This week focused on understanding what a literature review is and how it functions within academic research. Rather than being a summary of existing texts, the lecture emphasised that a literature review is a critical process of identifying, comparing, and organising key ideas within a research field.
One important point from the session was that a literature review should demonstrate how a research topic is positioned within existing scholarship. It is not enough to list authors or describe their arguments separately. Instead, studies should be grouped by shared themes, debates, or methodological approaches. This allows the researcher to identify patterns, disagreements, and gaps in the field.
The lecture also highlighted the importance of searching for academic sources strategically. This includes using academic databases, identifying recurring authors and key terms, and prioritising peer-reviewed journal articles and academic books. Through this process, I began to search for literature related to lighting, mise-en-scène, and visual storytelling in film. I focused on texts that discuss lighting as part of narrative meaning, rather than purely technical instruction.
As part of my own literature review development, I started to organise sources around several key themes: lighting as a narrative tool, mise-en-scène and character construction, and visual representation. This helped me move away from describing individual texts and towards comparing how different scholars approach similar ideas. I also began to identify a gap in existing research, particularly in relation to detailed lighting analysis within specific film case studies.
Overall, this week helped me understand that a literature review is not only a background section, but a foundation for forming research questions. It clarified how academic research develops through dialogue with existing work, which is essential for shaping my critical report.