In this area of study students analyse the narrative organisation of fictional film, television or radio drama texts. They undertake the study of at least two texts in the same media form. Students learn that narrative is a fundamental element in the construction of meaning in media products. Audiences actively construct meaning and are engaged by texts through the manner in which narratives are organised, and respond to the narratives in different ways. Production and story elements structure an audience’s experience of narratives and contribute to the ideas communicated by the text. The nature of the viewing experience also contributes to audience reading and appreciation of narrative texts.
Key knowledge • the relationships between a text, its audiences, its consumption and reception, including how audiences read and are engaged by fictional narratives • the nature and function of and relationship between production elements in fictional media narrative, including: – camera techniques, technologies and qualities for film and television or technologies and qualities for radio – lighting – mise-en-scene – acting – sound – editing of vision and sound for film and television or editing of sound for radio • the nature and function of and relationships between story elements in fictional media narrative, including: – the opening, development and resolution of the narrative – cause and effect – establishment and development of and relationships between characters – point/s of view from which the narrative is presented – the function of setting in the narrative – the relationship between multiple storylines – the structuring of time and its impact on narrative progression • the relationship between texts and the genre/s, styles and techniques they may reference • the interrelationship between production and story elements in the narrative organisation of fictional narratives to structure and communicate ideas • appropriate media language and terminology.