Here are some of the practical assignments I completed during the Bachelor of Media and Communications at Swinburne, in which I majored in Social Media.
Third Year
Memory & Mood: An Introduction – Video Project
This video is the culmination of my three years undertaking a Media & Communication degree at Swinburne University of Technology. For my final capstone unit, Media & Communication Project B, I got to plan and execute the project of my choice in just 6 weeks. And this is what I did!
Memory & Emotion: An Introduction is an educational video on an often experienced yet poorly understood psychological topic. I knew from personal experience of mental health that memory can be severely affected by negative mood. I endeavoured to find out why.
In this project I brought together my health communication skills to delve into a complex neuropsychological concept, and developed some basic animation skills to break up the presentation.
Second Year
Extreme Unicycling – Campaign Proposal
For the final assignment of the unit MDA20011 – Sports Advertising and Media we were tasked with creating a social media campaign proposal. I elected to design a campaign to raise the profile of extreme unicycling in Australia. This assignment was 50% of my total subject score. I finished the semester with a unit score of 97/100.
Assignment Feedback
Score: 48 out of 50 (High Distinction)
Not much more we can add. Fabulous work as usual.
I chose this sport as extreme forms of unicycling have never enjoyed the same popularity as other extreme sports such as BMX, skateboarding and mountain biking. The objective of this campaign is to raise awareness of and attraction to extreme unicycling (based on the Psychological Continuum Model).
The assignment was broken down into three parts:
- Pitch Scripe
- Creative Brief
- Campaign Plan
Elements included:
- Research
- Market analysis and psychographics (optional)
- Budget
- Website design (optional)
- Brand Style Guide – logo, typefaces, colours (optional)
- Social media strategies – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok
- Merchandising
- Hashtag competitions (optional)
- Assets for all elements
- Document design and print submission
For the basis of my campaign I used an existing organisation – the Australian Unicycle Society. I designed a full rebrand of the organisation including a new website. This was not part of the assessment criteria, I wanted to practice new skills. Based on research into other extreme sports, including the resurgence we’ll see at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, I moved the focus away from the social forms of unicycling towards the more individualist, adrenaline-packed forms of mountain and urban.
Social Media
The campaign uses Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, with example assets created for each. The major focus for this campaign was TikTok. This is a highly visual medium perfect for showcasing extreme sports in a new and exciting way. This platform is the best way to reach the target demographic of 18 to 25 year old males. The #UnicycleAusChallenge will encourage users to interact with the brand and participate in the sport.
Merchandising
Social media will be used to promote two small lines of merchandise. Mini figurines similar to skateboarding Tech Decks, and stickers.
Bathurst 1000 – Campaign Analysis
For the second assessment for the unit MDA20011 – Sports Advertising and Media we were tasked with doing an analysis on a cross-platform social media campaign on an event of our choice.
I selected the 2018 Bathurst 1000 as it is an Australian icon, and the 2019 Bathurst 1000 was fast approaching when I received this assignment.
My conclusion: Strategies included appealing to the history and topophilic spaces that supporters identify strongly with, weaving a masculine narrative, and sponsor marketing strongly aligned with the Bathurst 1000 and its audience. Future campaigns should target younger demographics and promote more opportunities for fans to spend on the brand.
Assignment Feedback
Score: 35 out of 35 (High Distinction)
Demonstrated excellent understanding of the theory and concepts from the unit and you have managed to integrate these into a good academic analysis. Choice of platforms is good and you have managed to demonstrate how each one has performed and engaged (nor not in the case of instagram during the race!) with fans.
Layout is clear and has a good flow. Written expression is good.
Essendon VFLW – Social Media Content Analysis
I conducted a 1000 word content analysis of a sports social media account for a university assignment for the subject MDA20011 – Sports, Advertising and Media. I elected to analyse the Facebook page of the Essendon Victorian Football League – Women’s team (VFLW). My final report can be seen in the viewer below.
The paper analysed 35 posts over an eight week period from 26 June to 21 August 2019. This covered eight games of the 16 round season. This was the team’s second season after being established in 2018. I was able to use statistical analysis techniques I learned from my health science degree
In this analysis I examined how the type of post content influenced engagement (ie. reactions, comments and shares on posts). Additionally, I analysed how post engagement changed depending on whether the content related to a team win or loss.
Applying media and sports theory to my analysis, I identified BIRGing (Basking in Reflected Glory) exists among Essendon VFLW fans. These fans are three times more likely to engage with posts following a win, often sharing with their own networks as a public display of association with the team.
I offered recommendations for the Essendon VFLW to improve fan engagement by: 1) sharing posts that invite fans to contribute to or create content for the club, and 2) diversifying the content of posts, not by reducing on solely the players, but by increasing posting frequency to highlight the fans that support the team and the club’s spiritual “home”, Windy Hill.
Assignment Feedback
Score: 14 out of 15 (High Distinction)
This is well presented content analysis. Tables are good and show good categorisation. You have demonstrated an excellent understanding of the literature and applied well to the data findings. Demonstrated clear integration of of literature and findings to create an indepth academic analysis. Written expression is really good, Reference list is also good. Overall a really excellent start to the unit.
