Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
Internal Assessment Resource
Media Studies Level 2
Achievement Standard Media Studies 91252: Produce a design
and plan for a developed media product, using a range of
conventions
Resource reference: Media Studies 2.5
Resource title: A Cunning Plan
Credits: 4
Achievement
Produce a design and plan
for a developed media
product, using a range of
conventions.
Achievement with merit
Produce a detailed design
and plan for a developed
media product using a
range of conventions.
Achievement with
excellence
Produce a detailed,
integrated design and plan
for a developed media
product using a range of
conventions.
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
Student instructions
Introduction
You have to produce a design and plan for a magazine double-page spread.
The target audience is teenagers and their parents from the Cashmere High School
community.
You must produce a design and plan good enough for you to finish a developed
magazine spread that can be commercially published and enjoyed by the target
audience, while meeting the school’s objectives for the magazine.
You will work by yourself, not in groups.
You have approximately 4 weeks of in-class and out-of-class time to complete the
work. You will need to complete much as possible out of class.
You will meet regularly with your teacher to ensure you are on track to complete the
assessment.
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
Task
This assessment is made up of seven steps. On page 4, you will see a detailed guide
called WHAT YOU NEED TO DO that takes you through the assessment in detail,
step by step. Briefly, the task looks like this:
Log
Set up a log that documents the production of your design and plan.
Keep a detailed, ongoing record of your progress.
Interview
Design five interview questions to find out key information about your target
audience, such as which articles they like in old copies of the magazine, what they
like about them and other relevant information.
Concept
Use your interview findings to brainstorm and develop your initial concept.
The concept must include an outline of the magazine spread.
Treatment
Outline how you will create your magazine spread. Include comments under the
following headings:
 Conventions of the medium and genre
 Style.
Production schedule
Create a production schedule showing how and when you will complete your
developed article.
Pre-production activities
Create the necessary pre-production materials and upload written and/or
photographic evidence to your log.
Final submission
When you have completed your design and plan materials, post the final version to
your log for assessment.
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO – In Detail
Log
You will need to regularly reflect on your progress with the design of your concept,
treatment, and pre-production plan.
Update your log with specific details of your involvement in the production of your
design and plan. What are you doing, how is it going, what do you have to change?
Who have you had feedback from and what did they say?
Survey
Take last year’s magazine home and show it to at least two people not in this class:
one adult and one teenager. Ask them the same questions we went over in class.
Take note of the answers and how they differ from what the class thought, and how
they are the same.
This will help you produce a design and plan to complete a developed magazine
spread that meets the requirements of the brief and the standard. Basically, you are
trying to get a sense of what people in the target audience like to read and what
layout catches their eye.
Summarise your findings and put them in your log.
To help you get a clear idea of what is appropriate to publish, see the “Cashmere
Circuit Policy” document on page 7 of this assessment.
Concept
Your concept must clearly set out what your magazine spread will look like.
It must clearly set out how you will research, write and lay out your spread, and why
a reader would be interested.
When your concept is completed, add a new post to your log that:
 outlines your initial concept
 explains and justifies how your concept appeals to your target audience and
brief, and why it is appropriate.
 reflects in detail on your reworking of your ideas and on the impact of the
changes on your production.
Checkpoint 1
Make sure your log:
 includes a copy of your finished concept
 reflects in detail on your reworking of your ideas.
Treatment - Conventions of the medium
Describe in detail at least FIVE specific magazine conventions that you intend to use.
These may include fonts, colours, picture choice, how the picture has been
processed, use of white space and symmetry. You may also come up with others. If
you see an idea in one of the exemplars that you like but you’re not sure what it’s
called or how to do it, discuss that with the teacher.
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
For EACH convention, explain in detail how its use is appropriate for the magazine
spread, and how it will appeal to your target audience.
Treatment - Style
Provide details of the atmosphere, tone and style of your magazine spread:



