Animation Dissertation/Report – Structuring and Developing an Dissertation Week 4

VFX people from Frame stone with Nathan McConnel animation supervisor and Claire from Cinemagic from Soho London 1986 who worked on Guardians of the galaxy movies and most recently VOL 3. Started their animation career in 2002 in Europe and America after getting a degree in Fine Art and psychology masters in computer animation with Doctor strange, Alice in wonderland , Harry Potter, Fantastic beasts, dark materials, spiderman far from home, Thor 3, detective Pikachu, Kingsman, Mowgli, Godzilla and Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Fascinating morning talk with an incredible studio who brough magic to the movie by following the theme of friendship with a tragic backstory. 

Yuan’s last lecture class – Structure and Developing essay/report with a clear overall structure is essential for a dissertation. 

Start with the;

Intro

Section 1     )

Section 2   ———— Main body of dissertation

Section 3   )

Conclusion 

References (More than 10)

A clear overall structure in a report

  • Intro
  • Design/Methodology 
  • Data Collection/Analysis
  • Finding/Results
  • Conclusion
  • References

Introduction

Introduction acts as a bridge that transports your readers from their own lives into the “place” of your dissertation/report. Introduction will provide your readers with their initial impressions of your argument, your writing style, and the overall quality of your work.

Structing the Intro 

  • Arouse the reader’s interest
  • Set the scene
  • Explain how you interpret the question set
  • Define or explain key terms if necessary
  • Identify the issues that you are going to
  • explore
  • Give a brief outline of how you will deal with
    each issue, and in which order

Main Body

  • The main body of your dissertation should be divided
    into sections with subtitles. Each section will cover one
    topic only. Each section should be divided into
    paragraphs.
  • Each section and paragraph need their own structures.
    It will have a topic sentence which tells the reader
    about the subject of the paragraph. The topic sentence
    is very often the first in the paragraph.
  • Every paragraph must have a purpose.

Every paragraph should be:
Unified—All of the sentences in a single paragraph should
relate to a single controlling idea (often expressed in the
topic sentence of the paragraph).
Clearly related to the research question—The sentences
should all refer to the central idea of the work.
Coherent—The sentences should be arranged in a logical
manner and should follow a definite plan for development.
Well-developed—Every idea discussed in the paragraph
should be adequately explained and supported through
evidence and details that work together to explain the
paragraph’s controlling idea.

  • Remember that in academic English, a
    paragraph should contain more than one
    sentence.
  • Try to use a range of linking words and
    expressions such as “moreover”, “in addition”,
    “however”, “nevertheless”, “on the other
    hand” in your paragraphs. They help your
    reader by making your arguments much
    clearer.

 

Conclusion 
• A general conclusion is needed to round off your
work. If you realise you are introducing new
ideas, decide whether they are relevant. If they
are, then think where they should fit in the main
body.
• The conclusion allows you to have the final say on
the issues you have raised. It is also your
opportunity to make a good final impression and
to end on a positive note.

• Draw everything together
• Summarise the main themes
• State your general conclusions
• Make it clear why those conclusions are important
or significant
• Do not introduce new material
• In the last sentence, sum up your argument very
briefly, linking it to the title
• Set the issues in a broader perspective/wider
context
• Discuss what you’ve failed to do if you have

• Allow plenty of time to proofread your work.
• Be aware of the type of mistakes that you tend to
make so you can focus on eliminating them.
• Read your work aloud, which can highlight
punctuation errors particularly.

 

Academic Writing Skill

When writing a dissertation/report that others will read, you must use a
certain style. What you writing has to be easily understood by the reader.
Also, certain conventions – ways of writing – have to be understood and
then followed.

Basic Approaches

You can use academic books and journals you read as models to imitate.
As you write, it may be useful to consider whether what you are writing
reads as if it could be in an academic book.

Think about your readers. Your work will be read by your tutors. Does it
express your ideas with clarity? Remember that tutors will have many
assignments to read; writing as clearly as possible will benefit you and
them.

Academic writing tends to be impersonal, objective and cautious, avoiding
sweeping statements or generalisations. Take particular care to avoid
absolutes such as “completely” “absolute” “unique” “totally” “always” etc.

