#researchsummary

Introduction

The writing of a synopsis is an iconic feature of academic research. A synopsis, especially a good one, is the road map to all that is to come, whether or not it is a thesis proposal, a research plan, or a project approval undergoing an academic review. In the current competitive research climate, conciseness, arrangement, and scholarly subtlety are needed now more than ever before. 

This blog will lead you to the principles of writing a synopsis, the academic worth of this task, and the skills that are supported by experts to make your research proposal better.

What Is Synopsis Writing?

Before immersing in methods and rules, one requires knowing what is meant by synopsis writing. The synopsis is a research proposal outline in an academic environment. It highlights:

Research problem

Key objectives

Literature Review 

Methodology

Expected outcomes

scope and limitations of the project.

Universities, granting bodies, and research supervisors use the synopsis to know whether the direction of the research is clear, feasible, and academic. The synopsis writing requires accuracy, logicality, and tactical use since it establishes the pace of the rest of the study.

Why Good Synopsis Writing Matters in Academia

The synopsis is much more than the description of the research idea. It defines the academic experience at the start. Quality synopsis writing assists:

Clarify Research Direction

Most researchers have wide interests and have difficulty in reducing their focus to a specific and researchable problem. A well-organised synopsis will compel the researcher to state:

A particular problem statement.

Logical research questions

Theoretically relevant views.

Supervisor or Committee Approval 

Proposals are evaluated by academic committees on how methodologically sound, timeline feasible, and consistent with disciplinary norms they are. The well-written synopsis raises the chances of not being rejected once again.

Reduce Research Delays

When the course of the research is well charted, the students will have minimal disappointments in their data collection process, data analysis, and composition.

Strengthen Academic Rigour

A comprehensive outline of the work improves the academic validity of the work by enforcing transparency and accountability throughout the process.

Concisely, the significance of writing a synopsis is that it helps to transform general ideas into a structured and researchable academic work.

Essential Components of an Effective Synopsis

Although different universities have diverse formats, the majority of academic institutions require the following aspects in a powerful synopsis:

Title of the Study

A precise, brief, informative title that will capture the theme of the research.

Introduction or Background

A strong background to situate the research problem within the existing academic discourse.

Research Problem Statement

And this is how you get the particular problem or gap that your study seeks to fill.

Research Objectives and Questions.

These determine the whole research process. Clear goals are not ambiguous.

Literature Overview

A brief overview indicating acquaintance with great theories, past research, and academic discussions.

Methodology Outline

This involves research design, data collection procedures, sampling and analysis. Clarity of methodology is crucial in the thesis-level research.

Separate, Expected Outcomes or Contributions.

This paragraph identifies what the research intends to deliver as a result of new knowledge, structures, data sets, or policy suggestions.

Scope and Limitations

Setting boundaries assists in keeping the research cycle on course and avoids generalisation.

Timeline (If Required)

Certain institutions may insist on a brief schedule that describes the stages of research.

References

References to the major scholarly materials in correct citation format.

The knowledge of these elements will help your synopsis format to match the academic requirements.

Common Mistakes in Synopsis Writing

Even good researchers may not cope with some problems in the process of synopsis preparation. The commonest errors in writing a synopsis are:

Imprecise research questions that do not direct methodology.

The lack of a literature foundation on which the study is based is uninformed.

Too general subjects are not feasible in the academic schedules.

Lack of clear methods, as the committees are left with no idea of what is feasible.

The poor correspondence between objectives, research questions, and methods.

Wordy writing as opposed to brief scholarly communication.

By avoiding these pitfalls, your research proposal will be much better understood and, amusingly, approved.

How Professional Synopsis Writing Services Add Value

To most of the scholars and, in particular, first-time researchers, working professionals, or students with a strict deadline can find it difficult to write a good quality synopsis. It is at this stage that professional academic advice is of value.

The services of professional synopsis writers assist researchers:

Purify and refine the research problem.

Logically organise the synopsis.

Enhancement of literature fit.

Enhance tone, grammar, and coherence in academics.

Align methodologies and research objectives.

Minimise the risk of committee disapproval

Make sure that there is compliance with institutional formatting standards.

These services grant the researchers a known and approved confidence in getting their work, which is polished and academically sound.

Guidelines for Writing a Strong Synopsis

To compose a professional, well-grounded synopsis, one should take into account the following rules:

Start with Clarity Research Questions.

Write in Short, Academic Language.

Ensure Logical Flow

Flow seamlessly between.