Explain in detail the design style you will create and how you intend to use
equipment and conventions to create this look. Is there a particular magazine or
look you’re copying, and how are you going to get that?
Provide a detailed explanation of the tone of the writing, and how you intend to
achieve that. To do this, you may have to show the teacher some pieces of
writing that achieve the tone you’re after.
Explain in detail why your stylistic approach is appropriate for your brief and your
target audience, including how it will appeal to them. You should be specific
about whether your spread will appeal to our adult readers or our teenage
readers, and why. Or does it appeal to both? Why?
Checkpoint 2
Make sure you check details such as the availability of resources, (eg when you can
get cameras, when interviewees are available, transport, and any other practical
issues).
Make sure your treatment meets the requirements of the brief and will enable you to
complete a developed magazine spread.
Make sure your treatment is suitable for the target audience.
When your concept has been revised and completed, add a new post to your log
that:
 includes a copy of your finished treatment
 reflects in detail on any changes you made, and how those changes will make it
easier to create a good finished product.
Production schedule
A production schedule is a detailed plan with locations, people, equipment,
organisation, any costs, and deadlines. When will you complete each part of the
task? Possible headings for your schedule include:
 Dates. Your teacher knows when the class is booked into the computer lab.
These dates should definitely be in your schedule, and other dates such as
research, interviews, photography and so forth will have to be fitted around these
lab dates.
 The different tasks you need to do, for example take photographs, research, or
visit stock photography sites.
 Location, for example CHS library, Cashel St or wherever.
 Equipment, for example camera, audio recorder.
 Will you need other people?
 Alternative action. What will you do if the action planned on that date doesn’t
work out. For example: If it’s wet or the camera isn’t available, I’ll do some more
research.
 Don’t forget to allow time for proofreading and checking. Are you a good
speller? Do you have problems with apostrophes? Allow time to polish your
product.
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
Checkpoint 3
Discuss with your teacher the practicalities of your production schedule. Will it
actually work?
Make any necessary changes to your treatment and write a post in which you
critically reflect on how these will affect your finished production.
When your concept is revised and completed, add a new post to your log that:
 includes a copy of your finished schedule
 reflects in detail on your any changes you needed to make and how these will
alter what you’ll do later.
Pre-production activities
Your pre-production materials should include:

a rough sketch of your double spread’s layout, either tidily done by hand or on a
computer. This should indicate where graphics and headlines will go, how many
columns there will be, plus text boxes, sidebars, bullet points, colour scheme,
graphics and so forth.

A brief description of the topic and the way you plan to organise it – how many
paragraphs, and what will be in each. See the “Talk of the Town” assessment
for more guidance.

Take photos or source them from the web. Remember – you cannot use
anything smaller than 500Kb in size. We are going to print these on newsprint,
and poor-quality images will not survive this treatment.

A brief description of the main graphic – why this one, and why cropped like this?
Will any PhotoShop processing be needed to make it just right for publication?
This might include colour correction, desaturation, blurring or other filters. If you
chose a cartoon instead of a graphic, why? Who will draw the cartoon? Can we
see a sample of their work, so that we know it’ll be good enough to publish?

Details of steps you took to ensure that we can legally print these pictures.
Where did they come from? Are they copyright-free?
Final submission
Make sure you have included:

all of your design and planning materials (concept, treatment, schedule and preproduction materials)

regular updates to your log that show how and why you revised your plans, and
how you reworked your ideas as you went.
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
Cashmere Circuit Policy
1. The main goal of the paper is to make the school look good. The school pays for
it, so anything that makes Cashmere High look bad will not be published.
2. Students are often disappointed by this, but that’s exactly how it is in the real
world. Papers can’t publish things that make the owners look bad. This is a
basic fact of life in the media, and while that is disappointing, it is unrealistic to
expect anything different at Cashmere High.
3. This doesn’t mean that the paper will be boring or that we will avoid controversial
or interesting articles. It does mean we will be careful how we present things.
4. For example, if we write about drugs, we have to be careful that we don’t suggest
breaking the law or taking drugs. You can describe how drugs work, what the
law is, and present both sides of the argument. No problem. But coverage must
be balanced. Remember: your audience is pupils and parents. Choose headline
and graphics carefully to avoid sensationalism.
5. Nothing racist or discriminating against other groups (religions, the handicapped,
etc) can be published.
6. We want to publish articles about school success that present students in a
positive light - unless they’re boring. For example, we are likely to publish an
article about a class trip to France, which is interesting. But we are unlikely to
publish articles about every sports team at the school. Just because an article is
about school doesn’t mean we’ll publish it.
7. If you want to do something controversial, try to do something international or
something that doesn’t involve teens. In 2004 we had some absolutely scathing
cartoons about Britney Spears, which considerably livened up the paper.
8. There are very few topics that we absolutely cannot write about. But some are
more sensitive than others. One is teenage suicide. Currently there is a
controversy raging about whether talking about suicide helps or whether it
actually adds to the problem. At the moment we cannot print articles on this
topic.
9. We want to publish everything we can. We don’t like students writing articles and
then finding their articles can’t be published. If you think you are about to write
something that may be a bit sensitive, talk to the teacher early about how to
present the article in a way that will allow it to be published.
10. The final decision on what can be published rests with school management.
Associate Principal Carla Smith is responsible for marketing the school. All
articles will be submitted to her or to Principal Mark Wilson before they are
cleared for publication.
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
Pitch It To Me
Planning sheet for your Circuit story
Complete the boxes below for your story:
My article will be about:
(Write a full sentence)
This subject is appropriate for the Circuit because
Angle - what point of interest I will stress
Possible headline
Possible graphic
Where will I get the graphic?
Possible caption for the graphic
Research or interview (1)
Research or interview (2)
DON’T LOSE THIS SHEET. It will help you pass.
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE
Assessment Schedule: Media Studies 91252 A Cunning Plan
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement with
Merit
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement with
Excellence
The student produces a design and plan for a
developed media product, using a range of
conventions. This means that in completing this
assessment activity, the student:
The student produces a detailed design and plan for
a developed media product, using a range of
conventions. This means that in completing this
assessment activity, the student:
The student produces a detailed, integrated design
and plan for a developed media product, using a
range of conventions. This means that in completing
this assessment activity, the student:

