Physical Familiarity in Kenyan Animation Character Design: Recreating Selected Characters in Super Sema
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Date
2024-10
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EdinBurg
Abstract
It is widely appreciated in film, television studies, and animation that a character serves as a
means of telling a tale to the viewer in the media in which they appear. However, a character
must be first relatable to convey the story. Consequently, this paper looks at the familiarity of
characters in the Kenyan animation series Super Sema. The study was conducted in two phases,
with the first phase aimed at determining whether the characters presented in the series elicited
familiarity in a Kenyan child audience. The phase found that the degree of familiarity for the
characters of the selected series was low. The study then moved to the second phase, where it
recreated the characters to improve the characters’ familiarity based on views and adjustments
raised by the child audience. The study was guided by Expressionism Theory, Audience
Reception Theory, Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, and Semiotics Theory.
The study used Super Sema, a Kenyan animation series, as the main film for this study. The
series was selected since it is one of Kenyan animation series with a sustained plot and
characters. A total of 4 main characters from the film were used in the study: Sema, MB, Tobor,
and Babu. To achieve the intended objective, the researcher used school-going children (male
and female) aged between 7-11 years. The participants were first shown the characters; then
once the degree of familiarity was established, adjustments were made to the characters to
improve their familiarity. A total number of 283 students were engaged in both focus group
discussions and individual interviews, across five selected Kenyan schools. This study was
qualitative as it examined the selected texts in depth, birthing further discussions and
conclusions.
This research looked at the degree of familiarity achieved by the child audience using the
alternative character design approach. Most participants noted familiarity with the recreated
characters and a significant number cited that familiarity is a key concern when watching
television, films, and animations. Different reasons have been discussed to justify their
statements. The study also noted that child audiences have a critical eye when engaging with
characters on the screen, and as such, the character designers have a role in ensuring that the
preferences of the audiences in terms of familiarity are achieved.
Description
Research Article
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Citation
Kanyangi, C. K., Shapaya, B., & Mugubi, J. (2024). Physical Familiarity in Kenyan Animation Character Design: Recreating Selected Characters in Super Sema. International Journal of Scholarly Practice, 4(2), 41-53.