Naturally, the things that are happening in the nigerian movie industry is non of my business, but, since it is something that concerns all of us, it became my business.
I am not a stakeholder in the movie industry; neither am I a producer, a director, nor am I an actor. But the simple truth is that, it pains me that we nigerians are not patronising our movies; and it is not our fault.
The fault is in the movies.
The movies are trash.
We don't like them.
A normal nigerian would say "Aaww, Nigerian Movie.? No no no no. I don't watch Nigerian movies. I watch American, Indian or Korean movies".. And if asked why, they would reply "Foreign movies are cool, and they have quality"..
Now I am asking, what is the quality that these foreign movies have that our Nigerian movies don't have.? To be sincere, there are many many many of them.
It is true that some foreign movies are trash too. Not all of them are good. Also, some Nigerian movies are good too in terms of quality and content. But most are Trash.
There is this Nigerian movie, old as it is, yet one of the best Nigerian Movies. - "Living in Bondage".
A look at that movie, someone would just see hardwork and quality, although shot with less technology, yet there were minimum errors, and the plot was sweet, cast was good, and the story well organised.
These days, even with all the video technologies, a producer/director would just think up a certain scenario, and within a week, organise some actors that would fit the scenario, then within a month, the movie is already out with a funky name.. No story to the movie, no planning, no plot, no sequence, no quality, no seriousness, no hardwork. Nothing else would be good about the movie except the very scenario which the producer/director wanted to project, which might even be a very silly scenario..
This is a typical Nigerian Movie for you.
Our directors/producers are either lazy, or are in mad rush or in a haste to release their movies within a month. And in the end, we the viewers would be so busy counting the hundreds of errors and mistakes in the movies, and end up not paying attention to whatever the movie has to offer.
If I may suggest, then, I would say that our producers/directors should first pay attention to the situation they want in the movies.
Not just some scenarios.
For instance, our movies usually portray situations of olden times, ghetto situations, bad nigerian situations, campus cultists situations, romance and romantic situations (which happens to be en-vogue currently, as people produce movies with soft-porn, and yet with no story or quality of content). No producer/director have produced a movie that is projecting a good nigerian environment situation. (They forgot that movies can be used in preaching the good-news of change and transformation in Nigeria.)
A true-life situation or a fictitious situation in which a whole lot of stories can conviniently be formed should be chosen, so as to describe the way or pattern of life that the movie is trying to portray.
Now, with a situation in mind, a story can be formed. A good story. (sweet movies are made up of two or more stories that combine together at certain points to form a complete story, but there should not be more than four stories, so as to minimise ambiguity of the movie). The story determines the scenarios and the plot of the movie..
It is not a must that every movie should contain romance or even soft-porn scenes for it to sell well in the market (as it is in Nigerian movies today).
Every scene and act in the movies should be directed towards the situation that the movie is portraying. An actor that is supposed to be a good man in the movie should portray it fully. Let there be no conflict of characters. They make the movies so distracting.
Finally, there should be Hardwork, both on the side of the crew and the actors. Even the cameos (waka-pass actors) should be serious too.. That someone in a movie is a waka-pass, and so what.? If he doesn't want to get serious on set, then, let him get off the scene totally..
The editing should be perfect too. I hate seeing editing errors, or shadows and reflections of people who are not presently on the scene, or even hearing them murmur in the background.
I am of the opinion that a movie that portrays a good situation, has a nice story (or a nice combination of stories), has catching scenarios (not just one good scenario, and de rest of the movie being trash), has serious acts and good editing, and has evidence of hardwork; would compete favourably with foreign movies.
It is high time the movie producers and directors should start preaching the goodnews of patriotism and how to be good nigerians through the movies they release in the markets.
We have had enough of all these useless movies that has nothing to portray or teach nigerians..
........
SORRY FOR THE LONG WRITE-UP.
This is just the way it touched me.

Where are you based?

What are the solutions you profer?

TheFilmmaker:
Where are you based?

What are the solutions you profer?