completes a concept, treatment and preproduction materials for a magazine double
spread

completes a concept, treatment and preproduction materials for a magazine double
spread

completes a concept, treatment and preproduction materials for a magazine double
spread

includes design choices that meet the
requirements of the given brief:

includes design choices that meet the
requirements of the given brief:

includes design choices that meet the
requirements of the given brief:

at least two pages

at least two pages

at least two pages

targets audience of teenagers and their parents
from the CHS community

targets audience of teenagers and their parents
from the CHS community

targets audience of teenagers and their parents
from the CHS community

provides entertainment, information or both.

provides entertainment, information or both.

provides entertainment, information or both.

incorporates a range of key features of magazine
spreads

incorporates the key features of magazine
spreads

incorporates the key features of magazine
spreads into a coherent whole

identifies practicalities that may affect the
production process

identifies practicalities that may affect the
production process

identifies practicalities that may affect the
production process

identifies milestone dates and resources required
to complete pre-production activities

considers the impact of these practicalities on the
production process

considers the impact of these practicalities on the
production process

demonstrates evidence of reflection and reworking
of ideas

identifies milestone dates and allocates resources
required to complete pre-production activities

outlines strategies to overcome obstacles


is submitted by the due date.

demonstrates evidence of reflection and reworking
of ideas.
identifies milestone dates and allocates resources
required to complete pre-production activities


is submitted by the due date.
demonstrates evidence of reflection and reworking
of ideas.

is submitted by the due date.
Concept is a detailed, creative idea for a media
product that includes reference to target audience,
purpose (message, effect on the audience, writing
conventions, layout, practicalities etc).
Treatment is a detailed description of how the
concept is to be realised. In print production, for
example, this may include considered discussion of:
Concept is a detailed, creative idea for a media
product that includes reference to target audience,
purpose (message, effect on the audience, writing
conventions, layout, practicalities etc).
Concept is a detailed, creative idea for a media
product that includes reference to target audience,
purpose (message, effect on the audience, writing
conventions, layout, practicalities etc).
Treatment is a detailed description of how the
Page 9
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE

appropriate topic

writing conventions, including mechanical
correctness

Mood or tone

Layout conventions to be used, including use of
symmetry, balance and white space.

technical elements such as columns, text wraps,
cropping etc.
concept is to be realised. In print production, for
example, this may include considered discussion of:

appropriate topic

writing conventions, including mechanical
correctness

Mood or tone

Layout conventions to be used, including use of
symmetry, balance and white space.

Plan includes but is not limited to:

who else will be involved

gear and where it will come from

research sources including those for the story, but
also for other resources such as photos and fonts
– books, netsites and libraries should all be
named.

a rough sketch of what the finished spread will
look like

graphics, illustrations, photographs etc

interviewees

milestone dates and resources required to
complete pre-production activities

copyright considerations.
Practicalities include such aspects as locations,
transport, equipment, weather, costs, who is
involved, time etc.
technical elements such as columns, text wraps,
cropping etc.
Treatment is a detailed description of how the
concept is to be realised. In print production, for
example, this may include considered discussion of:

appropriate topic

writing conventions, including mechanical
correctness

Mood or tone

Layout conventions to be used, including use of
symmetry, balance and white space.

