Month: June 2026

This week was primarily spent making final adjustments to the thesis proposal and reflecting on the progress made throughout the term. Looking back at my earliest blog entries, one of the biggest changes was how much my research topic had evolved. I originally considered investigating animation in advertising and projection mapping before gradually shifting towards immersive storytelling and audience attention in 360° animation. The final proposal feels much more closely connected to my interests and practical ambitions as an animator.

One of the most valuable lessons from this module was understanding the relationship between theory and practice. At the beginning of the year, I viewed the thesis and Final Major Project as separate pieces of work. Through discussions with Nigel and the process of developing the proposal, I began to see them as parts of the same investigation. The research informs creative decisions within the film, while the production process raises new questions that can be explored academically. This reciprocal relationship became one of the strongest aspects of my project.

The proposal process also changed the way I approach research. I became more comfortable reading academic sources, comparing different viewpoints and identifying patterns across multiple fields of study. Although there is still a significant amount of work ahead, I now feel that I have a clear research direction, a structured plan for investigation and a stronger understanding of how the dissertation can support the development of my Final Major Project.

With most of the proposal structure now established, this week was largely dedicated to refining the literature review and thinking more carefully about how the different sections of the thesis connected to one another. I continued reading around immersive storytelling, visual attention and one-shot filmmaking, while also revisiting some of the sources I had already collected. At this stage, I found myself thinking less about finding new references and more about how the existing material could be used to support a coherent argument.

One challenge I encountered was organising the chapters in a way that felt logical. Initially, I found myself jumping between film theory, animation theory and immersive media without a clear progression. Revisiting the idea of the “Golden Thread” helped me understand that the chapters should build upon one another rather than exist as separate discussions. This led me to structure the proposal around a progression from traditional and continuous-take cinema, to animation as a directed medium, then to immersive storytelling, before finally bringing these ideas together in a chapter focused specifically on directing attention in 360° animation. Establishing this sequence made the project feel much more cohesive.

Reflecting on the process, I realised that writing a proposal is not simply about collecting information but about constructing an argument. Once the chapter structure became clearer, I found it easier to identify where individual sources belonged and how they contributed to answering the research question. This gave me greater confidence that the project had a clear direction and a strong foundation moving forward.

This week focused on continuing the development of the thesis proposal. Although there was no major new content introduced in class, I spent a significant amount of time refining my research question and chapter structure. One challenge I encountered was deciding how much of the thesis should focus on immersive media theory compared to film directing and animation. Initially, I found myself collecting sources that were interesting but not always directly relevant to the question I was trying to answer.

As my reading progressed, I began to notice a recurring theme throughout the literature. Many researchers discussing virtual reality and 360° storytelling focused on viewer agency and presence, while film theorists were more concerned with directing attention through framing, editing and composition. This contrast helped me realise that my research was really about the tension between these two ideas: the filmmaker’s desire to guide attention and the viewer’s freedom to choose where to look. This became an important concept within my proposal and helped strengthen the connection between the different chapters.

I also spent time watching conference talks and interviews relating to immersive storytelling and virtual reality filmmaking. While many of these were not academic sources, they provided useful practical insights into the challenges faced by creators working in 360° media. These additional perspectives helped me think about how the theoretical research could eventually be applied within my Final Major Project.