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Bongani Ndlovu Showbiz Correspondent
SOCIAL media is with us and has offered an alternative outlet for content that does not make it on the mainstream media. That is why video sharing sites such as YouTube have proven popular for people who want to share their content and some have had millions of views of their videos.
With the coming of Whatsapp, life has been made easier for locals who want people to watch or listen to their productions be it music or videos. Popular businessman, Philip Chiyangwa, who will do anything for fame, is also using social networks to send his crazy clips to people. A couple of his clips have gone viral, with people always waiting for him to produce more.
Comic video clips of the Bulawayo Show have gone viral in Bulawayo and are now being watched nationwide, with people wondering who the talented people behind the show are. Saturday Leisure Correspondent Bongani Ndlovu (BN) tracked down the Bulawayo Show creator, animator, producer and script writer Bruce Lunga (BL) and interviewed him.
Lunga said the Bulawayo Show episode comprises seven mini comedy clips, namely: Sgwadi Mampara, Ntuthu, Comedy Club, Alpha News, Amabeats, Office Gossip, and The Kingdom.
BN: Tell us about yourself.
BL: I am 31 years old, not married but in a relationship. I am a fourth year medical student at the Perm State Medical Academy in Russia and at present on academic leave. When I am not animating, I play a lot of video games on Play Station. I am a third degree chess player but I don’t play that often anymore. I love science fiction movies especially animated ones. I like going out to watch stand up comedy shows in town and going for braais with friends.
BN: Who are the people behind the Bulawayo Show?
BL: The people behind The Bulawayo Show are as follows: I am the script writer, graphic designer, animator and illustrator. I do just about everything as I also do the sound engineering and some of the voice overs.
Ntuthu’s voice is Marshal Mpofu who also wrote Comedy Club and Zenzele Ndebele wrote The Kingdom. Other voice overs are Xolani Lunga who does Floppy X, Mxolisi Lunga as Ratu, Sporo and Pablo Sibanda — as Mkoma.
BN: What issues do you tackle in each production?
BL: The Bulawayo Show is composed of many mini comedy clips. In each episode of The Bulawayo Show each mini clip has a different theme. Sgwadi Mampara tackles peer pressure, adolescence, and dating etc. Ntuthu goes through Bulawayo life situations like youth subcultures, drug abuse, peer pressure and circumcision. Alpha News is mostly about current events and top stories at any given time.
Office gossip tackles possible problems at the work place, like death of a colleague, abusive bosses, insubordination, tribalism, nepotism and corruption. Comedy club is just for laughs, “as long as there are laughs” is the motto. Amabeats tackles problems faced by local upcoming musicians like lack of equipment, funds, right information and exposure. The Kingdom is an educative series on the true history of the Ndebele portrayed in the positive light.
BN: Who are the characters on the show?
BL: Sox and Ratu are on a quest to find girls to date. Ntuthu shares his personal life experience in the form of a guide. Alpha and John are news reader and reporter respectively. Elando Da General is a stand-up comedian. Ama and Beats are presenters of a music programme. Nxumalo is the grandfather to Sporo and Mkoma. He tells them stories.
BN: How useful were social networks for the release of your productions?
BL: I have been using social networks even before I started doing animations so I would say that this was just one handy tool at the right time. Without social networks, I could have never imagined having such a wide audience. I have people sending me the videos via Whatsapp from Canada, Scotland, Japan, and Australia just to name a few. Most of the senders don’t even know that I am the one who makes the cartoons.
BN: How long does it take to produce an episode of the Bulawayo Show?
BL: To come up with a 30-minute animated show, writers may take a week to complete the script. Voice over takes two to three days, illustration, animation and rendering take two weeks or more and I would say about a month, give or take. It strongly depends on the specifications of the computers in use.
BN: How many episodes have you done?
BL: We have only released over 20 two minute mini clips online but after the launch we will only be releasing complete 20-30 minute episodes on DVD. As long as the people are watching, there will always be The Bulawayo Show.
BN: Where can people get the hard copies of the Nthutu clips?
BL: The Bulawayo Show is yet to be launched, sometime before winter so all that is in circulation at the moment can be downloaded from our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/byoshow. Original The Bulawayo Show DVDs, T shirts, caps, coffee mugs will also be revealed during the launch.
BN: Is the Bulawayo Show concept the same concept as the South African Izikhokho cartoon?
BL: When I came back from Russia, I got to know of Izikhokho from a friend who told me that my animations were similar to the regional hit Izikhokho after watching my clips. I took it as a compliment. Actually The Bulawayo Show does not have the same concept as Izikhokho. It is something between Izikhokho by Mdu, The Family Guy by Seth MacFarlane and The Boondocks by Aaron Mcgruder in the sense that each episode is a 20-30 minutes adult show but can still be broken down into many funny comedy clips.
BN: When did you think of producing cartoons?
BL: I’ve been a fan of cartoons for as long as I can remember. As a kid I used to watch Tom and Jerry, Smurfs, Bugs bunny, The funny company etc. I later changed to adult cartoons, the likes of South Park, The Family Guy, Boondocks etc. I used to wonder how animators made the cartoons until I worked for Tanki Online, a Russian games development company for four years while I was studying medicine in Russia. 3d animation, graphic designing, 3d physics engines became a day-to-day experience. This is when I started making animated cartoons as a hobby. Friends thought the cartoons were funny so I kept making them since then. Ingwe Studios contacted me after they had seen one of my videos online. We then developed The Bulawayo Show.
Online Reporter