Nigerian Music Videos - Stepping Up The Quality Game

The foreign music videos were better than our locally produced ones. Despite hits such as: Nico Mbanga (Sweet Mother), Osita Osadebe (Osondi Owendi), Oliver de Coque (Boni boni identity), Mandy Brown (Taxi driver), Onyeka Owenu (One Love), Lorine Okotie (His love is that medicine), Charly boy (Before Before) Chris Okotie (ABC), Evy Edna Ogoli( Happy Birthday), Felyx and Mozes( Free), Felix Liberty(Ifeoma), Stella Monye (Nigeria go survive), as seen in one of my articles "The blossoming Of The Nigerian Music Industry", artistes failed to make the desired impact in the International scene, based amongst other things on the colossal deficient video quality account.

The 90's era was not dramatically better than the 80's, probably the mid 90's when the genre of music towed the path of rap / hip hop and the use of our local parlance in songs began to make the music industry more entertaining as opposed to the 80's. The Remedies (Edris Abdulkareem, Eddie Montana, Tony tetwila) keyed into it and became the rave of the moment at that time. Plantation Boyz (Tu face Idibia, Faze, Black Face) were incredible and soared to greater heights before the group split. The launching of Tu face Idibia's solo career with his hit track "African Queen" catapulted him to the top. Most Nigerians liked his first video, but unfortunately he had to re-shoot another in compliance with the direction of a popular foreign music TV channel. Style Plus's "Olu Fumi" also had a nice video in comparison with many that stormed our TV sets. Paul Play's hit song "Angel of my life" also had a cool video.

Perhaps, the turning point for the making of good quality videos stems from the stable of P- Square with the video for their hit song "Do me" which was shot in South Africa. The video certainly hit the International standard mark with various music inclined TV shows in Nigeria, constantly showing it. Artistes challenged by the solid production began to travel South Africa, USA, and parts of Europe to shoot videos of their songs. They also featured white skinned ladies dancing in the videos. Most top rated artistes patronise directors who have carved niches for themselves in the art of making quality videos. Tops on the list are DJ Tee, Clarence Peters (CEO of Capital Hill) and Bobby Hai.

The rise of Cally Ikpe's "Nigerian Music Video Awards" (NMVA) and Sound City Music Video Awards (SMVA) aimed at rewarding artistes with top notch videos have also contributed to the rise of good quality productions. Besides, artistes who have good videos have easy access to enjoy airplay on MTV Base, Channel O and other International music channels, opening wider, the doors which tend to give them access to fame and fortune.

Good, creative videos are catchy and draw attention to the artistes and of course, the director. Quality music videos that have made waves in Nigeria and even beyond include but not limited to: P- Square (Do me, Roll it, Ifunnaya), Dare Art Alade (Not the girl, More), Tu face Idibia (If love is a crime), Kel (Too fine), Keffi (kokoroko), Naeto C (Kini big deal), Bouqui (Take you away), Infinity (Olori oko), Asa (Fire on the mountain), TY Bello (Green land, Ekundayo), Gino (No be God), Djinee (Lade), DJ Jimmy Jatt (Too much ft Sasha, Blaise, kemistry, Bouqui), Alabai (Voice of God), Mo hit all stars (Pere), Omawunmi (In the music), Nikki Laoye (Never felt this way), Steel (South African girl).

Nigerian music videos have certainly helped artistes to clinch international deals / awards and are getting better daily. The duo of P-Square clinched the KORAH awards held in 2010 at Burkina Faso for the "Artiste of the year" category. The twins went home with the jack pot prize of $ 1 million!.

Access to latest Hi-tech cameras / technology, wild creativity, high level of professionalism on the part of the directors, will make Nigerian videos the talk of the town in foreign countries.

How to Download Music Video Files

As technology progresses so, do the abilities of our mp3 CD players. Today you can download music video files to many of the players on the market. Being able to take your favorite videos with you wherever you go is indeed exciting. However how difficult is it to download music video files to your mp3 music player? That will depend on the player and the software that comes with it.

iPod

In order to download music video files to your iPod you will have to use one of the many programs available to convert the files to ones that will play on the device. This will depend on the iPod version you own and the type of file you are converting. For instance to download music video say from YouTube, you can use the iPod converter. If it is, movies you are interested in you may need to go with one of the others like Vidoera, which is a windows program.