Unify Processes and Strategy

Define Scope Realistically

Adhere to Institutional Format.

Proofread Carefully

Adhering to such academic synopsis guidelines enhances the credibility and minimizes the chances of changes.

When a Researcher needs to take Professional Help.

Although numerous scholars create their own synopses, the external support becomes useful in cases like:

Tight submission timelines

Ambiguous research design or research methodology.

Problem in summarising ideas in an organised synopsis.

Inadequate experience in academic writing.

Want of clarity, unity, and refinement.

Proposals of high stakes, including M.Phil. / PhD.

In case one of them is so, it is possible to invest time and pay money for professional synopsis writing help to guarantee the quality of the submission.

Why Choose Synopsis Writing Service 

To the researchers who want to have quality academic guidance, expert synopsis writing support may be of great importance in terms of acceptance level and general understanding. Synopsis writing services, such as those available, can be trusted and are professional in nature, and provide high-quality help to academic needs.

Their well-trained academic authors assist them to perfect their goals, empower their methodology, and guarantee that all their synapses are presentable in the eyes of the institutions, and are a good resource to students and researchers.

Conclusion

Good synopsis writing is not only a prerequisite but a pillar of your academic work on which your entire research work will be based. A clear synopsis will help in understanding where your research is heading, your study will show academic maturity, and will make sure that your study is viable, meaningful, and methodological. 

Researchers are able to increase their possibility of approval and academic success considerably by knowing the key elements, preventing possible mistakes, and working according to a systematic plan.

MPHO507-Photography for Wall, Page & Screen

 At the beginning of this module, my first choice was wall group because I really wanted to spend some time with photography practice, lots of shooting and editing process. I was lucky that I was accepted for the wall group. We had chance to talk as a group so many times to share our ideas, listen to each other, tell our opinions for those ideas. Instead of all, we did gallery visits such as Alec Soth’s first major exhibition in Science Museum and Rosangela Renno: Rio-Montevideo & Saul Leiter: Retroperspective, which was very useful and important that helped us to think more open minded and creative. When it comes to think about our project topic, I was not so sure about what I really wanted to do. However after couple of research, I found so many surrealist photography projects, which were really professional. (Christoffer Relander – We are Nature, Alessio Albi - Father, Antonio Mara - My Modern Metropolis). So after looking all those inspirational photography projects, I decided to focus on this idea. Most of those images were combination of one portrait and one another image which makes it look like double exposure photographs. I like the idea of combining different images. So then I decided to use same technique with my point of view. In the first tutorial I have made with my tutor, Ulrike, she was really helpful and honest with her opinions about my project ideas. She was not just listening but also giving me really good advices about what I should continue with. After the first tutorial, I felt more confident with my project plan. In the second tutorial, I was ready for the shooting with clarifying and planning all my ideas. My second tutorial was also very helpful because it was a group tutorial, so some of the other students were with us to give their suggestions, opinions and new ideas. At the end of all these, my final idea was making a photo shoot with 10 to 15 people and after the shooting I was planning to edit them with different found images and each photograph would express a feeling, because my main idea for this project was combining human beings with other materials from nature or wild life to create new portraits. So it would be the mixture aspects of the natural world, inside the human form. The portraits would be the representation to the interior world of human.

 I talked with everyone that I was going to use as my model and I created a timetable and put my models in an order so that I spent same amount of shooting time for each person and they did not have to wait for me. One of my main point was keeping the images look similar to each other, as the direction of the camera, their poses and face expressions. They were comfortable in front of the camera, which was really important for me as a photographer so that I was not nervous or stressful about shooting them. I had chance to shoot 13 people and I was very happy with the result so I did not plan a second shooting day. The other day I had to eliminate some of the images, as I was not going to use 13 photographs for my project. Shooting that many photographs of different people was just for to make sure that I have enough photographs to use.

While I was eliminating, the eyes were one of the most important thing as when you look at a portrait, the first thing you focus on is the eye and after that I checked the face expressions. When I was done with my first elimination my photograph number was 9. However when I start to think about the feelings that I was going to show, 9 was still more than I wanted. So I did a final elimination and at the end I had 5 photographs left which were my favorite.

When it comes to editing process, firstly I started to do some retouching and colour changing on the actual portraits. I list the feelings that I was planning to use. When it comes to find the other images that I was going to use for my combination, I have done some research and checked some photo books from library. After my first editing, we had chance to meet with my tutor and my group mates and their opinion was that the editing was not that natural and a little bit too complex and they suggest me to simplify it and make it look more natural. Then I changed all my edits and made much more natural editing on my photographs with using less found images. After all the edits and tutorials I have made, I decided to make my title as “Do you feel me?”. When I share this title to group mates and my tutor, they found it really good and interesting. So I think this title will fit very well for the project.