technical elements such as columns, text wraps,
cropping etc.
Plan includes but is not limited to:

who else will be involved

gear and where it will come from


research sources including those for the story, but
also for other resources such as photos and fonts
– books, netsites and libraries should all be
named.
a rough sketch of what the finished spread will
look like

graphics, illustrations, photographs etc

interviewees


milestone dates and resources required to
complete pre-production activities
Plan includes but is not limited to:

who else will be involved

gear and where it will come from

research sources including those for the story, but
also for other resources such as photos and fonts
– books, netsites and libraries should all be
named.

a rough sketch of what the finished spread will
look like

graphics, illustrations, photographs etc

interviewees

milestone dates and resources required to
complete pre-production activities

copyright considerations.
copyright considerations.
Practicalities include such aspects as locations,
transport, equipment, weather, costs, who is
involved, time etc.
Practicalities include such aspects as locations,
transport, equipment, weather, costs, who is
involved, time etc.
Final grades will be decided using professional judgement based on a holistic examination of the evidence provided against the criteria in the
Achievement Standard.
Page 10
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE
Internal Assessment Resource
Media Studies Level 2
Achievement Standard 91252
Produce a design and plan for a developed media product
using a range of conventions
Resource title: A Cunning Plan
4 credits
Date
January 2012
Quality assurance status
These materials have been drafted by the HoD in
consultation with an experienced external moderator.
Authenticity of evidence
While work may take place out of class time, logs should
be available for teacher to view at any time. Regular
interviews at each of the checkpoints should ensure that
student work is authentic.
While this assessment is based on TKI resource 2.5B,
assessment tasks have been altered to accommodate
the fact that this is a print task rather than the film-based
one in the TKI original.
11
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE
Teacher guidelines
The following guidelines are supplied to enable teachers to carry out valid and consistent
assessment using this internal assessment resource.
Teachers need to be familiar with the outcome being assessed by Achievement Standard Media
Studies 91252. The achievement criteria and the explanatory notes contain information,
definitions, and requirements that are crucial when interpreting the standard and assessing
students against it.
Context/setting
In this assessment activity students will produce a design and plan for a double-page magazine
spread.
The target audience for the magazine is teenagers and their parents from our local school
community. 5000 copies of the magazine are distributed around the school and the surrounding
community. It is also used for publicity for recruiting potential overseas students. The magazine
costs the school a considerable sum to print, which explains why management are keen for the
Media Department to exercise close editorial control and produce a quality, well-proofed product.
In 2011, for the first time, the magazine was also put on the school’s netsite.
This assessment activity leads into and prepares for assessment of Media Studies 91253
Complete a developed media product from a design and plan, using a range of conventions and
Media Studies 91255 Write developed media text for a specific target audience.
Prior to this activity, teachers will need to provide opportunities for students to explore:

the structure and conventions of magazine writing and layout

designing and planning for media products

examples of completed designs and plans of appropriate quality to meet the requirements of
each grade.
Conditions
As part of this activity, students will create a log that details the production of their design and
plan. Students will need to regularly reflect on their progress with the design of their concept,
treatment, and pre-production plan.
Students will have approximately four weeks of in-class and out-of-class to complete their design
and plan. Much of the work can be completed in out-of-class time.
12
Internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5 for Achievement Standard 91252
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE
Resource requirements
Students will require access to equipment such as:
 still cameras
 computers
 specialist software including:
o InDesign
o Word
o PhotoShop
 scanner
 internet access.
To assist their planning and design work, students will also need access to:

good examples of student work from previous years

examples of professional magazine work

templates or forms to assist in their planning.
There are a range of student exemplars and annotated magazine articles on the school network
at subjects/media/Yr12/2012exemplars.
Teacher Appendix A:
Useful forms/templates
See the “Pitch It To Me” form on page 8 of this document.
Useful Sites for Pictures, fonts and other resources
Stock xchange: http://www.sxc.hu/
CG Textures: http://www.cgtextures.com/
Warn the students that to use these two sites they will need to supply a logon and password to
join.
Dafont is a good font site that the Art Department recommend to their students. Some students
will already know it: dafont.com
Abstractfonts is another good one like that: abstractfonts.com
With both of these sites, be aware that many of the free downloadable fonts will have been
designed by amateurs rather than professionals. This means that kerning may not be
appropriate, and the student will have to be prepared to check this and maybe adjust it in
PhotoShop or InDesign (InDesign is best - saves moving between softwares all the time). You
can alert them to this hazard at one of the checkpoint interviews. They will also need to be
warned about how to instal these fonts so that the fonts don’t get wiped out by DeepFreeze
every time the student logs off. They’ll need a copy on their home drive.
PhotoShop Disasters is a good place to have a laugh and see how not to use PhotoShop.
13