Hey fellas! Greetings to all from probably the most controversial being on our music and entertainment community, Not Just OK.
I know most people reading this would, at this point, be hissing or
would want to close this page, but hold your horses! I would like to
share a short story; that of a dying man. This man has had a very
fruitful life, growing up with successful siblings but in recent times,
his family has begun to fall apart. It all started with his eldest
sibling, who enjoyed the most visibility and patronage, gaining him
international recognition but in his prime, things began to happen too
fast. This made him lose sight of the bigger picture, leading him to a
premature crash, although not a complete write-off. The pieces are being
gathered together today.
The next sibling has enjoyed a LOT of revenue generation, leading to
the birth of a LOT of greed. Today, he barely makes ends meet and can
only reminisce about the “good old days”.
Now we move on to the last of the siblings. This is a special being,
one who just about approaches his prime. He enjoys international
visibility and would soon wine and dine with the world’s best IF he is
put in check.
I’m sure you’re wondering what family I speak of:
I refer to the Motion Picture industry in Nigeria, with the siblings
being: the feature film, TV advertising and music video industries
respectively.
This music video industry in Nigeria is one that can be best
described by 2 words “BITTER-SWEET”. It is an arbitrary blend of the
“greats” and “not-so-greats” and I believe it needs a boost, which is A
MORE ENLIGHTENED AUDIENCE, one that demands more from the content
providers (directors). The industry suffers because of the general
mindset that “ANYTHING GOES” with music videos. This will ONLY bring the
eventual demise of this flourishing industry. I also believe that
healthy criticism could contribute to bringing about this needed change.
I will be doing a series of write-ups called “
The Diary of a Music Video Critic.”
The first in this series would be my Top 5 music videos featured on Not
Just OK in the 1st half of 2012 (January – June). ENJOY!
(Note that the videos are in NO particular order)
- Oxygen – Morell:
My reason for including this video in this list is because it is a
PERFECT representation of “shooting an engaging LOW-BUDGET video.”
The opening titles remain one of the best I’ve seen in a Nigerian music video. Sweet!
The director did a fantastic job creating a lovely theme including
elements representing aviation and suffocation. Very nice use of
aviation props and kudos to the makeup person for the use of feathers as
eye lashes… Nice touch!
The nuances like the red locker with smoke emanating from it were just awesome, representing suffocation (need for oxygen).
The very subtle visual effects of smoky projectiles was also a nice touch as they NEVER distracted the viewer.
The editing had the perfect pace and was sustained till the very end.
I rate this video very highly on EVERY level because of the creativity
of the director, creating SOMETHING out of almost nothing.
- As the world turns – F Shaw:
This video was featured on Not Just OK at an appropriate time, when I
believe the audience was tired of seeing the usual style of videos with
colorful backdrops, ladies shaking their behinds and free publicity for
premium alcoholic drinks.
First of all, I must say this is one of the best lit music videos,
not just in Nigeria but in Africa. World class lighting, just like a
Hollywood film. The camera movements and editing pace ensures the viewer
is sucked into the mind of the artiste, sharing his emotions. The video
NEVER distracts the viewer from appreciating the lyrics of the song,
which is very commendable.
The art direction was superb, giving the entire video a very classy feel, and in turn elevating the brand of the artiste.
In as much as this is a very well shot video, it is far from perfect
(no video is). The scenes get pretty monotonous at around the 3:00 mark.
The director should have included a fresh scene at some point.
- Ara – Brymo:
This video excels as the best use of creative lighting. The film noir
look nailed it visually. The use of water splashes in slow motion was
quite pleasing to the eye, although on closer shots, the exaggerated
slow-motion effect (done in post) was poorly executed as it reveals ugly
artifacts.
It is a very arty video that is sure to keep the viewer glued to the
screen till the end. The use of the Eyo masquerades give the video a
very strong identity that should do us as a people proud, especially
watching it on other African Top 10 charts.
In all, the video will surely stand the test of time as it expresses a very different approach to shooting music videos.
- Chop my money (remix) – P Square:
This video remains the best representation of the video to a
commercially successful song. It has the needed elements, beautiful
woman, nice car, good club/party scene and successful Nigerian artistes,
featuring a successful international artiste. The little story that the
director included was also nice and added some humor to the entire
video. It is a very well shot and directed video in my opinion.
- Nawti – Olu Maintain:
This video is one that I would say set the pace for music videos in 2012. My ONLY gripe with it is I wish it was shot locally.
The USP (unique selling point) of this video, Natalie Nunn, was the
cherry on the well-mixed ice-cream sundae. This is one of the richest
videos in eye-candy to come out of Nigeria… errm… by a Nigerian
It has it all, sexy women, nice costumes, great landscapes and did I
say sexy women? My favorite was the part with the HOT lady wading
through the pool blowing on a flute. Sweet! Sweet!! Sweet!!!
The storyline that was portrayed had a few flaws in the continuity
department but will be overlooked by the audiences who would have their
eyes open to other things anyway.
Very good video in my opinion.
The 
Nicolas
Hodges is a British pianist and composer specializing in avant-garde
music. Tempo magazine quotes Hodges as a "refreshing artist [who] plays
the classics as if they were written yesterday, and what was written
yesterday as if it were already a classic" (