DECISION MAKING AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Greetings,

So I want to go into animation, but there are still a lot of decisions and unanswered questions. There are questions like;

• What kind of story do I want to tell?
• What kind of movies do I want to produce, is it feature length or series?
• What kind of animation do I work with?
• How I'm I going to come up with production budget?

These are basically the first questions that pops in anybody's head. If they are not answered properly or looked into critically, you will have no sense of direction or another scenario is making head way in the beginning only to crash and burn somewhere in the middle. The animation business is a complex one, it takes discipline and a very organized work plan to pull off anything at all.

WHAT KIND OF STORY DO I WANT TO TELL?

It is all about storytelling, you might have quality picture and quality sound, but nobody will want to sit and watch something he will regret wasting his time watching at the end. Your story line must keep your audience wanting more. That is the first commandment in entertainment (I made that up), the point is, coming up with not just a believable story, but a story that will inspire, ignite a dare to achieve mentality, a story that will go down in history, not just because of how many awards it bags , but how much it shaped the lives and the way people saw movie in this part of the world. 

In my search for answers, I discovered the Nollywood audience like to laugh, I pick up an average Nigerian mobile device and go through the gallery and you will find comedy short videos or funny photos with funny write ups. Comedy is chief when it comes to entertainment in Nigeria. But from what I've mentioned above comedy apparently doesn't give such results. You have a good laugh and when's it's over, apart from lighting your heart, there's no other impact in your life, nothing to hold unto that will get you thinking and imagining. This is partly why our youths are not thinking outside the box. If we don't think outside the box, we will never invent the iPhone and iMac, we will never invent space ships to send men outside the planet, we will never figure out alternative sources of energy to run our vehicles and power stations, there are more to discover and Nigeria with so much potentials is finding it hard to catch up, there is no proper inspiration, everybody wants to laugh. If Buhari messes up, it becomes comedy. If a celebrity's shady past catches up to her, it becomes comedy. Even if Donald Trump wins the election in the US (not majorly our business), it becomes comedy. The trend keeps going on year after year and this has become mainstream entertainment.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to paint a bad picture of comedy, but apart from making jokes, there's a lot more we can do for entertainment. This is where I come in. Thinking outside the box, but not drifting from reality is just right for making super stories. From my educational background you will know I am a science and technology person, so science fiction is definitely where to look. A science fiction Nollywood movie, thinking of it makes my imagination tingle.

First question answered, three to go. Get answers in subsequent posts. Thanks for reading.

Suremovat.