Wendy's Animation Blog

To construct a story:

• Narratives to convey
• build up conflicts
• Thinking of design, movements, staging, performance of characters
• applying anthropomorphism to objects
• Emotion & Mood (connecting character’s predicament to the audiences) *Exaggeration helps to emphasise
• We get characters’s personalities through how they engage with things and show their emotions simply by poses

Talking about judgements in thesis writing:

• Someone who investigated the evidence
• Tested the evidence (cross-examined witness)
• Considered alternative arguments and explanations
• Reach a conclusion (Verdict)

In this session, we have went through different topics and videos, here are my notes:

To read things more efficiently, there are no short ways; the more we read, the quicker we would become, and the more familiar we will be with the chosen topics.

• Check paper topics, abstract, refined information
• using Mendeley desktop
• reading introduction, checking the beginning of each paragraph.
• Summarizing each paper with key words.
• Pareto Principle: 20% supporting papers, 80% key papers.
• Always reading supporting papers after reading key papers.

Research Design:

• It is the method of organization and data collection that a researcher applies to a project or study.
• It can provide instructions for collecting, analyzing and measuring data effectively.
• I can choose an effective research design by considering my research problem, which is the specific topic or knowledge gap that my research aims to address.
• We could include my research question and research design selection in the introduction of my paper.
• I can choose a research design by reviewing the methods other research papers used and learning about different types of research designs.

20 Types of Research Design:

1. Exploratory research design:
   • don’t have a clearly defined problem to study
   • is less structured
   • a guide to uncover your research problem
2. Observational research design *
   • emphasizes observing my research topic without altering any variables
   • observing behaviors or phenomena and record them rather than conducting an experiment
3. Descriptive research design *
   • to describe a research topic
   • useful when I need more information about my topic
   • understand the “what,” “where,” “when” and “how” of my research topic, excluding ‘why’
4. Case study *
   • analyses of real-world situations to understand and evaluate past problems and solutions
   • test how an idea applies to real life
5. Action research design
   • involves initial exploratory analysis and the development of an action strategy
   • focuses on finding solutions, making it practical for many research topics
6. Experimental research design
   • to test how different factors affect a situation
   • very versatile
   • uses the scientific method
   • elements included: Hypothesis/ Independent variable/ Dependent variable/ Control variable
7. Causal research design
   • to identify and understand relationships between variables
   • involves at at least two variables and explore many possible reasons for a relationship between variables
8. Correlational research design
   • identifies relationships between variables like casual research design
   • measures variables but do not alter them
9. Diagnostic research design
   • attempts to find the underlying factors that cause events or phenomena to occur
   • to understand what’s causing problems so I can find solutions
10. Cross-sectional research design
    • another type of observational research design
    • observing multiple individuals at the same point in time
    • does not alter variables
11. Sequential research design *
    • divides research into stages
    • complete sequential research at multiple points in time, study phenomena that occur over periods
12. Cohort research design
    • commonly used in medicine
    • examining research subjects who have already been exposed to a research topic, making it especially effective for conducting ethical research on medical topics or risk factors
13. Historical research design
    • use past data to test your hypothesis
    • relies on historical data like archives, maps, diaries and logs
    • useful for completing trend analysis or gathering context for a research problem
14. Field research design
    • observe subjects in natural environments
    • collect data directly from real-world situations
15. Systematic review
    • involves reviewing existing evidence and analyzing data from existing studies
    • use previous research to come up with new conclusions
16. Survey
    • use surveys to gather information directly from your sample population
    • including interviews, online forms, focus groups, and questionnaires.
17. Meta-analysis research design
    • uses a variety of populations from different existing studies
    • use previous research to form new conclusions
18. Mixed-method research design *
    • combine multiple research methods to create the best path for a specific research project
    • include both qualitative and quantitative research methods
19. Longitudinal research design
    • involves observing the same sample repeatedly over a period of time
20. Philosophical research design
    • analyze and understand your research problem
    • builds on philosophical argumentation techniques

In a research proposal, the author demonstrates how and why their research is relevant to their field. They demonstrate that the work is necessary to achieve the following:
• Filling a gap in the existing body of research on their subject
• Underscoring existing research on their subject, and/or
• Adding new, original knowledge to the academic community’s existing understanding of their subject
Your research proposal also must explain the following
• The research methodology you plan to use. The tools and procedures you will use to collect, analyse, and interpret the data you collect
• Limitations or constraints that =are come with conducting it through your institution, department, or academic program

Golden Thread: (How I’m tying my thesis together to answer my research questions and addressing the research problems)

part 1: Concepts

• What is the central argument in my research
• Be reasonable with the ‘so what’ question
• Take the reader from problem to solution, by aligning chapters with each other and tying it all back to our research problem.

