Course Title: Concept Development

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Concept Development

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
COMM2183	City Campus	Undergraduate	345H Media and Communication	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2006, Sem 2 2006, Sem 1 2007, Sem 2 2007, Sem 1 2008, Sem 2 2008, Sem 1 2009, Sem 1 2010, Sem 1 2011, Sem 1 2012, Sem 1 2013, Sem 1 2014

Course Coordinator: Ed Montano / Craig Batty

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 2190 / 2456

Course Coordinator Email: ed.montano@rmit.edu.au / craig.batty@rmit.edu.au

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

You should have satisfactorily completed the following prerequisite courses:

For students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts (Music Industry): performance, product and promotion development work undertaken in previous music industry tertiary studies.

For students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts (Creative Writing): either COMM2395 Novel Writing Studio or COMM2401 Screenplay Studio.

Note it is a condition of enrolment at RMIT that you accept responsibility for ensuring that you have completed the prerequisite courses before enrolling in a course.
 

Course Description

This core course focuses on the generation and formulation of ideas, and challenges you to reflectively consider the various ways these ideas can be presented to communicate effectively to the audience in order to produce engaging, informative and entertaining creative projects. You will acquire a working knowledge of the forms and elements that creative practitioners have at their disposal which can be creatively harnessed during the conceptual development phase of a project, and which can inform the selection of content suitable for a range of project possibilities.

The course facilitates the development of successful strategies in the research, development and production of creative projects. The ability to take an idea from inspiration to fruition is one of the key components of a successful creative project. In the 21st century, practitioners within the creative arts industries have access to an ever-growing array of media resources and new technologies. While this sheer breadth and depth can be daunting, if approached from a creative perspective, these tools can be harnessed in powerful ways for research, collaboration and production. The knowledge gained in this course will be applied to the development of an original concept proposal for a major project.

This proposal could form the basis of your major work in Major Project and Production.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Upon successful completion of this course you will be able to:

• create and develop advanced content and evolved narrative ideas through heightened conceptual processes;
• refine your critical and analytical capacity to evaluate content and structure in projects;
• confidently present your ideas within group situations and respond appropriately to feedback;
• evaluate the craft of the creator and articulate the effects contemporary criticism and analysis of the medium have on your current and future practice.

Overview of Learning Activities

Through lecture-based delivery, workshops and guided analysis of case studies, you will be exposed to methodologies of developing and presenting proposal material. You will learn, analyse and employ industry-relevant methods in areas, such as:

• audience definition and current market directions;
• theoretical underpinnings and new developments;
• visualisation;
• creative approach;
• developing, testing and distilling ideas;
• alternative conceptual processes;
• preparation of the proposal.

Throughout the course, wide-ranging possibilities for communication are introduced to you by examination of exemplary published work. This is aimed at generating critical analysis and discussion. In conjunction with this, media criticism and academic enquiry will be introduced as a valuable way in which to explore the medium with a view to the future. This exposure broadens your cultural and historical understanding of your field.

The concept proposal document is seen as the central outcome of this course and sets the basis for the Major Project course in the final semester.

Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems. You should make use of wider university resources such as libraries, print and audio-visual collections and if appropriate, the University’s Learning Skills Unit.

Overview of Assessment

You will be assessed on how well you meet the course’s learning outcomes and on your development against the program capabilities. In this course you will be assessed on the creativity and execution of your ideas. Components within this course carry their own individual assessment criteria. Final assessment tasks must clearly demonstrate a high level of creativity and originality as well as diligence toward, and pride in, the overall quality of your own work. Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks.

If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program director or the Disability Liaison Unit if you would like to find out more.

Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies and procedures.