How to Choose Your Dissertation Subject

How do students pick the right subject for their dissertation? It's not an easy question to answer. Our online MA students, studying for their masters' degree in 3D animation, engage with both the practical and theoretical sides of the art of animation.

Part of this involves writing a dissertation, but it isn't always easy to select a suitable subject.  Fortunately, course leader and academic lead Fil Ieropolous is here to help. Below are our top tips for choosing a dissertation subject.

Notes on Academic Writing from Dr Fil

Fil Ieropolous

Dr Fil Ieropolous is the academic lead for our Online MA in 3D Animation.

Fil is the main point of contact for all academic questions on the course, and responsible for the delivery and assessment of the academic content.  Any questions about academic content or academic marking should be directed to Fil (He can be reached on fil.ieropoulos@bucks.ac.uk).

Below are some of Fil's helpful notes on some of the common problems with academic writing, and how to fix them.

Do Animators Need a Master's Degree?

Do Animators Need a Master's Degree? It's a question I get asked often, mainly by prospective students who want to know if the committment of time and effort that is necessary to complete an MA is worth the investment.

The simple answer is, it depends on what you want to do. Academia cares about academic qualifications. Industry cares about demo reels.

If your focus is purely on industry, and finding work there, you don't really need a masters' level qualification. But if you are hoping to teach, especially in higher education, a masters' degree is more or less a necessity.

Meet Your Tutor - Dr Fil Ieropolous

Fil Ieropoulos: exploring the relationship between poetry and film

Dr Fil Ieropoulos is responsible for the delivery and grading of the  academic content of our Online MA in Animation at Bucks.

As part of our series of posts introducing our students to their tutors, we asked Fil to talk about his academic work in film and poetry, and how he combines the theory behind his creative work, and its practice.

Harvard Referencing by Sara Eaglesfield

What is Harvard Referencing? Referencing is defined by Wikipedia as follows: "Parenthetical referencing, also known as Harvard referencing is a citation style in which partial citations—for example, "(Smith 2010, p. 1)"—are enclosed within parentheses and embedded in the text, either within or after a sentence. They are accompanied by a full, alphabetized list of citations in an end section, usually titled "references", "reference list", "works cited", or "end-text citations". Confused? Well, Harvard Referencing can seem a bit tricky at first. The good news for our students is - help is now at hand.

Academic Citations Made Easy at www.citethemright.com

Academic citations just got much easier with www.citethemright.com. It's a free website which helps students to cite journals, books and other academic sources properly. Part of what our students learn at university is the art of academic writing, and this means proper referencing with inline citations. The advantage of using www.citethemright.com is that it automates the process, and makes sure that you cite your sources correctly, and completely painlessly.

Project Research - And How To Do It

The Library at Bucks - easy to use!

What is research and why do we do it? For animation students, research has a practical as well as an intellectual purpose. It's about figuring out what you are trying to do, by identifying the brief, taking a look at artists whose work inspires you, reading around the subject - and then setting out what your own creative goals are. In short, it's about defining the project, analysing it, thinking about it, and developing your own ideas.

The neuroscience of animation - how your brain's wiring makes you like cartoons

Your brain, but animated

At this year's SAS (Society of Animation Studies) conference in Toronto, a number of presentations focused on the subject of Animation and the Mind - The Neuroscience of Animation. This field of research tries to look at animation from a neuroscientific point of view, asking what it is about the design and structure of our brains that influences how we watch and enjoy animation. It's field that asks not just which cartoons we like, but why we like them, on a level that digs deep below our subconscious.