When researching photographers, William Eggleston’s photographs were what inspired me to concentrate on colour as a fundamental component to my images. Eggleston is renowned for his colour photography. He transforms ordinary urban settings by heightening the atmosphere with his punchy, shrill colours. For me, I found it hard trying to form an idea for this project so I began by searching for colourful settings within the landscape, which later became a common visual theme throughout my images. Similar to Eggleston, I wanted to change the atmosphere in my photographs from ordinary to imaginative and from dull to colourful. In the Autumn and Winter season it is less easy to create naturally colourful photographs unlike in the Spring and Summer so I knew my photographs would benefit from having the saturation improved. 

I based my project in a suburban area of London rather than central London. I chose Raynes Park where my Grandparents live as the main area to focus on. As Raynes Park is residential, I found myself photographing the houses, gardens and driveways belonging to the neighbours who live there. Stephen Shore was a photographer whose work I looked at in the early stages of this project. Following in his footsteps, all signs of human life are absent in my photographs making the neighbourhood look like it has been left alone. However, the subtle features like the front door being open in one of them, and the recently snipped roses in another, give the indication that people are/have been around but were absent at that time. In some ways my work is similar to Sophie Calle’s “Private Games” project. Calle trespassed into the private lives of strangers in various ways while her subjects were unaware. In her project “The Hotel” (1981) Calle worked as a chambermaid and took that as an opportunity to photograph the contents of the guest’s belongings, feeding her curiosity of wanting to know more about that stranger. My work was less intrusive because I photographed personal spaces which were still accessible to the public, however, it it relates to Calle’s work in the sense that I took the opportunity to shoot without the owners knowing. The viewer should be able to sense my curiosities through looking at my photographs. 

My intentions were to create a narrative with this series, opening with the photograph of the bicycle and front door to the left of the frame, and closing with the photograph featuring the Volvo covered in overgrown weeds. It was a project based on the curiosity and interest in the way the residents in Raynes Park live, without having to meet them or go into their homes. I like that in some of the photographs you look at the door and it feels as if someone is going to walk out at that very moment. I also focused on colours as mentioned already, textures and composition. 

Overall I am pleased with the post production outcome on my final photographs. I used a canon 1000D with a standard kit lens, along with a tendency to shoot on relatively dull days when the weather was grey and miserable. This often resulted in the original images looking flat and in need of retouching. I used Photoshop to edit them and went through a similar process on each one. The usual procedure would involve sharpening and doing an edit in quick mask mode to work on individual parts of the photograph, for example, I consistently wanted to darken, sharpen and increase the saturation on the colour within the frame. I also used layer masks to recover detail using the curves tool. 

Research Summary for the Landscape project

“Taci. Su le soglie                                          “Be silent. At the edge

del bosco non odo                                        of the woods I do not hear

parole che dici                                              the human words you say;

umane; ma odo                                            I hear new words

parole più nuove                                           spoken by droplets and leaves

che parlano gocciole e foglie                        far away.”

lontane.”

-from: La pioggia nel pineto (Rain in the pinewoods), Gabriele d’Annunzio, 1902

Thinking about Landscape photography I made a connection with painting straightaway. There were some specific images fixed in my mind from the beginning: the deserted Italian courts of Giorgio de Chirico, the melancholic street views of Edward Hopper and the idilic scenery of theRomanticism.

I wanted to create a silent and dream-like setting in my pictures, so, at first, I opted for considering both urban and natural landscapes in order to rate which one would have better represented my idea afterwards. It didn’t take me long to figure out that the idea of a deserted urban scene was almost impossible to achieve, especially in London, as a consequence I started to “hunt” woodlands around the city. Furthermore my birthplace is a small town at the foot of the mountains and I used to do long walks into the wood, therefore shooting in these areas made me feel less distant to home.

I have done lots of research about the forest and its symbology. I found a large number of interesting things regarding the subject: art, music, poetry, literature are full of references to the natural world. The common element I have noticed during my studies is the sense of mystery and sublime that surrounded this enchanted location. The ancient civilisations, for example, considered the forest as a natural sanctuary where the single tree (composed by roots, trunk and branches) represented the link between the earth and the sky. With the invention of psychoanalysis, the wood became the corresponding of our unconscious: an arcane place where all the primitive forces which guides us are hidden. This is also the source of inspiration and home of an incredibly vast number of fables and fairy-tale; almost every Grimm brothers’ story is set in the woodland.

