Category: Advanced and Experimental with Nigel

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.

This week’s session focused on Harvard referencing conventions and continued support for the thesis proposal. While referencing is definitely my least favourite part of research, the session was a useful reminder of the importance of maintaining accurate records of sources throughout the writing process.

As my bibliography continued to grow, I became more aware of how easy it is to lose track of references if they are not organised properly. The session reinforced many of the practices introduced earlier in the year through Zotero, Mendeley and other reference management tools. It also encouraged me to revisit some of my citations to ensure consistency before moving further into the proposal.

Alongside the discussion of referencing, I continued refining my proposal structure and chapter outline. By this stage, the project was beginning to feel much more focused than when I first started considering research topics at the beginning of the year.

There was no formal session this week, which gave me an opportunity to focus on developing my proposal independently. Most of my time was spent reading sources, refining my chapter structure and considering how the practical and theoretical aspects of the project could support one another.

One area I continued to think about was the relationship between traditional filmmaking and immersive storytelling. The more research I conducted, the more interested I became in one-shot cinema as a bridge between conventional film directing and 360° experiences. Both forms require directors to guide audience attention without relying heavily on editing, making them useful points of comparison for my research.

Although progress this week felt slower than during previous weeks, the independent study period allowed me to spend more time engaging with the literature and developing a clearer understanding of the topic.

This week consisted of online tutorial slots and support for the next stage of the thesis proposal. As I had already received detailed feedback on my literature review during an earlier tutorial, I did not require another dedicated feedback session. Instead, I used the time to continue developing my proposal and refining my research question.

At this stage, I was becoming more confident in the direction of my research. I continued reading literature relating to immersive storytelling, viewer attention and 360° film while refining the scope of the project. One challenge was finding research specifically focused on 360° animation, as most of the available literature focused on virtual reality and live-action immersive experiences. This encouraged me to broaden my search and investigate related areas such as one-shot filmmaking and visual attention studies.

The session reinforced the importance of independent research. Rather than looking for a single source that answered my question directly, I began combining ideas from multiple fields to build a framework for my own investigation.

This week’s session consisted of online tutorials, with individual slots allocated to students who needed further feedback or guidance. As I had already received detailed feedback on my draft literature review during the previous week’s tutorial, I did not have any major questions or concerns that needed to be discussed.

Instead, I used the time to focus on work from my other modules and continue thinking about my research topic independently. Having recently received positive feedback on both my writing and research direction, I felt comfortable moving forward with my current idea exploring audience attention in 360 animated films.

Although there was no significant development this week, it provided a useful opportunity to consolidate the feedback I had already received and focus my attention on other projects. Looking back, the tutorial from the previous week had given me enough direction to continue developing both my thesis and Final Major Project over the coming weeks.

The first half of this week’s session continued our discussions around research design, objectives and developing a clear structure for the thesis proposal. We revisited the importance of ensuring that the research question, methodology and objectives all work together to support a focused piece of research.

The second half of the session consisted of individual tutorials to discuss feedback from the draft literature review. Nigel’s feedback on my submission was very positive, and he commented that he enjoyed reading it and felt it was well written. During the tutorial, we discussed the availability of literature relating to my topic on directing audience attention in 360 animated films. I mentioned that while I had found research on 360 film and immersive media, there appeared to be less work specifically focused on animation. Nigel suggested that I also investigate research on directing one-shot films, as they share similar challenges in guiding audience attention without relying on traditional editing techniques.

One of the most useful points from the tutorial was Nigel’s observation that my thesis and Final Major Project could support one another throughout the year. As I develop the practical side of the project, I may discover solutions or insights that inform the thesis, while the research itself could influence creative decisions within the film. This made me realise that the two projects do not need to exist separately and that there is value in allowing them to develop alongside each other.

This week’s session continued our exploration of research design and focused on developing methods that could be used to answer a research question or support a hypothesis. We discussed how research design acts as the framework for a project, helping to connect the research question, methodology and final conclusions. The lecture reinforced the idea that a strong thesis is not just about having an interesting topic, but about creating a clear plan for investigating it.

A recurring theme throughout the session was the concept of the “Golden Thread”, which links the research question, objectives, methods and findings together into a coherent piece of research. We looked at resources and videos explaining how maintaining this alignment can help strengthen an academic argument. We also discussed research objectives and how they should be specific, achievable and directly connected to the overall aims of the study.

As I continued developing my topic around directing audience attention in 360 animated films, this session helped me think beyond the research question itself and consider how I might actually investigate it. Rather than only focusing on what I wanted to research, I began considering which methods would be most appropriate and how the different sections of the proposal could work together to support the overall argument. This felt like an important step towards turning a general area of interest into a structured research project.

This week introduced the Thesis Proposal assignment and the structure that will eventually be required for the final thesis. We looked at the different components of the proposal, including the research question, introduction, literature review, methodology and chapter outlines. The session helped clarify how the proposal acts as a roadmap for the larger thesis project and how each section contributes to developing a focused and achievable study.

However, much like the start of the previous term, many of us were focused on an approaching deadline. Our draft literature review was due within a few days, so Nigel spent much of the session answering questions and providing practical advice to help us prepare our submissions. He gave guidance on structure, formatting, word count and the overall expectations of the assignment, which was reassuring as I was still refining my work before submission.

Looking back, the session helped me see the connection between the literature review I was about to submit and the larger thesis proposal that would follow. Rather than viewing the assignment as a standalone task, I began to understand it as the foundation for future research. This also encouraged me to continue developing my newer research direction around attention and viewer guidance in 360 animated films, as it is likely to form the basis of both my proposal and Final Major Project moving forward.