Workarounds in the production of contemporary animation series in the UK: an examination of creative approaches to overcoming production barriers

Research into workarounds – which are changes to established methods to overcome transient obstacles, mishaps and anomalies – in the making of contemporary animated series is limited. Such research exists in parallel areas, like healthcare and aeronautics. However, the examination of workarounds in media production and animation scholarship is underresearched. Likewise, research into animation production processes is emergent but limited. No previous study has investigated the application of animation workarounds in contemporary animation production methods. Therefore, to date, little is known about the motivations, consequences and impacts of these changes on contemporary production processes. The current study focuses on addressing this knowledge gap by investigating the conditions, impacts, and consequences of these changes in contemporary series-making processes in the United Kingdom. The study explores the relationship of workarounds in contemporary commercial animation-making methods. The research addresses animation workarounds in the storyboard-layout transition, reuse systems, asset and sequence changes and animation labourer and animation management workaround perspectives. The research focuses on the design, application, perspective and integration of animation workarounds in the making of contemporary commercial series in the UK.

The current study utilises a Production Studies (Caldwell (2008) and Mayer et al. (2009)) approach. This paradigm focuses on how practitioners make media while navigating the complexities of making commercial creative projects. The study utilises this approach in the investigation of accounts of practitioner processes. This qualitative data is examined through Alter’s (2014) Theory of Workarounds. This process generates new understandings of the conditions, activities and impacts of planned and unplanned changes to established ways of making animated series in the UnitedKingdom. The Theory of Workarounds provides a theoretical framework for examining and categorising planned/emergent changes and the local and broader consequences for workarounds in business organisations. This is a major advantage of utilising this framework in examining animation production processes. This study builds upon the Theory of Workarounds by extending the analysis of changes to established methods and applying this in the analysis of activity in creative organisations – animation studios. A variation of a case study approach allowed a deeper insight into the perspectives, design and impacts of changes to methods of modern series-making. This approach used interview data from relevant practitioners, such as storyboard, layout artists and directors working in contemporary series-making. This data was analysed through a process of thematic analysis, identifying themes and trends then drawing conclusions.

This investigation established that commercial animation-making methods evolve through an iterative process. The research found that changes are introduced, learned from in the application, formally improved and eventually transformed into subsequent systemised methods. The study’s findings support the idea that changes which facilitate the principles of digital mass-production (digital-standardisation, digital interchangeability, and digital-assembly) have the highest probability of being integrated into established methods. Such a process enables the production of content for a regular release schedule with controlled manufacturing costs. One of the most significant findings was that practitioners working at any level in the animation studio can implement changes to accepted methods. However, the scope, type and impact of potential changes depend on the hierarchical position of the person suggesting said procedural changes.

The research discovered that animationworkaroundscanbedesignedand implemented any time in the production process. However, this study found that these changes can be both met with resistance and integrated into series production on a systematic and regular basis. This is the first study to examine contemporary series-making activities in the UK using the Theory of Workarounds. In doing so, the research expands both the study of workarounds into contemporary animation processes and develops new understandings of the role of animation work arounds in commercial animation production. This research has contributed to knowledge. Thus generating new understandings of how temporary changes to accepted ways of making animated series can become integrated into future recognised methods. The research found that this integration is achieved through a process of initiation and routinised systemisation.