First Year
BAM 11 – Video Interview
This assignment was the major submission (40%) for first year media subject Media Content Creation (JOU10007). Our task was to produce a one minute video in pairs on a topic of our choice. My partner and I made a video about BAM 11 in May 2019 as he is involved in the event.
BAM, or Battle Arena Melbourne, is Australia’s largest fighting video game tournament attracting participants from across the country. But BAM is about more than gaming – it’s a community that lets players from all over to meet new people in a supportive environment.
Reflection
Me and my partner shared the workload evenly. He organised the talent, conducted the interview, and recorded all the cutaway/b-roll as I was away for the duration of the event. He also helped source the event streaming footage and music (not featured in this uploaded version due to copyright). I was responsible for recording the interview segments and the post-production process.
I came across several challenges/learning opportunities however I had a heap of fun doing my part of recording, and I always enjoy the editing process.
Six Minutes – Photo Essay
When the pager sounds, volunteer firefighters have less than six minutes to be on their way to an emergency. This means they have to stop what they are doing, grab their keys, hop in the car, drive to the fire station, run inside, get dressed in their gear, get in the truck, and be on the road in a very short amount of time. While it is not compulsory for them to respond to every call, there is a lot of pressure on these firefighters to be swift. This is an underappreciated aspect of the firefighter’s role.
About this assignment
This photo essay was my 2nd assignment for first year subject Media Content Creation. Doing this subject was the first time I learned how to use a DSLR camera. I am new to technical aspects of photography (aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus), image composition and white balance. I shot these photos using a Canon 80D on manual mode, primarily using a 50mm prime lens.
Editing
Adobe Lightroom was perhaps the only thing I was semi-familiar with coming into this subject. Last year the Swinburne Design Collective invited Melbourne Photographer Philip Lapik to run a session on photo editing, and I have been using it ever since for basic iPhone photo touch ups for my social media pages. Still there was a learning curve as I faced challenges in my editing. In this one I spot removed that pole near the subject’s right leg, toned down some yellows when I bumped the contrast up, and dealt with what might be aberration around the pole and fire bell as best I could. As these photos were shot on an overcast day, my approach to the editing was slightly darker, high contrast images, framed in a slight vignette.
Glove Safety Campaign (2018)
This assignment was the major submission (40%) for first year communication subject Professional Communication Practice. Our task was to create a workplace Health and Safety Campaign for Amcor, a leading packaging manufacturer with 33,000 employees worldwide. The objective of this campaign was to raise awareness about a particular OHS issue and to help Amcor achieve its goal of zero injuries in its workplaces. This campaign was targeted the 1200 employees across the company’s Australia and New Zealand operations. Students had to create three different types of media: audio or visual, print, and digital.
Below are the three strategies I submitted and the description from my submission.
Audio/Visual Media- Safety Minute Video
I have created a one minute video series on safety at Amcor’s ANZ facilities. This video is intended to be uploaded to the AmcorPackaging Youtube channel. It will also be displayed on the screens in the cafeteria, during training and safety meetings, and on the new Amcor ANZ
Facebook page.
Print Media – Posters
Two posters, one designed for operational areas and another designed for office areas. The first head copy is “Wear Your Gloves” to remind staff of PPC requirements. The latter’s copy is “Don’t Forget Your Gloves”, educating office staff on the need to wear gloves when exposed to hazards while visiting manufacturing areas.
Digital Media – Amcor ANZ Facebook
A Facebook page aimed at staff, their families and the community. As Amcor shifts its headquarters to the US, it will be important to maintain a digital connection with its Australian customers – who make up 13% of global sales – and staff.
Learnings
This was honestly a challenging project to execute, as it was quite unexpected. Up until this campaign, PCP had been about public speaking and how to write emails and reports. So a large, creative-focused assignment was not expected, particularly for a first semester subject when students haven’t learned the design/media skills to execute this campaign (many of us were expecting to only plan these media channels, or maybe just create one thing).
However, I took it as a challenge, and pushed myself to practice new things even if it made the overall assignment more difficult (for instance, making a video instead of creating slides – as many students opted to do).
I am really proud of what I pulled together:
- I continued to develop my skills in Adobe Illustrator
- I used InDesign for the first time, using it to create my entire campaign document, and the posters
- I am now comfortable using Premiere Pro, but I played a bit more with After Effects. I’m finding it to be a useful skill to know
- I used a consistent brand strategy across all three mediums
I definitely could not have done it without being involved in the Swinburne design community, or without my free access to LinkedIn Learning.
Assessment Feedback
This assignment was a pleasure to mark. In fact, there is so little to fault that your feedback sheet is very short indeed (most others ran to well over a page).
Include a time frame for the objectives. Check out the ‘SMART’ acronym for structuring objectives.
I could see that you had thought carefully about your media choices, but I would also like to have seen a stronger justification for the first two choices of media (accessibility, retention etc). You needed to provide some form of data or a journal article (or similar) to support those other decisions. I’m not suggesting the decisions were ‘bad’, you just need to show how you justified them! The Facebook element was justified for operational reasons, that is fine.
Professionally produced video – just the right length and tone for this job.
The posters were good, somewhat conservative, but certainly fit for purpose. Well done on creating a memorable theme.
Facebook page. Good – perhaps one more sample post to give the idea of the look, feel and tone of that part of the campaign.
Richard Mason Media 