Part 2: How to practically apply the golden thread

1. Place my title on the footer of my dissertation or thesis, it helps me to study with my topic when I write things.
2. Perform Alignment
   • Create a criterion by having a very clear title
   • Highlighting important parts in my title, using them as my checklist and keywords
   • Creating primary and secondary research questions (Chapters) based on the research problems
   • check primary and secondary research questions with my checklist, if anything we didn’t address, we need to add another chapter.
   • Literature Review: including points to resolve the research questions.
   • Check topics in the Lit Review match with my checklist main titles and my previews primary and secondary research questions.
   • Add points in Lit Review if there is lack of allignment to our previous checklist and topics.

Part 3: How to weave the golden thread in my research design

Research Design and Method chapter:

• Having title, problem statement and research questions, points in literature review in prepared
• Checklist main topics, key concepts in primary/ secondary question problems/ Literature Review Points
• Think how would I be able to approach my written topics/ concepts (check 20 ways of doing research designs)? —> collecting data through methods/ research designs and then explain them in this chapter to align with topics I previously choose.

Part 4: ‘So What’ Question

Research Discussion Chapter:

• Starting my key findings
• This chapter must be aligned with previous questions and titles
• Compare my findings to literature review, my study can contradict with the notion, and result a different conclusion
• Add new findings as research discussion topics

Conclusion topic:

Answer the ‘So What’ Question based on our data.

Research Objectives:

• outcomes that you aim to achieve by conducting research, research projects contain more than one research objective
• Research objectives help me narrow in on the focus of my research and key variables, guiding me through the research process. They also drive the research project, including data collection, analysis and conclusions
• research objectives appear early in a research proposal, often between the introduction and the research question
• can place the research objectives in the introduction
• researchers also list their objectives in the abstract of their proposal
• can break research focus down into smaller steps and separate objectives, use the specific objectives to describe how you can achieve your general goal

Measurable: Making your objectives measurable is essential to achieving them. You can create metrics to measure your progress toward achieving your objectives.

Achievable: Be sure to create objectives that you can realistically achieve to help you avoid getting overwhelmed by unrealistic expectations. Make sure you have the resources and budget to accomplish your objectives.

Relevant: Make your objectives relevant to your research and your overall goals. This can help you stay motivated and on track throughout your research project.

Time-based: You can establish deadlines to help you keep your research process on track. You can set a major deadline for your entire project as well as smaller deadlines for each objective.

In this lesson, our lecturer talked about how a framework could help us to structure our study in thesis writing.

And we have mainly watched some videos on the YouTube:

This one talks about how the frame can be used and seen in daily life, and it can distort how people identify and conclude things from their perspective. similarly, the framework in my writing can effect how audiences responses to my writing, especially with a meaningful conclusion.

This one talks about a few steps on finding the ‘real’ framework which can be used by our study:

1. practical tips on how to find one: (I need to get to know my project first)

• Title
• The problem I would like to solve
• The research questions I would like to answer
• Knowledge of existing literature —> start finding my framework.

EXAMPLE: – researching a new topic, like: ‘Defining a Digital Business Strategy (DBS)’

—->>>> do my literature review

——>>>> understanding Description 1, 2, 3.

2. Highlight the keywords

• We see a lot of them in our literature review.
• write keywords of this topic somewhere ——> they can help the research for my framework of the study.

3. Google.com

• research by using ‘keyword + framework’ —-> image checking in google to see any old studies include the model of it.
• check each key word from the list.

4. Check if this is a ‘real’ framework.

• our research needs to be supported by reliable resources.
• Type the name of the model/frame in Google Scholar.
• Download the paper to see if its related writing is based on this ‘real’ framework picture.

5. Does it really speak to what I want?

• Find the ORIGINAL work relating to the image of the model.

