During the first semester, one of the modules was to write the literature review for my final dissertation, which will be submitted at the end of the second semester of my final year. I chose to focus my dissertation question on movie posters. "Has photo editing software ruined movie poster creativity?" Completing the literature review this semester meant doing a lot of research into the subject, which would also prepare me for writing the rest of my dissertation. Throughout the review I discuss how movie posters have changed and developed over the decades, starting in the 1950s up until today. I discuss prevalent designers throughout the decades like Soul Bass and Drew Struzan. For the majority of my secondary research, I used reliable blogs like "The Poster Collector" and books like "The Art of Drew Struzan". I also included images of the designer's work that shaped the design of the age they were created.
Posters used within my dissertation.
Writing this project made me enhance my academic writing skills, ready for when I write my complete dissertation. This project also improved my research skills as I would cite and reference everything I read and used. It also gave me ideas on how I will conduct my primary research which I will have to complete during my second semester. I will use interviews and questionnaires to get an insight into the industry and to try and see where movie poster design is heading and how it will develop even more.
I used a detailed Gantt chart to keep my project on track and to figure out tasks that I had to complete. This helped me get ready for submission of the literature review and for the feedback sessions that we would have in class. A majority of my time for this project was focused on researching reliable sources and figuring out how I could implement them into my review. I also spent a long time proofreading and writing my review to make sure that it was comprehensible and professional.
Overall, I think the literature review went well and is a good start to my final dissertation. I am prepared to make alterations once I get feedback from my lectures. I am excited to start writing the rest of my dissertation as this is a subject that I am interested in personally.
Ethics form 1
Ethics form 2
