Saturday, February 19, 2011

Western Influence on African Arts - Film

As mentioned last week, the Nigerian Film Industry still faces a lot of challenges, and is still mediocre; apart from the improvement of technology in the industry, the birth of creative minds has also helped the industry. These creative minds definitely have western influence, from the content of the work produced; it is hard to not notice that the producers have exposure.
With most past productions, it is noted that it doesn’t take the producers very long to complete their productions. The production of an average movie will take about 1-2days, had no concrete scripts and people were allowed to freestyle. This is very risky as it could create inconsistencies when one is trying to watch the episodes again to create a correlation and understanding. Now, producers are doing better. The writings are now good, not excellent; there is obviously still room for improvement.
The past productions usually shot movies that had to deal with gods, spirits and tradition. Nowadays only people that haven’t been exposed to the modern world will watch and believe those shows. The emergence of religion has saturated the continent and people are more obliged to watch shows that center around that.
The African media industry has and is still frowning at the idea of sexuality. If there are to be any portrayal of kissing or any sexual movements, it is done quickly and the next scene is shown immediately. The modern directors and producers with western influence aren’t frowning at it though. They are daring and taking the risks by infusing more sexual elements into their productions. Most Ghanaian movies these days are very sexual in content and even in their names such as “Untouchables” “Turn me on” “Pleasure and Crime”. The industry is even beginning to embrace homosexuality; a recent movie showcased 2 same sex individuals kissing.

Cover of Ghanian Movie - Turn Me On


Clip of Nigerian TV Series - Tinsel

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Western Influence on African Arts - Filmmaking

The African Film industry has had a roller coaster ride, starting off interesting and bubbling with the introduction of theaters arts, and then loosing momentum when just anybody thought they could pick up a camera and make a production. Now change is so desperately needed in the industry, and over the years the industry has seen a few producers/directors/writers try to come up with a different take into the multimedia industry. Now the Nigerian film industry is #3 in the world, following behind Hollywood and Bollywood. Ghana has also gained popularity in the film industry mostly by teaming up with Nigerians to produce films. This is not to say that the Industry does not still face a lot of challenges, and is not still mediocre; but there have certainly been a few improvements over the past years. Technology has played a significant role in the way the industry, is currently viewed. This development can be attributed to Western influence. Many of the African producers are going abroad to get trained and are getting themselves familiar with the new technology available.
Over the past couple of years we’ve seen the change in technology come to light in the Nigerian film industry, in series such as Tinsel, and the movie Ije. Africans can be proud of the work that the producers put into such productions.
When you research past production in Africa, it is very easy to see that there was no attention to things like Lighting and sound. Filmmakers just knew they wanted to make a movie and would pick up a camera and start filming. There are times when you would have to make sure you have the remote to your TV close-by so as to turn the volume up and down as the film goes on. Now African filmmakers through western influence have been able to learn what is required to put together a quality production that pays attention to detail. Picture and sound are also getting better, and editing is improving. It could take another 5-10years before a Nollywood production can stand side by side with a Hollywood one, but African producers have the right frame of mind and heading towards the right direction!

Tinsel(A Nigerian Soap-Opera) Studio


Nigerian Film Director - Kelani


Nigerian Music Video Director - Kemi Adetiba

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Western Influence on African Arts

Over the next couple of weeks I would like to do a series on the Western influence on African Arts. My analysis will focus mostly on West Africa - Nigeria, Ghana, etc.
The first series will be about the Western influence on Film and Filmmaking. This week I would have 2 different blog posts; one on Technology and the other will discuss Content. Be on the look out!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Fashion...

Sika Designs is actually a Ghanaian label. I remember trying to contact her back in 2007 to be part of a fashion show I was planning in D.C. She was so warm and sounded really excited to be a part of it, but we ended up not having any funds to fly her out. Then she had a lot of Ankara pieces in her line, 4 years later I am still quite inspired by her, her pieces are like everyday clothes you can wear anywhere. She still has some Ankara pieces but also has some lovely modern pieces too. She really is here to stay. Here are a few pictures from her latest collection. I love that she has a kids line as well.

I remember this piece from years ago!


Heres a recent one


How Adorable is this?


More information about Sika - http://www.sikadesigns.co.uk/

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Music!

I love Music. Well to be honest, I usually have a love and hate relationship with some genres of music. I remember back when I was 15/16 and used to live in Tampa Fl, name any latest Pop or Rock music and I would sing along with you. I was in that age were I watched a lot of MTV, in the process I got used to loving every kind of music. I even at one point started writing songs, in a bid to sell it (Ha-ha). So at that point I was not really a fan of Nigerian music but just like everything else, that has changed. I am totally in love with the authentic Nigerian artists out there. I am particular amazed at M.I and the analysis in his lyrics, so deep and thoughtful. Dbanj makes that party feel good music, and although some of it doesn’t make sense, you still want to shake your body and move. There’s Dr Sid who I’ve met once, and so in love with ☺., Banky W, Ice Prince, JesseJagz, etc

Anyway this week, Dbanj premiered a new track with Snoop Dogg. How they were able to get him is beyond me but hey! Snoop is on most people’s tracks these days (no pun intended) I thought the video quality was awesome! But the actual story was busy and all over the place. All in All Good for Nigerian music!

Kudos to Nigerian Music in all shapes and form!...love it.. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOdUtfCYroc

Monday, February 7, 2011

Welcome!

Welcome to the Arts Revealed!

This blog was born out of my love for everything Artsy. I love the Arts and everything it represents. Most importantly I am intrigued by the emotions that can come out of an Art Form. On this blog I will be focusing on Nigerian Arts because #1 I am from Nigeria, and #2, I am impressed at the way it is now evolving and developing. I will still blog about Arts from other countries from time to time. I will be showcasing Arts in all forms, ranging from Music Artists, to Photographers, to Film Makers, Paint Artist, etc I hope to make it insightful and exciting!

Hope you enjoy reading my blog!

Welcome Again xx
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The Arts Revealed by ArtsLover is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.theartsrevealed.blogspot.com.