6. Find if there is any paper related videos online.

7. Any later version of this framework.

• paper word: extension *

8. I might need to combine framework models into one conceptual model that is designed for my study.

This video talks about how to do with the framework we found, or the conceptual model I created in my study.

1. Explain the model.
2. Conceptualise the Framework —–> refining the key part I will be using in the model.
3. Shape data collection plan.
4. Main influences of the framework in our plan:

• Hypothesis —> which can test out our study.
• Data collection instruments.
• Data analysis.

To conclude, the framework influences my whole study; it could help us to understand the problem, shape our data collection, and interpret it.

In this week I focused on re-writing my draft literature after I re-wrote my notes on reading materials.

I have checked several resources to assist me in writing literature and cite the reference listed in my bibliography:

By following the video made by Jessica Liu, she mentioned several methods to examine the resources included in my literature reviews:

From them, I choose the thematic approach to discuss the content which I think is important for my chosen topics.

By watching this video below, I have also studied the structure of how people normally write their long literature review:

Which suggests including a short introduction and a brief conclusion based on the examples I have discussed.

On the site ‘cite them right‘, I also learnt the right ways of mentioning my bibliography in my text, and here is the note I have done:

Hence, here is my bibliography by following the format:

And I have cited the resources when I paraphrased the text in my writing (examples shown below):

This week I focused on re-organising my notes gathered from different readings I have done and paraphrasing the important text, which I think is a key for me to write the draft literature review.

Topic 1:

<How anthropomorphism is changing the social context of modern wildlife conservation>

Anthropomorphism is a concept of humans start adding their own characteristics into non-human entities, such as animals. As people’s social value and style of their personal life had been entirely changed by the modernisation after the Second World War, the need of their seek of belongingness as human beings were getting stronger due to the growth of urbanisation, the loneliness and the lower life happiness. Thus, by putting emotions into non-human things and building up relationships with them, such as pet-keeping, it fulfils the connections while also bringing up a few issues. 

<animation and America>

In the same period, the text also points out the influence of how people view their physical and material world differently had encouraged the art practice to challenge traditional orthodoxies. With constant change, they had achieved the revolution and the renovation of modernism. It is a culture to critique the contrast between the modernisation of technology and dehumanisation as a representation of ambivalence. 

<Towards a Definition of American Modernism>

The text has pointed out that Modernism arised early from symbolism and impressionism, which were built up through different art forms such as symbolist and paintings they emphasise on what they have been effected emotionally through the object instead focusing on the real thing. They explore beyond world structure under the positivism while sharing more unpredictable experience from human perception.

<animation and America>

Correspondingly, the pervasive anthropomorphic characters in variety of media support audiences to explore different scenarios through changing identities, metamorphosis, dehumanising and restructuring themselves in the story; without bounding into any industrial orthodoxies, they are living in an uncertain reality and working for the need of gags to structure more possibilities and values. 

Talk about how the abstractions inspire the appearance of anthropomorphic characters. Animation and American, p20, the animator pioneers under the time experiment the limits of graphic space, ‘playing out narration of perception and memory in rapid metamorphosis.’ They play ‘lines, shapes, forms in the enunciation of time, space, weight and flow.’

Topic 2:

Anthropomorphic characters which created to expose the political issues are as an important example to show the sprit of modernism in different work. 

<Animation and American: p22, >the abstraction of anthropomorphism in early American animation achieved through developing technologies in the industry, which explores the relationship between humanity and animality and the expression of humans after being challenged. It reflect the possible lack of humanity in society, philosophy and mechanisation.

<Symbols, metaphors and similes in literature: A case study of “Animal Farm”: p23>

The characters in Animal Farm were created by the author as metaphors for the Soviet Union leaders, of the Russian revolution in beginning of the 20 century. Based on the analysis of characters in the story, the text found the resemblances of characters of the government’s leaders at the time to the animals found in the story. Such as the boar napoleon represents ruthless and authoritarian Joseph Stalin between 1920s to 1950s, the old Major from the first chapter represents the revolutionary and idealistic Vladimir Lenin between late 1910s and early 1920s. 