Taking in to consideration all these various aspects I have tried to reproduce them in my photographies. I have been looking for a specific atmosphere; I wanted my images to transmit a bit of the magic we can found in the tales.

When I had clear in my mind what I aspired to do I started thinking about how to put into practice. After a while I found myself in front of two different path I could follow: the first one involved tiny artificial lights laying on the trees as a representation of the little spirits which home the forest, the second one was about to find small panes where the nature itself seemed to be composed by unreal elements. I carried on both the possibilities, but at the end, after infinite afterthoughts, I chose the second option. Even though the lights better represented, in a sense, what was my idea, they appeared to be too artificial.

My pictures were inspired by the work of two contemporary photographers, Ellie Davies and Thomas Jackson. I was immediately captured by their style and I recognised in them the type of images I aimed to create. Both these artists outline a nature surrounded by a dreamy atmosphere in which all the elements contribute to build an intriguing story within the picture itself.

To depict the kind of ambient I had in mind, I have included in my photos peculiar foliage comportment and colours combination which emphasises each other.

This project allowed me to discover and visit beautiful places around the city; there are more woodlands just a few miles from London than someone could imagine. More precisely I went to three distinct parks: Ashridge Estate (north), Black Park (west) and Bushy Park (south-west). The fist two, in particular, are often used as set for movies, thanks to their beauty and uniqueness. For each location I have spent almost an entire day wandering around in search of the perfect slice of wood to shoot. This helped me to get to know the area; I was in an amazing place, absorbed by nature, doing my favourite thing (I couldn’t have asked for more!).

This second task gave me the opportunity to revalue the Landscape photography. I prefer portraiture and I have always find landscaping a bit boring, but during my path I have changed my mind. Maybe the picture of a face could be more expressive, nevertheless to photograph a panorama you need to go physically on the site and from these experience you always learn something. Unlike the Street Photography assignment, here I was forced to think about not only the shapes, but also the colours. I have also experimented a diverse approach to photography: I have worked on my images with a computer rather than edit them manually in the dark room. Moreover, the landscape photography is slower, in a sense, it requires longer timing to soot and you need to give more thought on what happens in front of the lens.

My initial brainstorm of ideas began while I was in a street photography lecture. My lecturer was showing us the representations of the streets from different eras, comparing street photographer’s from the 20th century to more recent contemporary photographers. 

I was introduced to Garry Winogrand’s unconventional photographs that raised questions about his work ethically, and found his work unsettling but interesting. I also liked Robert Frank’s photographs, The Americans, for his ironic view of the American dream. His photograph ‘Drugstore’ in particular, is was what made me think of my idea for this project. He photographed the ignored side to America; the alienation of the American citizens, the consumerism take over and the social and political segregation. I wanted to somehow explore the effects of consumerism and depict a similar ironic view but of London. 

Philip-Lorca diCorcia influenced me through his theatrical street portraits. His collection ‘Heads’ were candidly taken without his subject’s noticing. His work is engaging in the sense that we are left with a curious feeling of wanting to know more behind the subjects in his photographs. I followed the same technique by not asking for my subject’s permission, partly because I didn’t need to but mostly so I could get a natural response to street photography. I decided to capture strangers fully absorbed into their mobile phones, a situation that is hard to miss when stepping outside onto the streets. Technology has gradually become a big part of our everyday lives, to the point where it becomes anti social and we ignore the world going on around us. I first noticed this when I was out shooting my second roll of film and both of my friends were walking while glued to their phones. The earliest photographs on my second contact sheet show this. As mentioned, I attempted the subtle street photographer approach which worked out for me because my subjects were often so wrapped up in what they were doing they didn’t notice me. I wanted my photographs to show how even in the busiest of places, people get momentarily distracted by their electronic devices. They completely isolate themselves from their surroundings, enforcing the notion behind technology and the anti social impact it has on the streets.

My intention was to have intimate portraits of individuals with nothing in the background to distract the viewer from the subject. This was because I had one strong image from my second roll of film, where the subject became the main focal point due to the empty background space and effect of high contrast. Given more time I would have thought extra carefully about the formal elements in my photographs in order to achieve what I originally wanted. I panicked myself in the last two weeks in the lead up to the deadline because I’d thought I was on track with the photographs I had at the time. It wasn’t until I had a final work review that I came to realise not all photographs worked together aesthetically, so I had to sacrifice one and reevaluate. It was challenging trying to get photographs to match my initial plan because I had narrowed my options down to avoiding distracting/busy backgrounds which is quite hard to do in London. 

