This unit provides an introduction to the practices of live performance through foundational studies in acting. Development of acting skills through a sense of self in bodily expression, creative imagination and effective communication are part of all live performance. Workshop experience will be augmented by research into acting theories and traditions. This unit draws on practices and concepts of acting formed in the 20th century that circulate in live performance practice in the current Australian and international context.

In this unit students will be introduced to the technology and the skills required to work with video, film and digital media. They will be introduced to discourse surrounding the creation and appraising of performance for screen. They will inquire into values, concepts and forms of screen performance and the relationships between live performance and performance on screen. In addition students will gain insight into mixed media performance styles and their application in a variety of settings. Academic research, practical workshop experience and personal reflection will used to develop the required level of practical understanding.

This unit explores the role of the director in relationship to the creation of work: performance, play, film, screen media, event, or ceremony. The emphasis will be on the directing of performance. The director, alongside the writer in theatre and film, has been a central figure in 20th Century performance practice. The director creates a body of work, refines specific processes to puts philosophies or theories to the test. The director is a communicator, leader and facilitator; working across the creative spectrum with actors, designers, artists, writers, musicians, producers, presenters and audience to meet at the final encounter: the performance.

In this unit students, will be introduced to modes of personality presentation applicable to popular performance forms and media, as well as challenges and limitations involved in the construction of images of public identity or personality for the entertainment, communication and media industry. They will inquire into values, concepts and forms of persona presentation relevant to contemporary social settings. In addition, students will gain insight into media performance styles that employ presentational personae, and their applications in a variety of settings. Academic research, practical workshop experience and personal reflection will be used to develop required levels of practical understanding.

This unit considers the development of themes, styles, genres and media that have been significant in the formation of identifiable Australian performance traditions since European settlement. Through historical and practical inquiry, students will address the question of: how is Australia performed? How are ideas of national culture performed through events as diverse as the Sydney Olympics (2000), the indigenous musical Bran Nue Dae (1990) or the television series such as Summer Heights High (2008)? Performance is used as an organising concept to study a wide range of behaviours and situations that express ideas of Australia both in the social realm and aesthetic performances.

In this unit, students will survey and consider performance traditions and events that engage with notions of interactivity, and that explore the applicability of performance techniques and forms in broader social contexts to take advantage of their educative and communicative potentials. Through the unit content and activities, students will consider and evaluate social and cultural events or traditions that exist and flourish in the areas of convergence of artistic performance with oratorical, political, educational and commercial activities. Academic research, practical workshop experience, peer assessment and personal reflection will be used to develop practical and theoretical understandings of the subject.