Media Studies · Media Studies: Critical Lenses, Platforms, AI and Responsible Production

Planning Conventions and Techniques: Rationales, Scripts, Storyboards and Design Systems

3.3About 70 minutes

Learning goals

I can choose conventions and techniques that suit each form in a multi-form project.
I can write technique rationales that link each choice to an aspect of my intended meaning.
I can plan with a two-column script, storyboard, design system and accessibility plan.

Words to know

technique rationale
A sentence explaining how a technique will communicate part of the intended meaning.

two-column A/V script
A script with visuals on the left and audio on the right, with times.

storyboard
A sequence of sketches showing each planned shot, its timing and action.

design system
Consistent visual rules applied across a set of slides, pages or screens.

alt text
A written description of an image for screen readers.

contrast ratio
A measure of how much text stands out from its background; WCAG AA asks at least 4.5 : 1 for normal text.

Remember from Grade 11

In Grade 11 you planned conventions and techniques with a segment plan and a script written for the ear, checking that times added up. In Grade 10 you storyboarded.

Grade 12 (expectation 3.3) asks you to identify the conventions and techniques appropriate to your chosen form and to explain how they will communicate specific aspects of your intended meaning. For a complex, multi-form project, that means planning each form's conventions and making sure they all carry the same key message.

Hook: a plan for every second

Amira's lead form is a 60-second vertical video. Sixty seconds is very little time: many short-video viewers decide in the first two whether to swipe away. Every second needs a job, and every technique needs a reason that connects to the key message: Don't trust your eyes; trace the source.

The technique rationale

For each important technique, write a rationale: I will use [technique] in [moment] so that the audience [effect], which communicates [aspect of the key message]. This is the heart of 3.3.

Tools for planning

Two-column A/V script: visuals on the left, audio (voice, music, sound) on the right, with times. Standard for video.
Storyboard: a sketch of each shot, in the right frame shape, with timing and action.
Shot list: every shot to record, so nothing is forgotten on production day.
Design system (for visual forms such as carousels): grid, type hierarchy, colours, image style and template rules applied consistently.
Accessibility plan: captions for all speech; alt text for images; text contrast of at least 4.5 : 1 for normal text (the WCAG AA guideline); no meaning carried by colour alone; a transcript.

Conventions for Amira's two forms

Vertical video: a hook in the first two seconds; direct address to camera; on-screen captions and key-word text; jump cuts to remove pauses; screen recordings for demonstrations; a call to action; a loop back to the opening image.

Carousel: slide 1 is the hook; one idea per slide; a consistent template; page numbers; a final call-to-action slide; alt text for every image.

A storyboard sketches each shot in the frame shape it will have (here 9:16 vertical) with its timing and action. Sketches can be simple; what matters is that each shot's purpose is planned.

Amira's two-column script (first 32 seconds)

Here is the start of the plan as a two-column A/V script, with a time column added.

Time	Visuals	Audio
0 to 3 s	Split screen: two lake photos, one labelled later as AI-GENERATED EXAMPLE. Text: Which one is fake?	Short sound sting; no voice
3 to 8 s	Close-up of Amira, direct address	I got this wrong too. Our eyes aren't the test anymore.
8 to 20 s	Screen recording: reverse image search finds the fake's origin on an AI art site	Trick one: trace it. Search the image and find where it first appeared.
20 to 32 s	Screen recording: checking the posting account's history	Trick two: check who. Is there a real, accountable source?

The first four segments of Amira's 60-second video.

The rest of the plan: 32 to 48 s, a quick practice round (Try this one); 48 to 55 s, the key message on screen; 55 to 60 s, call to action and loop back to the split screen. Times: 3 + 5 + 12 + 12 + 16 + 7 + 5 = 60 seconds.

A design system applies the same template to every slide: a top band for the slide's role, consistent type sizes, one image area and a page number. Consistency is a convention that makes a sequence easy to follow.

Worked example

Let's write technique rationales for Real or Rendered?

Write rationales for four techniques in Amira's plan, linking each to an aspect of the key message Don't trust your eyes; trace the source.

