Beautiful Imperfection – Animation the Next Step ?

Cranking it up a notch, the Nigerian movie industry has begun the process of
stilling wagging tongues. Currently ranked the 2nd largest movie industry by
UNESCO, Nollywood has now surpassed its Indian counterpart, not just in
quantity but now also in the quality of productions. In the past year, line ups like;
‘The Figurine’ by Kunle Afolayan , ‘Through The Glass’ by Stephanie Okereke,
and more recently ‘IJE’ by Chineze Ayanene and ‘Bursting Out’ by Emem Isong
have proved that Nollywood is more than just a quick fix, it is a blooming film
industry.

Beyond glitzing up the local entertainment scene with their fancy premiers and
screenings, these new age Nollywood productions have also set in motion a
realization that now is the time to start doing better. Toting their individual high
and low points, these movies collectively are a step in the right direction, while
different in most aspects, each of these productions have some key traits in
common; well thought out concepts, actual screenplay, and good execution. When
the all round hyping for Kunle Afolayan’s ‘The Figurine’ began, the change was
welcomed, though with a bit of hesitation I imagine, his production was one of the
first of many to hit the big screen amidst a lot of fan fare. Successful, he paved the
way for more like his to follow, and in the following months, Nigerians have been
regaled with better plots, better productions and better movie watching
experiences. Even more applaudable is the focus of these productions on culture,
without being overbearing, each of them managed the feat of entwining cultural
cues in their plots. With these new comers, ardent viewers are no longer able to tell
the end from the beginning of the movies, and the

For years, the Nigerian movie industry has been regarded as a dumping ground and
a cesspool of people with no talent and no vision but a healthy dose of exploitative
prowess. Rightfully so or not, the recent turn of events has proven that our beloved
Nollywood can be more. Exciting as it may be that some individuals are beginning
to see the need for better productions, and are now acting on that need, the truth is
that for the handful of new age thinkers, there are the myriad of old school ones,
who are perfectly satisfied producing their run of the mill, two bit movies. They
have no interest in their movies premiering at Silverbird or Genesis Deluxe
Cinemas and don’t care if Bella Naija knows that they have a new movie coming
out soon. All they care about is that they have spent one week shooting and expect
a ten to one return on their running costs, and this is achievable from the sale of
CDs , nothing more nothing less. This set of people will always exist, we can only
hope that they will reduce in number while the new age producers increase. The
need for stimulating story lines and imaginative story telling techniques in our
movies can no longer be swept under the carpet, that door has already been opened
for us by the Emem Isong’s and Chineze Ayanene’s of this world. Now we know
without a doubt that we have the talent, we have the brains and we have the will
power to produce local content that we would be proud enough to export to foreign
lands.

So now that we have mastered the art of making movies worth watching, what
next?! Personally, I am a firm believer in advancement, I think life is meant to be
lived in stages, and forward movement is the only guarantee that you will reach
your next level. So my advice to Nollywood players is: just keep putting one foot
in front of the other. We may not be exactly at par with our western counterparts,
but with persistence and vision, we can continue to build on the foundation that we
have. As we advance deeper into the 21st century, technology continues to evolve
in leaps and bounds, the advent of the internet brought with it a new world order,
where everything is available at your fingertips. Gizmos like the blackberry and
the iphone have revolutionized communication, work no longer means a long drive
to a dreary office with tons of paper to sift through, housekeeping is no longer a
chore, and entertainment has been redefined, innovations in this area have
enhanced our movie watching experiences to the point where movies lacking in
that extra touch of animation are considered ‘ordinary’ by most.

There is no doubt that technology touches every aspect of our lives and changes
the way we do things, and in most cases even improves them but as with
everything else the process of diffusion from the more technologically advanced –
America to the less technologically advanced – Nigeria is slow. And even as the
rest of the world has gone beyond shooting the ordinary, and the world of
animation is now becoming the norm, I believe that Nigeria’s movie industry
should take a step in this direction too. In the past year, movies like Avatar, Prince
of Persia and Iron Man 2 have heralded us with larger than life visual effects that
blow our minds and leave us wanting more. So why shouldn’t Nollywood give it a
go, why shouldn’t we try our hands at our very own animation production ? Well
we did, and it’s called Kajola. Released mid-year, the movie Kajola was highly
anticipated, hypes and teasers circulated the media and movie buffs couldn’t wait
to sink their teeth into what was to be Nigeria’s first official animation effort.
However the movie turned out to be a double sided coin for us, to some it was a
complete waste of time, and a joke, while to others it was a step in the right
direction. I happen to fall into the second category and I consider those who fall
into the first as myopic, I believe that instead of picking on the faults of the movie,
critics should see the effort and vision behind Kajola. I personally applaud the
brains behind it for a creative concept, they thought outside of the box, at least
outside what is the norm here, but over and above that, they tried to bring an
innovation made by us and for us, they may have misjudged their audience and
gone a bit overboard, but depending on the parameters you use to judge the
producers of the movie, you will either blow off their efforts or endorse them.
However, regardless of what anyone thinks, one thing will remain, they tried and
they will learn from their mistakes.

Whether we like it or not animation is the next step for any movie industry that
wants to contend on the world stage. Granted preparations have to be made before
dabbling into such a venture, but guess what, that’s already underway. Several
animation studios have been set up in Nigeria and they are training in 2D and 3D
animation, far from perfect as we may be, the drive and the conviction will go a
long way in making up for the mistakes that will be made along the way, but as
with any venture, success will come out of hard lessons. So ready or not here we
come!