<Character Metaphors in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, p84-86>:

Similarly, the text here also points out the metaphors of the anthropomorphic animals in the original novel. Such as the most prestigious boars in the farm, Snowball and Napoleon, which are always arguing on their ideas are representing the confrontation between Stalin and Trotsky within the soviet power to fight for the president position. Though, napoleon was more successful by expelling Snowball in the story with the help of nine enormous dog and crafty squealer, in response to the committee for State Security and the Soviet official party paper. 

<Revolution on Animal Farm: Orwell’s Neglected Commentary>:

Overall the story emphasis on the difficulties and dangers of the socialist revolution. In the story when pigs brought the apples into their harness room by assuming themselves are the most important brainworker in the farm while slowly formed up their own dictatorship in chapter 3 (p38-39), the failure of any other animal’s protest with their pessimistic attitude became an abandon to the spirit of their animalism in the book. Quoting the text ‘if people outside still thought that that particular form of revolution could succeed without betraying its goals, nothing new could be accomplished (p137)’, the idealisation originally structured by the old Major had completely be destroyed by pigs and their Stalinism from the seven commandments had eventually turned into one to permit the hierarchy of animals in their farm. The text also summarises the author’s idea that in the face revolutionary change toward socialism, true success can only be achieved only when everyone contributes their effort for themselves and protect their initial resolutions. Otherwise the power-hunger group could easily disrupt the equilibrium, like how the apples had been unfairly taken away by pigs in the story. 

————————————————————————

As Orwell mentioned, he was keen to write a story which could be easily translated into other languages and being understood by a wide range of readers (p131). In its animated form, the animals build up connections with audiences through their performances, and with no explicit political references under the sensitive topics, their behaviour becomes a core internal sources to be focused and reviewed. The film highlights their foibles and flaws, allowing viewers to interpret deeper meanings through the lens of animal characteristics. 

Topic 3:

Towards the end of the last century, animation companies started embedding the concept of anthropomorphism into the creation of their hyper-realistic and cartoon characters, influenced by the background of modernism. A few well known examples include the beast from the beauty and the beast, samba from the lion king and the Micky Mouse from its series. 

<Animation and American: p23, >Scholars Patrick D. Murphy and Richard Schickel argued these characters hide their natural terrors or wildness through cuteness, joke and musical cues in the performance, which can be way more ideal for the story-telling. 

Whereas, their figures blended with ‘sentimental modernism’, a term pointed out by Steven Watt <p24.>, a way where characters mix their complex emotions and human-like trait together work well for gags in films. 

<Understanding Animation: p129,> In the early ‘trick’ films, audiences were mostly unallied with characters which create random humours as gags in a story with a lack of continuity and empathy. However, the added human personalities and emotional depth of anthropomorphic characters allow audiences to be emotionally attached by the way how stories are being told sentimentally and how their characteristics are being expressed freely. 

A few examples can be found in the early short films created by Windsor McCay,by combining with key elements of building up personalised characters in films mentioning in <Understanding Animation: p129-130,>: 

1. Eye contact between characters and audiences to break up the 4th wall. 
2. Facial expressions to deliver emotions and expressions.
3. Recognised physical poses in the set.
4. Clear motivation set and acted by the anthropomorphic character itself within narrations.
5. Physical rhythms indicate the attitude of the character.
6. The character is taking responsibility of the film as an actor.

Here are my studies: 

1: Mosquito in ‘How a mosquito operates (1912)’

This surreal short animation features an anthropomorphic mosquito dressed in a business suit, sneaking into a chubby man’s room, obsessively sucking his blood in an addictive way while he is in a deep sleep, and eventually bursting himself due to its overindulgence. 

Through the whole story, we can easily identify the mosquito’s body language such as observing the lock with his eyes carefully, and rubbing his hands in a manner of diligence. When he is lightly patting his hat, he also turns its face into the audiences and then showing his playful excitement and pride of catching such a human prey. 

His physical rhythm can be easily followed up by seeing the beat of his needle-like proboscis. His determination has been emphasised through multiple attempts of piercing its needle into the man’s skin in a persistent way. 

When he is full with an exaggerated grotesque tummy, audiences could easily sympathise his physical discomfort, leading to a feeling of both amusement and unease at his tragicomic ending due to all the similar human traits. 

2: Dinosaur in’ Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)’

This influential short animation displays the interaction between the creator Winsor McCay, and his animated dinosaur, Gertie, set in a dinner time, surrounding by the other gentlemen to watch their performance. 