Split-screen hook (0 to 3 s): I will open with two photos side by side and the question Which one is fake? so that viewers try and often fail to spot the fake, which communicates the first half of the message, don't trust your eyes, through experience rather than a lecture (and avoids reactance).
Direct address and admission (3 to 8 s): I will speak to the camera and admit I got it wrong too, so that viewers feel included rather than judged, which builds the trust needed for them to accept the strategies.
Screen recordings (8 to 32 s): I will show a real reverse image search and an account check on screen, so that viewers see exactly what to tap, which communicates trace the source as a doable action.
Loop ending (55 to 60 s): I will end on the opening split screen, now with the fake labelled, so that the video replays smoothly and viewers can test themselves again, which reinforces the message and suits the short-video form.
Accessibility (throughout): captions for all speech and on-screen key words, because the survey suggests most of the audience watches without sound; the label AI-GENERATED EXAMPLE is in large type with high contrast so it can't be missed or cropped easily.

Each rationale names a technique, its moment, its intended effect and the aspect of the key message it communicates. Together, the split-screen hook teaches don't trust your eyes, the screen recordings teach trace the source, direct address builds trust, and the loop and captions suit the form and audience.

Every technique needs a job

If you can't finish the sentence so that the audience..., which communicates..., the technique may be decoration. Cut it or find its job.

Just for fun

Storyboards don't have to be beautiful. Some of the most famous filmmakers have drawn stick figures. If your stick figure looks more like a lamppost, just label it Amira (not a lamppost) and keep going.

Hands-on activity

Plan your opening 30 seconds

You need: paper, a pencil, a ruler and a timer. Use the brief you wrote in the previous lesson (or invent a simple one).

Draw four storyboard frames in the right shape for your form (tall rectangles for vertical video, wide for 16:9, squares for posts).
Under each, write the time range, visuals and audio.
Turn the storyboard into a two-column A/V script and check that the times add up exactly.
Write three technique rationales in the full sentence pattern.
Write an accessibility plan: captions, alt text, contrast, transcript.
Read your script aloud with a timer. Does each segment fit its time? Adjust.

What to look for: frames in the correct shape, times that add up, rationales that link technique to meaning, a complete accessibility plan, and evidence of a timed read-through.

Your turn

Write the sentence pattern for a technique rationale.

What goes in each column of a two-column A/V script?

Why should storyboard frames be drawn in the right shape?

Name four parts of an accessibility plan.

Check Amira's timings: 3 + 5 + 12 + 12 + 16 + 7 + 5. Do they total 60?

What is a design system for a carousel?

Give two conventions of a carousel post.

More practice: warm-up

What is a shot list?

What does alt text do?

What contrast ratio does WCAG AA recommend for normal text?

What is Amira's key message?

Why does Amira admit she got the test wrong too?

More practice: on your own

Write a technique rationale for using a jump cut in a vlog-style explainer.

Amira wants to add a 10-second funny skit at 32 seconds without making the video longer. Suggest a revised timing plan.

Why should the meaning of a chart or slide never depend on colour alone?

Write alt text for slide 1 of the carousel.

How does the loop ending connect a technique to both meaning and industry?

Challenge

Plan the carousel's conventions so that it communicates the same key message to parents as the video does to teens. Name two changes for the parent audience and justify them.

Critique this rationale and rewrite it: I'll use cool transitions because they look good.

Explain how accessibility choices can also strengthen a text's meaning for all viewers, using an example from this lesson.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which rationale best follows the lesson's pattern?

A two-column A/V script places:

WCAG AA recommends a contrast ratio for normal text of at least:

Segments of 4, 6, 15, 15, 12 and 8 seconds total:

Applying the same template, type sizes and image area to every slide is a:

Why does Amira caption all speech?

For parents and teachers

What this lesson teaches: identifying the conventions and techniques appropriate to chosen forms and explaining how they will communicate specific aspects of the intended meaning (3.3): technique rationales, two-column A/V scripts, storyboards, shot lists, a carousel design system and an accessibility plan (captions, alt text, WCAG 4.5 : 1 contrast). The project is invented.

How to help at home:

Time your teen reading their script aloud.
Ask What is this technique's job? for each choice.
Look at a carousel post together and identify its design system.

Common difficulties:

Techniques as decoration. Every choice needs a link to meaning.
Times that don't add up. Add them step by step.
Accessibility as an afterthought. Plan it from the start.