Referencing 

It is most important to ensure that you always back up everything you say
with evidence from a reliable source. This means you need to carry out
research through appropriate reading.

A major feature of academic writing is the need for referencing.
Whenever you use other people’s ideas, even if you are not quoting their
exact words, you must let your reader know their source. Also, you will
need to list all the sources you have used in your work.

Apply Harvard reference style.

Avoid use if “I”, “my”, “we”, “you” etc. However, do not overuse the passive voice either.

Remember that in academic English, a paragraph should contain more
than one sentence. Try to use a range of linking words and expressions such as “moreover”,
“in addition”, “however”, “nevertheless”, “on the other hand” in your
paragraphs. They help your reader by making your arguments much
clearer.

If you do need to refer to yourself, you can write “the (present) writer /
author…” e.g. “The present author considers that…” or “The author’s
view is that…” Avoid “I” or “you” by using “one”. For example, “One could argue
that…” or “If one is in such a situation, one could…” . Avoid “you” and “I” by starting with an impersonal “it” e.g. “It can be
considered/ argued / claimed that…” Avoid “you” or “I” by using passive sentences such as “The solution was
added to the test tube” instead of “I added the solution to the test
tube”. (The meaning is the same but there is no mention of who did the
adding, which can be understood.)

“Based upon the literature I have read, I think that…” ×
“Based upon the literature, it could be argued that…”

The second example shows that you are not presenting your own
thoughts and views but providing an argument that is based upon the
literature you have read.

Choosing the right words

Try to avoid informal words. Think of the sort that would be used in
academic books or journals, rather than magazines. For example, use
“quotation” rather than “quote”, “many” rather than “lots of” or
“teenage mothers” rather than “teen mums”.

Avoid using “lazy” words such as “nice”, “get” or “stuff”. For example,
“obtain”, “acquire” or “become” may be more appropriate than “get”.

Spelling

Correct spelling is important. Use the spelling and grammar checking
tool if you are using a word processor. Remember that you still need to
use your own judgement and common sense when using this tool.

Always use British spelling. Be particularly careful about checking the spelling of the names of
authors and the titles of film titles, directors’ and actors’ names, etc.
You must be accurate. Be particularly careful about checking the spelling of the names of

authors and the titles of film titles, directors’ and actors’ names, etc.
You must be accurate. To make your style clearer, make greater use of the word ‘that’– in
particular after verbs of utterance, such as “say”, “report”, “argue” etc.
“I am going to say that I disagree.”

Avoid repeating the same word in a single paragraph. Try to find an
alternative. Humour or irony are not used in academic writing. Remember that it is appropriate to use qualifications such as “Within the scope of this writing, it will not be possible to cover all the implications of the question.”

Avoid shortened forms: Shouldn’t, it’s etc. Avoid popular phrases or clichés such as: at the end of the day; in a nutshell; when it comes to the crunch. Replace with – finally, in summary, in a crisis. Avoid casual everyday words such as, really, okay, maybe.

  • Those use should generally be avoided
    Basically
    Essentially
    Kind of
    Mostly
    Pretty
    Sort of

Plagiarism and academic integrity Harvard Referencing Style

You have plagiarised if:
➢you took notes that did not distinguish summary and paraphrase from
quotation and then you presented wording from the notes as if it were all
your own.
➢while browsing the Web, you copied text and pasted it into your paper
without quotation marks or without citing the source.
➢you repeated or paraphrased someone’s wording without acknowledgment.
➢you took someone’s unique or particularly apt phrase without
acknowledgment. E.g., “male gaze” from Laura Mulvey’s Visual Pleasure
and Narrative Cinema.
➢you paraphrased someone’s argument or presented someone’s line of
thought without acknowledgment.
➢you bought or otherwise acquired a research paper and handed in part or all
of it as your own.

You can avoid plagiarism by:
➢making a list of the writers and viewpoints you discovered in your research
and using this list to double-check the presentation of material in your
paper.
➢keeping the following three categories distinct in your notes: your ideas,
your summaries of others’ material, and exact wording you copy.
➢identifying the sources of all material you borrow—exact wording,
paraphrases, ideas, arguments, and facts.
➢checking with your lecturers/tutors when you are uncertain about your use
of sources.

Harvard Referencing is a two-part process:
1. Citing within the text
2. References at the end of the work

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