He said he is not a stakeholder, I think.
Very valid rants.


btw;
TheFilmmaker, you go chop cane ooo.!
You made a short film recently and didn't even bother to drop links to watch the video or even a trailer or teaser or facebook support page. Now you say you're working on your next short.


Unnn come on, do the needful jare!

TheFilmmaker:
Where are you based?

What are the solutions you profer?

1. I am based in Anambra.
...
2. Though I might not have sounded professional enough (as regards film producing), but my humble suggestions are there in my write-up.. The producers and directors need to put in enough hardwork in there movies. (a movie like October-1 is so good. We need more of such quality movies in nigeria).. We need movies that can have real effects on the viewers, and not movies that resemble stage dramas.. To acheive this, hardwork, good thinking, enough time, thorough editing, serious criticisms, and perfect coordination are needed in the production of the movies.. With time, Nigerian producers would begin to acquire some video-technologies with which to shoot advanced video graphics, but without good thinking and hardwork, we will still be producing mediocre movies.
I know that we will get there soon.

prof800:

He said he is not a stakeholder, I think.
Very valid rants.


btw;
TheFilmmaker, you go chop cane ooo.!
You made a short film recently and didn't even bother to drop links to watch the video or even a trailer or teaser or facebook support page. Now you say you're working on your next short.


Unnn come on, do the needful jare!

Is he a film-maker for real.? Heyaaa.. I thank God for him ooo.. I hope to see his movie soon. But I go criticise am mercillesly if it is not good oo.. All de same, my criticisms will make him produce a better movie next time...
May God give him more and more strength to do more

Well. One other thing with Nigerian producers is that we overuse things.. With time, when they start using technologies like VFX, DFX, CGI, and so on, we would be seeing movies with over-done visual effects and excess animations.. Which still comes down to intellectual laziness and lack of hardwork.

Here in lies my humble imput.

Nollywood lacks, till today, directors that are experimental and willing to go overboard to make things happen. They are all in it for the money. The stories are poor and uncoordinated. The visual, practical and sound effects reek of pure unprofessionalism. There used to be a time when Nollywood produced intriguing well researched stories (albeit indie produced) and they made a lot of sense. Circa 1990s - early 2000s. But with the advent of cheap filmmaking methods, Nollwood sank under the quagmire of mediocrity. Everybody jumped on board for the money. Not for the love of the art. And as everything art related,


Let me further buttress the points of the OP. Not all foreign movies are good too. We all have different reason for our personal choices. I, personally, do not watch Koreans movies. The reason I think is mostly because the shows are too sloooow for my liking or I just don't relate to their style of filmmaking. Don't get me wrong. i love kick ass fighting movies. i just don't morally roll withnthe way politics is being portrayed in their shows. Maybe I am naive; a lot of my friends still convince me i am missing a lot. i shall try again. The costume design however, is top notch. I give them kudos for that. A lot of Nigerians watch Korean shows. I am not in the position to criticize their love for it. What I am bothered about (which ironically, isn't bothering Nollywood) is the fact that the average Nigerian can handle Korean movies well, even with the language and cultural differences portrayed in their shows, but can't stand 5 minutes of a Nigerian movie. The difference is there. Story wise, production wise. Coordination and Direction.

Here are the strong points the OP raised.

1 - Quality I hate to say this but most Nollywood movies are terrible. As Nigerian as we are, it's normal that we have been carried away by the trend of evolving filmmaking equipments. Yeah I get it, your last project was shot on a Red Dragon or Epic. Yeah, with Carl Zeiss primes. Yeah, the footage looks great. But a good camera will not make a good footage. What am I even saying? This is Nollywood where most of the DoP's i've met know the latest gear, and the rudiments of cinematography. Yet their works speaks otherwise. They are probably too lazy to show off what they (so profess to) know, or the director is visionless. Movie quality is not about using the latest or most expensive gear -those are just for hyping. Quality is making your footage have life, every scene should make sense. No aimless dolling around in seems that require static shots. No overuse of movement - Chai! That's the new craze in Nollywood. Everybody wants to show off their new DJI Ronin skills. I am a filmmaker so I know what I am talking about. This movie below was shot on an iPhone 5s


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2siyeuScmMQ

What makes a quality movie are: A brilliant script, perfect locations, beliavable actors, a visionary director and cinematographer and a dedicated happy crew. A camera is just a camera. A tool and not a magic wand that turns every frame to gold. And...oh LIGHTS.