Still other applications to download music video files are:

• Vixy - An online application which allows you to convert flash video files to the iPod format. These are the types of files commonly found on YouTube and a few other video sites. This program will not convert movies or videos from DVD.
• I Squint - This is a program that will help you create video for your iPod. Created exclusively for the MAC this software will let you take movies and videos and convert them to a file format your IPod will recognize.
• Media Fork/ Handbrake - If you want to convert your favorite TV show or movie from DVD you Media Fork / Handbrake will help you do that. This will allow you to download music video, DVD movies, or television shows to your iPod.

All of these programs and many more are available so you can download music video files or movies to your digital Mp3 player. Most are simple to use and come with easy to follow instructions.

Other Mp3 Players

There are many varieties of digital mp3 players on the market today iPod is just one of dozens. Should you have purchased another brand, such as Samsung mp3 player or an import you will find that many come with their own video conversion software built in or on a disc.

You will want to review your owner's manual very carefully before beginning to download music video or movie files to your mp3 player. You could potentially void any warranty if you proceed incorrectly.

Finally, you should use caution when you download music video files or movies from the internet. Not only could you potentially infringe on copyrights you could also end up with a virus in your home pc. The wisest choice will be to either download music video files and movies you already own or purchase them from a reputable site.

How to Create Your Own Music Video

Once an actual song has been written, played and recorded, the video should be the easy part in comparison. Music video's are just a short film which can involve shots of the singer constructed together to either form a short story about the song, or give a person something entertaining to watch while listening to the music.

Generally they are just used as a marketing device to promote either the band/singer or the song involved. Most songs are only a few minutes long, so creating footage for it shouldn't be too difficult or challenging in comparison to a two-hour documentary about Big Foot.

Music video's can be created with a variety of media from animation, live footage or even abstract. If you are considering making one, it should be the medium that you are most comfortable with.

Animation might be easier, but only if you have the programs and know how to use them. Without having to worry about lighting, cameras and people, animation is probably the easiest route to do, as the only real person involved, once you have the song, is the animator. You can decide what you want and have full control over how you want it to look.

In production, getting the right equipment is going to cost a person. However, there are some places, with a bit of research, where you could probably loan the right tools necessary. Standard equipment would include camera, sound and lighting equipment.

Having sound equipment might seem a bit strange, as you are probably going to just play the song over the video. However, if the movie is going to be story based, think how odd it will be for people to be walking without hearing their shoes tap on the ground. There are a lot of general noises that a person wouldn't think were there until they are not.

A location for the shoot can also be problematic if it is a public scene. In some parts of the world, you would need to get permits for a film to be shot. Especially if shooting the film will cause a roadblock or be disruptive to the general public.

The angle of the camera needs to be taken into consideration, as well as how to get the angle. An overhead shot, will have to be taken from a point of height, so a ladder or access to a second story of a building would help. To capture footage of a person walking is easier done if the camera is on some type of wheel device. This makes the camera movement smooth, instead of if being moved up and down with the person who holding the camera, while walking backwards.

Although the music video, once completed, might only be a few minutes long, the general idea when taking footage is an hour worth of footage for a minute's worth of video. Editing is also something that people new, to the industry of film, always forget about. But it is the editing that probably is the most important aspect.

It is here where if any special effects need to be created, are made. Colour, lighting and effects are all done in this step. Decisions on how to go from one shot to another needs to be considered, as well as any text that needs to be used.

There is no real way of making a simple music video. This is only the technical side of things that need to be taken into consideration, but they are just the basics. Any singers or actors starring in the movie need to consider their positions, their movements as well as what they are wearing.

The whole process needs to be thought out from beginning to end. Although music videos can be created without spending too much, just remember that once the video has been made, the real job of promoting the song begins.