Year 4

The Arts Support Materials

Assessment Principle 2

Assessment should be educative

Media Arts snapshot: Media Production

The Arts/Media Arts/Making/Ideas/Skills

Content Description

Exploration of how narrative structures are represented in images (still or moving) and/or sound (with or without text) and can tell a story or convey a message with a beginning, middle and end

Exploration and experimentation with the codes (elements) and conventions of media:

  • technical (sequencing and editing of images to organise events in a story; camera shots
    (close-up, full shot); camera angles (low angle, high angle))
  • audio (loudness and softness; music to convey a mood; sound effects)
  • written (editing text in a media work using available technologies)
  • symbolic (using costumes and props to represent people as fictional and/or non-fictional characters; manipulating familiar places to create fictional settings)

when producing media work

Nature of the assessment

Classroom task

Purposes of the assessment

To guide students and offer feedback on future planning

Stage in the Teaching sequence

Middle of a series of lessons – formative assessment

Assessment task

Students were required to produce a storyboard of a narrative sequence of stills (including text and audio) that related to promoting an aspect of their school.

The completed storyboards were assessed at the completion of the planning stage, before the students began producing their media work on a digital device.

Assessment process

Before the assessment, students had:

  • revised technical skills, including taking pictures using various camera angles and shots
  • discussed the use of images, text and voice overs, and how these are used in final media work.

The students indicated on a 10-frame storyboard which pictures needed to be taken, how they would be captured, what text would be on each frame and how voice overs would be used on each frame.

The teacher assessed the storyboards looking for evidence that:

  • students had communicated their message with a clear beginning, middle and end
  • images had been planned, specified and images used shots and angles that enhanced the meaning of the message
  • voice over was embedded over the 10 frames and gave a clear message that supported the images
  • text added to the images was different from the voice over script and enhanced meaning for the audience.

Using the information

The assessment and feedback:

  • provided students with information to improve planning before the production phase
  • helped the teacher to establish where students were in their planning phase and how they had incorporated her feedback in the final version of their media production.