Word count: 600 words + worksheet

Purpose: Drawing on ideas and material from Week 7, this task provides an opportunity to think in real terms about how media can create social impact. Students are invited to critically reflect on how media industries work and the communication strategies used by media professionals.

Instructions: Imagine you have been employed as a social impact producer on one of the three documentary films listed below: 2040, Embrace: Kids  Your task is to produce an impact production campaign plan using the worksheet on the Week 7 page. You are required to submit both the completed worksheet (find a blank worksheet at the bottom of this page) and an exegesis of 600 words which explains and justifies the choices you have made in your plan, and refers to at least two peer-reviewed academic sources .

Key elements to consider will include:

What are the film's messages?

What is your impact goal?

Who can help you achieve this goal?

Be specific! Nominate specific messages, goals and agents. You can research the real impact campaign for your chosen film as part of your planning, but your response cannot simply replicate this -- it must demonstrate original ideas and strategies. 

As part of your submission you also need to include one screenshot from your chosen film and explain how and why you believe it could be used in your campaign to produce maximum impact. 

Each of the films you can work on for Task 2 were produced and released as social impact films, so there are a range of existing action/educational resources for each that you can find online. Some examples are below. You can consult and take inspiration from these resources for your task but you can't simply replicate what is here! You need to think about how the film's messages can translate into specific goals with specific people and organisations in your context or community.

Embrace: Kids

The Embrace Hub

Embrace: Kids (Taryn Brumfitt, 2023) [76 minutes] or watch with a free trial on Binge

Body-image advocate Taryn Brumfitt is a best-selling author and speaker, and the film director behind break-out 2016 documentary Embrace. This time she's talking to school-aged kids and famous friends about body image, bullying, gender identity, advocacy, representation and more.

For example：This sample demonstrates how to fill out each cell of the impact plan worksheet, using our Week 2 film The Social Dilemma. All of the impact tasks here are taken from or inspired by the 'Take Action' site associated with the film.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON ASSESSMENT TASK 2:

 SOCIAL IMPACT PLAN FOR A DOCUMENTARY FILM 

Where can I find more information on how to complete this task?

Both refer to a document called the ‘Impact Field Guide and Toolkit’, which explains the worksheet you need to complete as the basis of this task.

The Week 7 reading is: The Impact Field Guide & Toolkit: From Art to Impact. Doc Society 2020.

Section 2.0 on ‘Planning for Impact’ will be most useful to look at closely and includes sample worksheets that provide valuable guidance on how to complete this part of the task.

What do I need to submit for this task?

There are three components to submit: the completed worksheet, the 600 word exegesis and your chosen screenshot. All should be submitted on eportfolio. 

How should I fill in the worksheet?

Follow the examples given in the week 7 material and in the ‘Impact Field Guide and Toolkit’. You should identify 3-4 specific messages from your chosen film and work across the sheet to design an impact goal, agents, impact dynamic(s) and impact task that relates to each message.

As in the examples, stick to short bullet points in filling out your worksheet. The exegesis is the place to explain and expand on these choices. There is no specific word limit for the worksheet but you should not exceed one page in completing it.

How many rows should I aim to fill out on the worksheet?

Complete 3 or 4 rows on the worksheet. You shouldn’t go over a single page so (as above) keep your descriptions short and to the point.

How do I fill out the ‘impact dynamic’ column?

You should have no more than 1-2 impact dynamics for each row of your worksheet. You just need to name the relevant dynamic in the column (ie ‘changing minds’ or ‘changing behaviours’) you don’t need to explain what it means.

What do I have to do for the exegesis?

The term ‘exegesis’ means critical interpretation or explanation. An exegesis supports a creative project or work and plays an important part in contextualising the project in the field of enquiry. The tone of an exegesis should be reflective and critical. 

What is an exegesis? The term ‘exegesis’ means critical interpretation or explanation. An exegesis supports a creative project or work and plays an important part in contextualising the project in the field of enquiry. The tone of an exegesis should be reflective and critical.  

For Assessment task 2, you need to write an 600 word exegesis to accompany your strategic plan worksheet. Your exegesis needs to explain the reasoning behind your strategic plan:

Why is this an important film and issue, in your view? 

Why did you make the choices you did in planning how to communicate its messages? 

How do your impact goals, agents and tasks relate to the change dynamics you name?

What are the concepts and ideas from the Media Challenges unit (especially the Week 7 material) that helped you make these choices?

Your exegesis must show evidence of scholarly research so, in explaining your ideas and reasoning, you need to reference at least two academic, peer-reviewed sources. The Week 7 section of the Media Challenges library reading list on the ‘study resources’ tab is a good place to start for sources on documentary filmmaking, impact producing and strategic communications. 

You might like to look also into scholarly writing on your film to help you understand its key messages and effects. 

In writing your exegesis it’s important to bear in mind that you only have 600 words, so you need to scale your discussion accordingly and be economical. 

As part of your exegesis you are also asked to include one screenshot from your chosen film and explain how and why you believe it could be used in your campaign to produce maximum impact. 

Can I use first person for the exegesis?

Yes. This is a reflective piece so you should explain and reflect on your own work using the first person (ie ‘I’ …)

I’ve found the real impact campaign that was created for my film. Is it ok if there’s some overlap between this campaign and my own impact plan?

Yes, a certain amount of overlap is ok and to be expected. This is likely to happen when you name the film’s message and impact vision/goals. 

But the rest of the plan (ie key agents, impact dynamic, impact tasks) is the place for you to come up with some original ideas. What do you want to do with the film? Remember to be specific in naming agents (people/organisations) and tasks that can help you achieve your impact goals.

What are ‘peer reviewed academic sources’ and how do I find them?

As Emily explained for the Fact Check task, ‘peer reviewed sources’ refers to scholarly literature published in academic books or journals. ‘Peer review’ means an article submitted to a journal by an author is sent to reviewers to read over and evaluate as a guide to whether the article should be accepted for publication. 

You can find peer reviewed journal articles by checking the ‘peer reviewed journal articles’ filter on the left hand side of the library Search page (see image below)

What kind of peer reviewed sources should I be including for this task?

The unit’s library reading list is always a good place to start in looking for scholarly sources. You can find a list of sources for each week of the unit on this list - which you can access from the ‘study resources’ tab 

In addition to scholarly sources on impact producing or documentary filmmaking you might also like to look for sources on the film you are working on. This could help with understanding the film’s messages, the filmmakers’ intentions or audience reactions. 

What is a screenshot?

For this task, a screenshot is a single image from your chosen film. You need to select an image that you believe captures something important about your film and supports your campaign.

What referencing system should I use? 

Please use APA referencing, which uses in-text citations. You can find instructions on how to use this system through the library here - https://guides.lib.monash.edu/citing-referencing/apa7th