Gertie, an anthropomorphic figure which is highly reflective in human’s emotion through its physical responses to McCay’s commands. She easily breaks the fourth wall by performing bow to the audiences and is being playful itself to follow the instructions in a charm manner. 

Gertie can do different physical poses such as raising feet, shaking its bodies and moving around with surprising expressiveness to show its characterisation. 

Also, she cries when McCay blames on her of being distracted by the sea serpent appearing in the scene, and bearing grudges with the jumbo by attacking the latter back to show the emotional depth. 

Overall, her spirit of sentimental modernism is displayed through emotionally engaging with the creator McCay and showing her human traits of being childish, naughty and innocent in the scene. She brought humour to the narrative and gaining affection from audiences to the story, and eventually making people to remember her in the animation history. 

To conclude, Winsor McCay’s successful use of ‘caricature’ and ‘exaggeration’ in anthropomorphic characters deliver a strong sense of natural shortcomings from their internal sources, this anti-stereotype of traditional gags had been studied by Disney films at the same time (understanding animation, P130). Which helps audiences to identify the weaknesses and strengths of human traits and hence being impressed by the creation of figures. Also, Disney tried to adopt the working process which used by Windsor McCay into  Ub Iwerks creation, instead of drawing from one image to the next one, he tended to add ‘in-between’ in the middle of two ‘extreme’ poses. (Animation and American, P21).

Topic 4:

Though the concept of anthropomorphism brought a lot of benefits to the creation of art, it is undeniable there are potential risk, destabilisation, and immorality of applying it to our media in the real life. 

<Popular Media and Animals> first chapter:

The text indicates anthropomorphic narratives of animals are in an important position for popular media industries and define most animal issues in publicity. 

However, the strongly use of anthropomorphism from the human perspective to describe the plight of them in either soft news or hard news is structured to gain emotional reaction from audiences in popular media, and boost the sale. 

Hence, Steve baker argues those animals within popular culture themselves, are not being treated respectfully, instead they symbolise the dismissive treatment of the farm in a trivialising and amusing way for the publications. 

And, their reality received by audiences are being addressed mainly through representations to control the influence of the business. 

In the film industries, real animals have always been strongly exploited, specially through merchandising the product and entertaining the audiences. 

<Popular Media and Animals> third chapter:

Animal stars were especially crucial in the mid-twentieth American film industry, they embedded human traits for the marketable functions and represented cultural stereotypes for audiences to consume(p55-56).

In studio under Hollywood such as MGM, it had a specific system for training and producing animal related films and products (p51-52), animals were correspondingly becoming part of their physical capitals. 

Jackie the Hollywood MGM lion, one of the animal stars was absolute a moneymaking of the business, has been strongly pressured by Hollywood films for his entire life. 

After the inspiration and success of ‘gimmick pictures’, centring animals and chap production produced by universal-international studio, Jackie had been used to compete it in ‘Fearless Fagan, the wandering lion’.

Poor Jackie had to passively work in a toxic environment, they structured him as a figure or orphan initially to attract the support of the community, after he had been rescued from the Mills Bros. Circus; they focused on ways to generate the revenue such as releasing peanuts merchandise and pictured him with other famous stars; his natural animality of lion had been replaced by gentleness and sensitivity in his characters while he was over 400 pounds, and his film critics will be only relied on his performances instead of his animal natures. 

<Popular Media and Animals> second chapter:

Also, animal testing was becoming more popular after the second war due to the development of science and medicine, therefore the post-war west are more reliant on the constant exploitation of animals. 

Readers of the newspaper based on the cases formed national pets club in 1957, they set strong influence on the vivisection around the world. 

However, proponents of animal rights movement tried to split them from the identity of ‘animal lovers’ by the end of 20th century due to their excessive emotional sympathy towards animal potentially led to the acts of terrorism. 

As mentioned by Peter Singer in his text, the protest raised up by emotional ‘animal-lovers’ has excluded the true issue being discussed in serious political and moral debates, as their extreme actions only lead to negative stereotypes and the marginalisation to the society.  

