Category: Advanced and Experimental 3DCA Techniques

Reflection on Unit 3: Thesis Proposal Development

In this blog, I reflect on what I learned throughout Unit 3 and how I developed my thesis proposal during this period. In Unit 2, I first learned the basic structure of a thesis proposal and what should be considered when writing it. I also studied how each section should be organised and what kind of academic thinking is required. Based on this foundation, I reviewed my learning from Week 1 to Week 9 and organised my progress, focusing on how I approached each stage of the writing process.

During the development of my thesis proposal, I also had several one on one feedback sessions with my tutor. These discussions were extremely valuable for helping me understand the weaknesses in my work and what point should be improved. For example, I realised that my topic was too broad and needed to be more focused and narrow down precisely. I also receieved that there were two main themes in my research such as educational animation and visual metaphor at the bigging od stage, and that I should narrow it down to one clear direction. From this advice, I changed my theme and focus on educational animation instead of visual metaphor. In addition, I received important feedback regarding my literature review, particularly that I needed to include more academic sources to better support my arguments. And he advised to improve my referencing style, including consistency in my reference list and correct formatting, such as the use of italics when citing films.

Through this feedback, I realised that my academic writing still needs further development. In particular, I understood the importance of building a stronger literature base and supporting my ideas with more reliable academic sources. I also learned that clarity and simplicity are essential in academic writing. precise and focused topic helps the reader understand the argument more easily, and prevents the writing from becoming confusing or too broad.

In next step, I plan to carefully reflect on these points during the summer break. I will read more academic literature and continue improving my understanding of the topic. I also want to regularly revise and refine my writing by receiving feedback from others. At this stage, the content of my chapters is still developing, but I aim to strengthen both the theoretical and practical aspects of my research.

In the future, I hope to combine academic research with more practical exploration, so that my thesis becomes not only theoretically strong but also meaningful in practice. Overall, this unit has helped me understand the importance of structure, focus, and continuous improvement in academic research.

Chapter 1: Defining Educational Animation

In this blog, I summarize the steps of my research by breaking it down into chapters. In Chapter 1, I focused on defining what educational animation is. I explored different ideas by looking at key studies, especially the work by Ruiz, Cook, and Levinson (2009) and Mayer (2009). Mayer’s theory on multimedia learning explains that meaning in media is created not by just one element, but by the combination of visuals, language, sound, and editing. However, I felt that these studies didn’t fully explain what makes this structure effective, so I used my background in both 2D and 3D animation to develop my own analysis criteria.

Chapter 2: Analyzing Animation Works

In Chapter 2, I applied these criteria to real animation works. I analyzed a range of pieces, such as Pakkororin, Shimajiro no Wow, WALL·E, Shaun the Sheep, and Inside Out. I used several criteria for the analysis: narrative structure, character design, metaphorical visuals, audio-visual structure, and language dependence. The results showed that each work uses these elements differently, which gave me a clearer understanding of the unique structure of educational animation. I also found that by creating my own analysis framework, I was able to get closer to the essence of each work. That said, I realize that more data from larger surveys or other methods would help confirm these findings.

Chapter 3: The Role of Dialogue in Educational Animation

Finally, in Chapter 3, I went deeper into the role of dialogue. I examined how dialogue contributes to meaning in animation and how it compares to visual elements like body language. I did this because I wanted to understand how much dialogue shapes meaning. What I found was that dialogue is just one part of a bigger system—its impact depends on how it is combined with visuals, sound, and other elements. My reflection is that while dialogue matters, its strength lies in how it works together with other storytelling tools. This gave me a deeper understanding of what makes educational animation so powerful, not just in its words, but in how all the elements come together.

Literature Review and Research Method

In the studies I looked at, for example, Bateman et al. (2014) explain that meaning in visual media isn’t created by just one element, but by the interaction of multiple factors—like visuals, language, sound, and editing. Similarly, Mayer (2009) emphasizes that combining language, audio, and visuals boosts learning. But these studies mostly focus on how people process information. They don’t really dive into the creator’s intentions or how animations are actually structured. That’s where my approach comes in: I’ll build my own criteria based on these theories to analyze how animations are designed and how they create meaning.

In concreate, I first read the key literature to build my analysis criteria. Then, I apply these criteria to compare different animations like educational animation series such as “Pakkorin” and “Shimajiro no Wa!”, and as entertainment animations like “Inside Out,” and no phrase and dialogue animation such as “WALL-E,” and “Shaun the Sheep.” After analyzing them, I’ll organize the results in tables so it’s easy to see how each animation works and how they has different. Through this, I hope to get a deepen understanding of what educational animation is.

Introduction & Research Question

Research Title
Structural Analysis of Educational Expression in Animation: A Study on the Definition of Educational Animation and the Role of Dialogue

Research Question

• What is educational animation?

• How do educational animation and entertainment animation differ?

• What role do dialogues play in animation, and how do they contribute to educational understanding?

Why I chose this topic and theme

In recent years, animation has become an increasingly popular artwork in worldwide, with large and diverse fan communities, especially in Japan. Animated television series and films are released every week, and animation culture itself has a long history of around 80 years. Over this period, many types of animation and variety series have been created by different creators. All of them, entertainment animation has become the most popular and famous style.

However, this study does not focus only on entertainment animation. Instead, it explores the relationship between educational animation and entertainment animation as the main theme. The motivation for this research comes from my own background. I previously worked as a high school art teacher, where I sometimes used animation as part of my teaching practice. I found that students responded very positively to these learning experiences, which made me interested in how animation can function in education.

At the early stage of this research, my aim is to understand more clearly what animation is, and more specifically, what educational animation means. I am currently studying 3D animation in the UK, and I also have experience with 2D animation, especially Japanese animation styles from my undergraduate studies. Because of this background, I am interested in comparing different types of animation, including both Japanese and international works, as well as both 2D and 3D animation.

Through this research, I hope to develop a deeper understanding of educational animation from both theoretical and practical perspectives. In the future, I would also like to create educational animation that can support learning and help audiences, including children and adults to discover new ideas and perspectives. I hope this research will contribute to a better understanding of how animation can be used in education.