2 - Terrible/Overused Plot I don't have to say much about this. Our Movies are too predictable: Probably the most dominant in Nigerian movies; the producers, directors, characters and soundtracks are too predictable that one could tell what would happen in the next scene. It is also too predictable that viewers know how a movie will end before the characters themselves. Unfortunately, majority of Nigerian movies’ producers/directors lack the idea to create a spark between their characters and the viewers. in short the stories are not believable for the majority of movie lovers. I suspect that education has a thing to do with this.

If e no be romance, e go be cultism, witchcraft, robbery or soft porn. Have you ever seen nightclub scenes in Nollywood? Tragic. There is absolutely nothing thrilling to write about in Nollywood movies. It's not about budget, a good story will always be good irrespective of the costs of production if it is in the hands of a visionary director. You think I'm lying? Go watch Phone Booth - Directed by Joel Schumacher. it only starred 5 main actors (minus the insignificant extras) and was shot in 10 days at the same location. Ok, that was too far lets go back to when Nollywood was Nollywood. Who still remembers these movies: Ololade Mr. Money, Ebute, Iru Esin, Osuwon - all produced by Ola Iya? or Living in Bondage. Lol.

Let me also say this: Most Nollywood productions are not scripted. if they are, there is no evidence.

3 - Unbelievable Acting - Yes and no. We have good actors and bad over-do ones too. It is the work of a visionary (and not money fungry Nigerian) director to know who is best for the job. I once had an aunt who's a natural actor. That woman can cause mayhem in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately she died last year. I've always wanted to use her for one of my shorts. RIP Iya Ola.

4 - Mad Alaba Rush - There is money at Alaba. Yes, also at Onitsha. Irrespective of how badly produced your movie is. Nollywood (for a lack of better fitting word) producers know this and they exploit it in full throttle. They know you and I have no choice but to watch whatever eye sore they produce. Their marketers are always disturbing and asking when the editing will be done so they can mass produce for the populace. Most maketers have even ventured into production. How then do you expect someone who doesn't even know the rudiments of filmmaking and under the spell of camera quality power to churn something remarkable?

5 - Blatant Editing/Continuity Errors/Poor Sound Design - This is always evident. ALWAYS is an understatement in Nollywood. Foreign movies also have continuity errors. However, there is a saying that The only way to believe an edit is good is when you don't notice or pay attention to the editing. When the audience begins to notice flaws in the continuity and stuff, then something is wrong with the editor. There is a lot to filmmaking than just editing. And an editor can only perform to the best of his or her knowledge. The fact remains, that if you want to do something, suffer your self to be good at it. Most editors do it because of the money and not because of the love. If not, this is 2015 and the internet is littered with numerous ways to up your game. So why are Nollywood editors still stuck in the dark ages?

I do believe frugality might also be involved. Overseas, here is a list of different people involved in post production of a movie: Film editor, colourist, visual effects team, Motion graphics, sound designer, sound editor, foley, composer. All these are all crammed into the work of an average Nigerian editor. You see what I see?


6 - Visionless ness - The average Nollywood producer is not committed to combining his/her passion for art and advocacy to tell compelling and universal stories. Maybe he/she just doesn't understand that films are an avenue to teach the audience. He/she actually forgot that the goal is get people watching, talking and acting on the films they watch.

I drop my pen here. in the meantime, let me focus on my short film.
I am based in Ibadan by the way.

cc prof800, tk4rd, lalasticlala front page!

Ooohh Boy.!!
You just scanned my head and said everything inside my mind..
May God bless you for saying it in a better way for me..
I used to be a die-hard fan of Nigerian movies until the time soft-porn started entering..
I still hope that nigerian producers would realise soon enough that movies preach, and teach, and have strong impact on people far better than pastors and teachers.