Category: 2.1 Thesis Proposal

My thesis topic underwent several iterations before being finalized. Initially, I intended to research color metaphors, which then shifted to Disney’s portrayal of everyday life. Subsequently, I considered comparing female characters in Ghibli and Disney films. Ultimately, I settled on exploring how Ghibli’s female characters challenge and transform traditional norms.

Reasons for Focusing on Ghibli’s Female Characters

Ghibli films often portray female characters in unconventional roles, providing a unique representation that offers a rich area for analysis. This allows for an in-depth exploration of how these characters subvert traditional gender norms.

The global influence of Ghibli makes it a significant case study in understanding how media can shape and redefine societal expectations of women. By focusing on Ghibli, the study can highlight the cultural impact and reach of these films.

Concentrating solely on Ghibli allows for a deeper, more nuanced exploration of its specific contributions to feminist discourse. This focused approach avoids spreading the analysis thin across multiple studios and ensures a thorough examination of Ghibli’s unique portrayals.

Ghibli films are renowned for their complex, multidimensional female characters. This provides ample material for a detailed study of their evolution and impact, offering valuable insights into the studio’s narrative techniques and character development.

Benefits of the Chosen Topic

This study can contribute to feminist film theory by highlighting how Ghibli’s approach to female characters challenges traditional norms and offers alternative representations. This academic contribution can enhance our understanding of gender representation in media.

A focused study on Ghibli allows for a detailed examination of specific elements, such as character development, narrative roles, and visual storytelling techniques used to depict strong female protagonists. This in-depth analysis can reveal the unique aspects of Ghibli’s storytelling.

Analyzing Ghibli’s portrayal of women can provide insights into broader cultural attitudes and shifts within Japanese society. It also offers a perspective on the studio’s influence on international audiences, contributing to a global understanding of gender representation.

With increasing attention on gender representation in media, this topic is timely and relevant. It contributes to ongoing discussions about diversity and inclusivity in film, making it a significant and contemporary area of study.

Ghibli’s beloved films and characters can engage a wide audience, making the research accessible and interesting to both academic and general readers. This engagement can help disseminate the study’s findings more broadly and effectively.

Academic Sourcing

Animationstudies 2.0https://blog.animationstudies.org/

Google Scholarhttps://blog.animationstudies.org/

JSTORhttps://www.jstor.org/

EBSCOhttps://www.ebsco.com/

Structuring a Literature Review

A literature review presents the research question and explains how it was addressed, with its length varying depending on the type of research. It should be written in a formal academic style, avoiding contractions and colloquialisms, and maintaining an objective perspective. The review should identify themes, patterns, and gaps in the existing literature, addressing questions such as why, when, where, and how. When creating an outline, you can organize it chronologically by the publication date of the sources, thematically by common themes, or methodologically by the research methods used by the authors.

Harvard Referencing Guide

This class mainly talks about the proposal to be submitted in June, because we need to prepare for our final essay from now on, and this proposal is a preliminary investigation of the final essay.

We need to consider what my research topic is going to do in some way, whether it fills a current gap, or a completely new Angle, perhaps an experiment and contribution I’m making. For this I need to do a lot of reading and complete a complete literature review.

Including:

Research title or questionDraft introduction
Key words searched
General outline of each chapterDraft literature review
A draft chapter
Indicative bibliography

And try to get a conclusion

• On graduation which area or environment of production do you wish to focus upon and why?
  • Animation (film and television animation/game animation) because of love and enthusiasm to give life and vitality to characters

• What skills will you need to attain the standards required for vocational practice?
  • A complete animation demo needs to include advanced character performance, advanced body mechanics, quadruped animation, etc.

• How will you showcase your FMP practice for the final shows?
  • Use free rigged model files from the web to create and render animations based on your own storyboards and finishes (attached)

• Is it important to directly connect the thesis research to your practical work?
  • It is important to have contact, but it does not need to be direct contact

• Do you have an area of research you wish to conduct that is unrelated to practical element?
  • Not very hopeful, but if it is a field that I am passionate about and interested in, I will consider pursuing it, but I also hope to have a job with stable income.