Here are my notes from re-reading chapters 6 to 10 of the anthropomorphic novel Animal Farm, by following my last week’s blog:

Chapter 6: 

• (P60) Although animals started building the windmill with even hard working labors, they still enjoyed it most of the time as they trusted they were working only for themselves and the result would not be stolen by any human beings.
• (P62) Boxer had been worked hard to make sure everything could be achieved through the building of the windmill. 
• (P63) Napoleon started breaking earliest resolutions by allowing the engagement in trade with the neighboring farms. 
• (P64) Mr Whymper, the solicitor from willingdon behaved as intermediary between animal farm and the outside world.
• (P65) humans’ hatred and anger are raised to the animal farm due to its prospering growth, they thought the windmill would be a failure, but they also appreciated the efficiency of how the animals were well managing their own affairs.
• (P66) when pigs started business with human beings, they moved into the farmhouse for their residence, on the excuse of working as the brain of the farm. They ate their meal in the kitchen, used the drawing room as a recreation room and slept in the bed, which broke the initial 4th of the seven commandments of the animal farm (P67).
• (P68) Only Benjamin had no interests with the build of the windmill.
• (P69) The windmill was in ruins due to the gale in a night with its thin layers, but Napoleon assumed it was snowball came in the night and destroyed their work of nearly a year. And animals still needed to carry on their work on the windmill. 

Chapter 7:

• (P74) animals are in struggles with the need of grain since spring, a context of 400 eggs a week had been signed by Napoleon in the deal with Whymper.
• (P75) To punish the disagreement of hens, Napoleon ordered the hen’s rations to be stopped, and so none hens died at the same time in a day.
• (P77) Squealer pointed out that Snowball had sold himself to Frederick of Pinchfield, which the farm decided to attack the animal farm again. And Napoleon thought Snowball was Jones’ agent (P80) from the very beginning by ignoring other animals’ confusion. 
• (P82) four pigs confessed they had been secretly get in touch with Snowball had been slaughtered by Napoleon’s dogs.
• (P85) Squealer announced the abolishment of the song of ‘Beats of England’ after pigs thought the rebellion had completed through making all the execution of ‘traitors’ to the animal farms. 

Chapter 8:

• (P87) Animal realized pigs broke the 6th of the initial commandment through killings to achieve the exemption. Clover noticed the 6th commandment had been changed to ‘no animal shall kill any other animal without cause.’ 
• (P88) through the rebuild of the windmill project, animals somehow noticed they were been feed less than old Jones’ day: 
• (P91) Napoleon kept good friendship with Mr Pilkington who owns the farm Foxwoods which caused more jealousy of Mr Frederick, who is the owner of Pilkington. It brings back Frederick to against them with guns and his men, to knock the windmill down which animals worked on it for 2 years long (p100).
• (P101) chapter 8 is talking about the battle of the windmill happened in the animal farm.
• (P102) The boar Napoleon starts wearing Mr Jones clothes after the windmill battle. (P103) At the same time squealer announced animals with alcohol drinking should be punished to death, whereas Napoleon asked Whymper to purchase some booklets on brewing and distilling for himself. And over night, Squealer’s act of changing the fifth commandment had been caught by the other animal. 

Chapter 9:

• (P106) Even there are always adjustment of rations, animals believe the important is still bigger than the days controlled by Jones. 
• (P107) Privilege and good education had only been assigned to new born pigs instead of any other animals.
• (P109-110) Sheep’s represent devotee and the rabble to the society led by Napoleon, therefore they always stoped the protest by the others in the story.
• (P112) Boxer eventually went fallen after overworked himself for over years.
• (P113-115) Napoleon and Squealer said Boxer would be sent to the hospital at Willington, instead, it had been noticed that he would be sent to the horse slaughterer. 
• (P116) A scene shows animals from the farm try to beg for horses in charge of the cart not sending boxer to slaughterer in an emotional way, but the pleading had been brutally ignored.

Chapter 10:

• (P125) squealer was being seen eventually that he walked in a human being way, following up with a file of pigs walking with their hind legs.
• (P126) The scene shows a moment where animals finally start protesting against the hierarchy and horror by the pigs in the animal farm.
• (P127) The constantly change of commandment set by pigs reasoned everything they wanted to take advantages of from since the beginning of the story, and eventually they behaved more like humans to be in charge of the whole farm. 

Here are my notes on the paper: