Animated Short Film: How to Become a Knight (Kratki animiran film: Kako postati vitez) by Kaja Kregar, dipl. obl. vizual. kom. (UN)
The master thesis I chose researches the topic of animation and creating a story with an environmental message. It is divided into two parts, the theoretical and the practical. In the theoretical part the author writes about animation, types of animation, modern environmental issues and how they affect our way of life. Her research questions are:
- How to present the issue of pollution creatively with the media of animation?
- Is art important for fixing said issues and how can it influence the viewer?
The author defines the meaning of used symbols and allegories and how they represent real modern day social issues. Specifically how they represent issues in ecology and how climate change effects the younger generation. The author explains her use of fairy tale themes and knights as well as touch upon pre-existing animated works with similar messages.
The practical part of her thesis consists of the animation process, from the inspirations to sketches, narrative and the storyboard. The author how they used the principles of animation to communicate the story and atmosphere, what digital programs they used and the analysis of the used colors and textures in the animation (the symbolical and allegorical meaning). They also talk/write about the use of music and sound effects for the animation.
1. Level of Design
The master’s thesis was created according to the faculty’s regulations, giving it the standard design of a master’s thesis. However, the thesis has a very good structure. The table of contents clearly shows how the author divided the individual chapters and systematically organized them. I appreciate that it starts with ecological issues and only later moves on to what animation is, and finally to the animation process. The appendix also includes all illustrations and sketches, which I find great, as it’s an excellent way to display individual parts of the animation in the book. The research question is clearly visible; unfortunately, a clear conclusion from the research is missing, as well as the methodology.
2. Degree of innovation
The topic the author addresses is not new; it’s a subject that many media designers engage with. The innovative part of the thesis is the connection between ecological issues and animation, as well as research on the theme and role of the knight in stories. The author explores how animation has been used throughout history and how certain animations have already included this theme. Her mentioned examples of animations are globally recognized animated films. The author discusses basic animation techniques and does not delve into new areas of animation. As mentioned earlier, the author speaks very little about the research itself and mainly describes how the practical work was created.
3. Independence
The thesis shows the student’s strong ability to work by herself, taking initiative and managing the research process with little outside help. The author also created an original animation by herself, showing both skill and creativity. This project adds a practical element to her research and highlights her commitment to bringing her ideas to life on her own.
4. Outline and structure
The master’s thesis is very well-structured, dividing into a theoretical and practical section. The author first discusses ecological issues in today’s society in general (from waste and recycling issues, corporate responsibility, habitat endangerment, to the consequent rising sea levels and how these impact young people), also providing an example of Mount Everest. After researching and writing about ecological issues, the author delves into the topic of animation, explaining what animation is and its basics. She also addresses social and historical issues of fairy tales, the influence of Walt Disney in the 20th century, and the significance of the knight in modern storytelling. The knight is the main character in the author’s animation. The last chapter of the theoretical part of the thesis is a study on how to create an animated film with an environmental message, where the author explores what animation as a medium can achieve and performs a comparative analysis of existing examples (Wall-E, Princess Mononoke).
In the practical section, the author begins by researching the target audience and then moves on to the analysis of story structure, sketches, and design (covering character design, environment, and a guidebook) and creating a storyboard. She then discusses her animation process, the animation technique used, the application of animation principles, software, visual analysis, editing, and post-production. The author has included the entire storyboard, character design, and background design as an appendix, so all work is visible in one place.
While I think the thesis is very well-structured, it seems to me that everything is somewhat superficially researched, and the author should delve deeper into certain topics. The research methodology is not clear in the thesis; I assume it is experimental since the author does not address it. In the conclusion, the author notes that she only supported her research theoretically.
5. Degree of communication
The author clearly explains various concepts and goes into specific areas of research. She describes the process of creating her work in detail, adding various technical details. Each step in creating her practical work has its own subchapter, where she professionally describes the process. The author also uses many examples to illustrate different areas of the thesis and includes images to facilitate understanding of individual topics.
6. Scope of work
The author explores the topic rather superficially, but places significant detail on the practical work. Although she writes about current ecological issues, provides examples, and discusses animation in general, this remains only a rough outline of individual subchapters, with the theoretical part covering only a third of the printed work. The rest of the thesis is dedicated to describing the animation creation process. The thesis lacks “research” where the author could present findings (if she has any) related to the stated question.
7. Orthography and acuracy
The thesis is well structured, it being divided into logical chapters and subchapters. It also includes an introduction, body, and conclusion, along with sources and an appendix with all the illustrations. The author also uses footnotes for citations and correctly lists sources in the bibliography. However, the thesis does contain spelling errors. The first spelling mistakes already appear in the abstract and in the English translation.
8. Literature
Considering the length of the thesis, it seems that very little literature was used. Many things are cited from the same source, so the thesis lacks comparative analysis. Altogether, 26 sources were used, half of which are online sources. Additionally, I was surprised to see how many of the sources were news articles, which were barely related to the topic.
