Over the summer, I worked on my thesis, ‘ How do title sequences and short-form advertisements mobilise the same motion graphics toolkit through different logics of composition and meaning’ from the proposal submitted at the end of term into a drafted comparative study.
Starting point
Nigel’s feedback gave me a strong and specific basis to build from:
Research potential and objectives:
A clear and pertinent premise for the study. With an articulate introduction that provides clear context, establishes the discussion, and reiterates the question.
Supporting sources and frameworks:
Excellent refinement in the literature review, presenting real gaps in the research and setting a narrative for the study, with appropriate frameworks and relevant case studies for analysis.
Structure:
Coherent structure and framework, with objectives and sources tied to evidence-based findings.
Presenting and communicating arguments:
Presented premise development, discussion, and conclusion with confident academic transitions.
Use of citation and referencing conventions:
Referencing conventions were applied consistently.
The proposal already included the core comparison of title sequences: The Crown and Lessons in Chemistry against Nikeads.SWOOSH and Hermès’ film. What I haven’t investigated yet is why these two formats, built from the same toolkit, produce different effects.
Building the Chapters
I drafted Chapters 1 and 2 through Betancourt’s text-image composite framework, analysing the formal and semiotic aspects, and Stone & Wahlon’s motion design theory. Chapter 3 compares the two cases by identifying the rebus mode as constant across both formats. It also ignores a compositional logic and the discrete sonic logo as a strategy tied to logic rather than format.
One thing I’ve done that has been key has been to treat each case study as a self-contained “micro-narrative” and then look for patterns. This has saved time and energy, as I avoided writing two separate mini-essays and instead wrote a single genuine one.
Workflow and tools
- Research and source verification: I used Perplexity Pro for initial discovery, then went individually to check,ng and then used Zotero to manage the PDFs.
- Notion as working hub: I have every case study separate, chapter draft , and the bibliography live there for easy access and organisation.
- NoteboolLM for further querying my readings: I used this primarily to generate overviews and help me understand the theory more quickly. Once I had a clear sense of the topic, I used its podcast and presentation outputs to dive deeper into specific concepts (in the podcasts, there’s an option for open debate, and you can interrupt and ask further questions).
- Close analysis of the case study footage: I went back to each video frame by frame to check timing, motion, and sound.
Where the thesis stands now
Chapter 1 is fully drafted, 2 has an initial draft, and 3 is in bullet points. I will further expand the introduction and literature review, write the methodology section from scratch, and finally check the reference list.