.
- Your companion adaptation: a second, smaller text (a social card, a captioned flyer, or a notice) adapted from the first for a distinct second audience with a different purpose (e.g., informing parents, reassuring neighbours, or engaging younger students), shifting conventions to suit them.
Part three: your own note
Two hundred words, written in class on the revision day, one per person. This is the piece of the task that is marked as yours alone.
- Your two audiences and purposes, named as real people and intents rather than as abstract categories.
- The forms and conventions you chose for each text, and why those forms fit those specific people.
- Your techniques, and how they were adapted between the primary text and the companion piece.
- Two things you can already do as a reader or a writer that you used while making these.
- What you would do differently if you made another adaptation, and why.
There is no group mark on this task
The analysis and the made texts are the pair’s work. Your note is yours, it is written in class, and it is the part of this task that carries your individual mark.
How it is marked
| Category | What I am looking for |
|---|---|
| Thinking | The analysis reads the text rather than describing it; the “left out” answer is specific |
| Application | The made texts use their techniques on purpose across both audiences rather than by accident |
| Communication | All parts are clear; the two distinct audiences and purposes are identifiable from the texts themselves |
| Application, in your note | Both forms and purposes are justified for those particular audiences, techniques and adaptations are explained, two reading or writing skills are named, and next steps are specific |
The ethics line
You may persuade. You may not fabricate: no invented statistics, no invented quotations, no real person made to appear to say something they did not. The whole point of learning these techniques is knowing what it means to use them — see Who Is This For.
Curriculum connection
D1.1
explain how media texts, including increasingly complex texts, are created to suit particular purposes and audiences (e.g., magazines include content and advertisements to appeal to specific demographic groups; trailers or posters for actionadventure movies feature scenes and artefacts that appeal to a predominantly male audience)
Link to original
D2.2
identify conventions and/or techniques used in a variety of media forms and explain how they convey meaning and influence their audience (e.g., the use of visual irony in political cartoons; the use of symbols as well as words to convey health and safety warnings on a range of product packages)
Link to original
D3.1
describe the topic, purpose, and audience for media texts they plan to create (e.g., a web page presenting a personal anthology of poetry to their peers), and identify significant challenges they may face in achieving their purpose
Link to original
D3.2
select a media form to suit the topic, purpose, and audience for a media text they plan to create, and explain why it is an appropriate choice (e.g., explain why a posting on a videosharing website would be the best way to promote a new song)
Link to original
D3.3
identify a variety of conventions and/or techniques appropriate to a media form they plan to use, and explain how these will help them communicate specific aspects of their intended meaning (e.g., product packaging conventions/ techniques: illustrations and familiar or easy-tointerpret symbols and icons to assist in product identification)
Link to original
D3.4
produce media texts for a variety of purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques (e.g., a sports magazine cover for a teenage audience; posters promoting their independent reading selections for display in the school library; a commercial promoting the contributions of Aboriginal people)
Link to original
D4.1
describe a variety of strategies they used in interpreting and creating media texts, explain which ones they found most helpful, and identify appropriate steps they can take to improve as media interpreters and producers (e.g., explain how a checklist helped them focus their efforts during production of a media text; use a checklist to assess their strengths as media creators and to identify areas for improvement; identify alternative production strategies they might find useful in the future)
Link to original
D4.2
identify a variety of their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing and explain how the skills help them interpret and produce media texts (e.g., the ability to understand how rhyme and symbols enhance meaning in a poem can help them create a powerful song lyric)
Link to original
A2.7
use a variety of audio-visual aids appropriately to support and enhance oral presentations and to engage an audience (e.g., use graphic organizers on an overhead projector to compare the elements of two short stories; use costumes and props to enhance a dramatic presentation)
Link to original