A critical analysis of the production pipeline developed for the Bun and Bunee short format animation series with reference to local production norms

Abstract

This paper critically analyzes the streamlining of production norms and pipelines of CGI animated projects in order to lower costs and increase productivity. The production pipeline of Bun and Bunee is used as a case study. Bun and Bunee by Luma Creative Studios consists of fifty two one-minute shorts. The shorts first aired on December 5, 2009 on one of South Africa’s public broadcast stations SABC 3. The purpose of this paper is not to strictly define production practices. Rather the aim is to explore those production practices which can be considered production norms, and to demonstrate that these norms can be streamlined to improve the production process. Therefore the question this paper poses is – “Can local animation production pipeline norms be improved upon, and if so how?” Currently there is a lack of academic literature on short form animation production, even more so on South African short form animation production. This necessitates the use of international examples and examples from feature length animation production practices.