DGTL13008 - Visual Storytelling

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit of study builds on the prerequisite unit to teach visual storytelling concepts and narrative film-making techniques. You will learn how to create a visual story narrative by employing principles and elements of story design. You will develop practical film-making skills related to directing and cinematography during the production of a narrative short film. You will learn how to constructively critique screen production work through an exploration of screen culture and history.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite: MMST11009 Digital Video and Audio

Antirequisite: Students who have completed DGTL12010 Visual Storytelling or DGTL13003 Advanced Media Production may not enrol in this unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Brisbane
Bundaberg
Cairns
Mackay
Online
Rockhampton

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Practical Assessment 30%
2. Practical Assessment 30%
3. Practical Assessment 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 33.33% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 21.43% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Formal student unit evaluation
Feedback
The required student feedback sessions were inconsistent in quality.
Recommendation
Peer feedback should be given a more formal structure, with the quality of feedback given comprising a component of the grade given.
Action Taken
Giving feedback was embedded within assessment criteria, with a formal in-class and online structure implemented to the giving and receiving of feedback.
Source: Formal student unit evaluation
Feedback
There was too much learning content.
Recommendation
Learning content and activities will be evaluated and revised if required to meet the 12.5 hours per week workload as defined in university policy. In 2023 students completing Visual Storytelling will have also completed the recently updated version of the prerequisite unit Digital Video and Audio, meaning that some of the technical content will be removed from Visual Storytelling as it will now be redundant. Further, it is possible that some students were overwhelmed by the way that readings and screenings were presented, as they were given several options but did not have to engage with everything. Perhaps this system could be revised into a more clear approach that still gives students the opportunity to engage with the content that most interests them, but refines how content is presented to them.
Action Taken
The unit structure was revised to explicitly involve 12.5 hours per week across all learning content and assessment. Additionally, online content was streamlined so students were only exposed to materials that were relevant to their priorities as defined in their responses to activities. Unfortunately this does not seem to have addressed the problem.
Source: Formal student unit evaluation
Feedback
The workload was high and some assessment activities did not seem relevant.
Recommendation
Assessment tasks will be revised to include more direct scaffolding to assist students with managing the 12.5 hour weekly workload. Assessment workbooks will be reviewed to reinforce the connection between analytical and practical tasks.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Staff observations
Feedback
There was not enough time after assessment 2 was submitted for students to get feedback prior to shooting their films.
Recommendation
Incorporate a formal one-on-one feedback session with each student's tutor into assessment 2 so that students get feedback on their preproduction materials and can make appropriate adjustments well in advance of going into production.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Create a narrative short film by employing principles and elements of story design
  2. Create a narrative short film through the application of film-making principles and skills related to directing and cinematography
  3. Constructively critique screen production work within the context of screen culture and history.

Not applicable

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Practical Assessment • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • •
3 - Practical Assessment • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Communication • • •
2 - Problem Solving •
3 - Critical Thinking • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Practical Assessment • • • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • • • •
3 - Practical Assessment • • • • •