Course Outline

MUS202 Music and Sound for Screen

Course Coordinator:Briony Luttrell (bluttrel@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries

2026Trimester 1

UniSC Sunshine Coast

Blended learning Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online.

Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.

What is this course about?

Description

In this course, you will develop your music and sound production skills to engage with screen projects. You will be guided by industry practitioners as you engage in intermediate tasks including sound design, Foley recording, music composition and curation, and mixing for vision. This course will culminate in creative work featuring music and sound design. 

How will this course be delivered?

Activity Hours Beginning Week Frequency
Blended learning
Learning materials – Interactive online learning activities. 1hr Week 1 11 times
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Scheduled face to face workshops. 2hrs Week 1 11 times

Course Topics

  • Sound design
  • Sound libraries
  • Location recording
  • DAW and studio proficiency
  • Music for screen
  • Critical listening
  • Mixing sound
  • Multimodal communication

What level is this course?

200 Level (Developing)

Building on and expanding the scope of introductory knowledge and skills, developing breadth or depth and applying knowledge and skills in a new context. May require pre-requisites where discipline specific introductory knowledge or skills is necessary. Normally, undertaken in the second or third full-time year of an undergraduate programs.

What is the unit value of this course?

12 units

How does this course contribute to my learning?

Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming...
1 Develop a detailed understanding of sound and vision practices and standards according to industry specifications. Knowledgeable
2 Apply concepts in the creation and curation of music and sound design for screen media. Empowered
3 Analyse and evaluate advanced concepts of music and sound design in existing creative works with specific reference to academic frameworks. Creative and critical thinker
4 Adapt a range of fundamental sound production principles and specific technical processes for music and sound design for screen. Empowered

Am I eligible to enrol in this course?

Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.

Pre-requisites

MUS100 or MUS101 or CMN105

Co-requisites

Not applicable

Anti-requisites

Not applicable

Specific assumed prior knowledge and skills (where applicable)

Not applicable

Microcredential Information

Not applicable

How am I going to be assessed?

Grading Scale

Standard Grading (GRD)

High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL).

Details of early feedback on progress

An opportunity exists in every workshop to produce and perform creative work individually and/or in small peer groups. Using assessment criteria and an assessment rubric, provided to students prior to commencing, students will self-assess and peer assess throughout the entire course. This assessment will be moderated and finalised by the Course Coordinator.

Assessment tasks

Delivery mode Task No. Assessment Product Individual or Group Weighting % What is the duration / length? When should I submit? Where should I submit it?
All 1 Artefact - Creative Individual 40%
Approximately 15-30 minutes.
Week 5 In Class
All 3 Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece Individual 60%
1-3 mins of vision and sound + 800 word written document
Week 12 Online Submission
All - Assessment Task 1:DAW for screen projects competency
Goal:
In this assessment, you will demonstrate an intermediate understanding of studio and DAW processes for screen projects.
Product: Artefact - Creative
Authorship Statement:
Format:
Using the studio facilities you will create and manage a Pro Tools DAW session and perform a number of technical tasks to demonstrate your knowledge of studio practice for screen. You will be provided with a detailed list of tasks. You will be given a limited amount of time to complete this assessment item.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1
Adapting a range of fundamental sound for screen skills in the ability to plan, setup and deliver a DAW session for sound and vision.
4
2
Applying recording, editing and sequencing tasks.
2
3
Applying the plugin and signal flow tasks.
2
4
Developing communication of intention via a balanced audio work.
1
Generic Skills:
Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies
All - Assessment Task 3:Music and Sound for screen work
Goal:
The purpose of this task is to demonstrate an applied understanding of multimodal meaning making through designing and creating the music and sound design for a work of screen.
Product: Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece
Authorship Statement:
Format:
You will select an existing work of vision and create and/or curate music and sound design aspects for the project. Your choices for the project need to effectively communicate your ideas regarding multimodal meaning-making and demonstrate an intertextual understanding of the technical and cultural aspects of audiovisual work. You will need to develop the project using appropriate technical practices and standards for audio for screen. The project is presented as an audiovisual file, a DAW session, and a written document that details your intentions and choices for the work.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1
Developing your project in industry-reflective work-in-progress check-ins with progressive deadlines.
1
2
Applying concepts in the creation and/or curation of music assets for multimodal meaning making.
2
3
Applying concepts in the creation and/or curation of sound design assets for multimodal meaning making
2
4
Adapting a range of principles and processes to deliver a final project master with
appropriate technical considerations.
4
5
Analysing, designing, and evaluating the choices for multimodal meaning making in intertextual contexts.
3
Generic Skills:
Communication, Collaboration, Organisation, Applying technologies

Directed study hours

A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.

What resources do I need to undertake this course?

Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.

Prescribed text(s) or course reader

There are no required/recommended resources for this course.

Specific requirements

It is recommended that students have basic DAW competency for this course.

In this class, you will require the foundation tools of the music producer. These are: 
 
- Hard Drive with 100Gb of free memory 
- a set of stereo headphones for music production. 

Students are expected to make themselves available for autonomous recording sessions. Students must therefore consider their availability on evenings and weekends as well as normal working hours.

How are risks managed in this course?

Risk assessments have been performed for all studio and laboratory classes and a low level of health and safety risk exists. Some risk concerns may include equipment, instruments, and tools; as well as manual handling items within the laboratory. It is your responsibility to review course material, search online, discuss with lecturers and peers and understand the risks associated with your specific course of study and to familiarise yourself with the University’s general health and safety principles by reviewing the online induction training for students, and following the instructions of the University staff.

What administrative information is relevant to this course?

Assessment: Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.

Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.

In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.

Assessment: Additional Requirements

Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment

Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale

Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying: The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4% The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconduct.

Assessment: Submission penalties

Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.

The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty

Links to relevant University policy and procedures

For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:

  • Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs
  • Review of Assessment and Final Grades
  • Supplementary Assessment
  • Central Examinations
  • Deferred Examinations
  • Student Conduct
  • Students with a Disability

For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching

Student Charter

UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.

General Enquiries

For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.  

For other enquiries or to access support, please contact Student Central: