Sam Cyb's BA3A Research Report Work

To broaden my topic into something that can be neatly broken down into chapters, I decided to change my question from ' How to create an engaging fictional universe for a long-running animated series ' to ' What are the key elements that carry a long-running animated series, and how to use them effectively '. I have a vague idea for how I'm going to break this topic down: Chapter 1: Character (The first element of a show the viewer will be introduced to) Chapter 2: World-building (How to create a fictional universe) Chapter 5: Endings (How to effectively end a show that's been going for a long time)

My ideas for my dissertation in week 3 were a little unfocused again, trying to make something that revolved around a few anime series that were fresh in my mind, trying to come up with the right question that would allow me to talk about them in relation to the medium of animation. When I came to my lecturer for help, she told me that ideally, I wanted to use a question where the answer would help me with my work. After looking over my work in progress, she asked; if you were to make a cartoon or anime tomorrow, what would be the first thing you'd do? I thought it over and realised that in some of my favourite series, some of the longest running shows and anime, the most prominent and engaging component is the characters and the world. So I think I've found my question... How to create an engaging fictional universe for a long-running animated series? Some anime to watch, re-watch, and research: Dragonball Z Cowboy Bebop One Piece Naruto Fullmetal Alchemist Deat...

The Superheroes Journey in My Hero Academia Things to talk about: Protagonists that actively seek out the power to become a hero, rather than the typical superhero who is granted power, born with power, or acquires power by chance and only THEN feels obligated to use that power for good - Iron man, Batman, etc. Grounded conflict - The art of the fight scene where the stakes, forces, tensions and powers at play are plain for all to see. The fight scenes of My Hero Academia exemplify this by not being about who's strongest, or even who's more skilled - sure, these aspects are acknowledged and used to an extent - but most of all it's about who uses the abilities and resources at their disposal the most creatively. There are no secret saviours who rush in for the rescue, there are no secret hidden powers, everyone just gets the one power - and each power is versatile enough to have many applications, but they also always have some kind of weakness, even if it's onl...

Feeling overwhelmed and unfocused whenever I sat down to work on my dissertation, I got some feedback on what I'd written so far. It was recommended that before I go any further: I should figure out what it is I want to learn from my research I should figure out what could help me with my personal showcase and other projects  Perhaps create a structure based around that goal  Also character design is such a broad subject that maybe I only need to talk about one genre As I'm struggling to stay invested in this topic, some other ideas for what I could write about include: The hero's journey in My Hero Academia, how it subverts, parodies, and doubles down on elements of the genre to it's advantage, compare it to other stories with a similar premise (Sky High movie, Unordinary webcomic) and examine what makes it more effective The hero's journey in Steven Universe, and how to tackle the portrayal of thought provoking issues regarding anxiety, identity and s...

Feedback on my research report proposal (first draft of first chapter): Strengths:  Good report proposal, good topic Already begun conducting research (although take care when citing to use the Harvard style rather than footnotes) Sensible to start with Disney, providing useful historical context for the topic Writing style is enjoyable to read Journal shows a good understanding of areas I’ll need to develop Areas to improve:  First chapter is rather sketchy, several important details are missing or brushed over too quickly Try and access a wider range of research sources (recommended ‘The Illusion of Life’ by Frank Thomas/Ollie Johnston, and a book on semiotics) Try not to rely on blogs too much Avoid talking ‘to’ the reader, e.g. ‘First, let’s take a look at’ Some relevant images would be really helpful

How character design has developed and adapted over the course of the history of animation Chapter 1: Traditional animation Character design is the art of defining a character through their physical appearance. Style comes into play depending on which format the character is needed for. Style can go from extremely minimalist (like “Hello Kitty”) to very photo-realistic (as with CG animated characters like the “Hulk” in the Avengers film series). [1] Like most art, character design is a little subjective, due to the immense range of variation in styles, depending on an artist's tastes or criteria. That being said, there are guidelines and tropes that have evolved with the medium because they have been proven to elevate character design for it's intended purposes. In this report, I intend to explore how such guidelines have developed by assessing the design processes of several animated works in film and TV, from many different eras of animation, in an effort to shed some l...