I would also go back into the darkroom and perfect my final prints because there are a few dust marks visible on some, but mainly because I am aware a couple do need retouching. The landscape print of the girl with the man in the background needed reprinting most, however I spent a lot of time dodging and burning, increasing the size, cropping out parts and eventually I had to leave it to print other photos. I fell into rushing towards the end because I put off printing my finals when I should have just printed anything good and relevant from my contact sheets, rather than solely relying on getting some finals out from future rolls of film. 

I am happy with how some of the prints turned out, particularly the landscape image of the man taking a photograph of something. His screen is blacked out, leaving the viewer feeling curious as to what he’s photographing. I also like how, even though we know these people are on their phones, we are still intrigued by what it is that briefly got them to disconnect from their environment.

New generation’s reactions and relations to street art

“Street Photography is the simplest and at the same time, the hardest form of photography, its subject is all about you and yet it is extremely elusive.” (Nick Turpin, Black & White Streets. Very first works).

Within this caption by my first source of inspiration, the photographer Nick Turpin, I would like to introduce my Street Photography project. Influenced by the works of both Nick Turpin and Kay von Aspern, I came upon the real meaning of this sort of visual art. Street Photography is primarily a spiritual and intellectual activity, it takes great awareness, mental presence, self confidence and faith. Their works issue hush, silence and a strong sense of observation emerges too. As those images focus on vibrant moments of human life, turning the ordinary into extraordinary, I choose to incorporate this emotional component within the power of children’s behavior. What is more accessible nowadays than art? Although we should not taking it for granted, it has become really easy to interact with more and more different forms of creativity in everyday life.

Setting the “studio” in the open and inspiring space of Covent Garden, my approach was to observe and not to attract children’s attention, letting my eye intuitively discover the reality under the surface. Going around in circles, through the market and the places above,  I never hided my camera. The distance that separated me from my subject was only the length of my arm, so I was able to occupy the room between the subjects and the actions they bumped into. Definitely it wasn’t easy to relate with such energetic characters, but the choice of “new generation” as subjects of my project brought me beyond feelings and reactions I already knew.

Differently from adults, these little creatures enjoy being photographed. They live inside the groove of curiosity, so it’s easier for them to abandon their image to a fate they cannot control. At the very first beginning, my film was basically fill by portraits. I wanted to capture surprise from children’s mouths, fear from their eyes and courage though their bodies. But I found out it was hardly impossible to represent someone’s reaction to art without incorporating this one inside the frame. So I moved from being in front of the subject to include street performers in the photograph. Some of them are clearly interacting with the principal subject, some else are described by a mysterious atmosfere that release incertitude in the eyes of the onlooker. As I spend more and more time on the streets watching and shooting I develop an instinct for what is about to happen or where I should probably be standing, which can definitely lead to a higher hit rate.

I discover Street Photography as an attitude, it is an openness to being amazed by what comes your way, it is unlearning the habit of dismissing the everyday as being ‘just the everyday’ and beginning to recognize that extraordinary, beautiful and subtle stories are occurring in front of you everyday. Of course, this process requires plenty of time, especially when you’re supposed to end up with a coherent series of photographs. Having the chance of going though more films and periods of time would have been useful, considering that one good photo (according to my theme and subjects) originates in between 10/12 ones which are basically all the same. By the way, I am sure that the project itself has a few tough aspects: the framing of the photographs, sometimes obtained by buildings and sometimes by art performances or the crowd; the closeness of the shoot and the impact given by the high contrasts, especially blacks. Of course there are defects in each photograph, as working with the massive quantity of people who walk through Covent Garden every day has its advantages and disadvantages. Good aspects first: I wasn’t able to stand still in front of the overcrowd market, it was fundamental for me to open both my mind and eyes to catch the perfect moment. Certainly there are more possibilities to get a non-well balanced image because of the people going though the “stage” again and again.

Apart from technical and philosophical stuff, it was definitely my first experience with a manual camera. Having the opportunity of developing and printing photographs on my own enriched the meaning of photography to me. I found it satisfying holding a good print in my hands, after spending a day through chemicals and enlargers. It’s strongly powerful.

I had all the luck that photographers need when they are in public: luck to be at the right time, in the right place.

Bibliography