Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475409
54 I m ps e . o rg My entry into the film Industry in Nigeria (Nollywood) was a path through the Advertising Industry. My experience producing radio and TV commercials revealed to me a lot of possibilities and opportunities considering the prevalent practices in production militating against good quality in production. At this time, it was obvious that sound was a big challenge in Nollywood. When I decided to transition into film, I was met by another set of challenges: 1. Picture editors were solely responsible for sound editing even though there were a lot of people who make music for film at this time. 2. Quality in sound was just a "nice-to-have" to most filmmakers at this time. 3. There were very few specialized film sound technicians who were either nonexistent or inaccessible. I connected with a couple of filmmakers via LinkedIn and sent them emails with links to my show reel made from existing video clip excerpts that I had the sound and music redesigned from scratch. This strategy did a lot of good in landing me my first few opportunities. I learned a lot along the way, since I did not have any formal education in film sound other than all I have learned through video tutorials over the internet and experimentations. I think something that really caught the attention of the filmmakers I contacted was the fact that I could provide film score and sound design—a far better service than the usual at that time. This became a major selling point for me and more filmmakers started considering my services. Unfortunately, identifying as a sound designer and composer meant I would have to do everything audio post-production on my own. It did not take too long before I started experiencing firsthand the pressure and effects of the negligence Nollywood's film productions have to film sound. For feature film, the schedules were usually an unbelievable one to two weeks of film score and sound design and most of the time, production sound suffered a lot from this negligence. I think one of the challenges Nollywood is yet to overcome is the acceptance of the fact that film sound takes a village to execute. Producers would rather hire someone who has the skill set to do it all in audio post-production than breaking down the processes across different sound technicians (if they were available). I can attribute the stagnancy and the unattractiveness in Nollywood's sound community to two things: the film culture in Nollywood and poor quality control structure. Our film culture is the type that considers sound as an afterthought. It is usually a case where planning and breaking down of sound processes during pre-production is either nonexistent or met with contempt. This attitude trickles down the line from the limitations set on production to post- production. Films that are shot without sound in mind and shot in locations that compromise sound fidelity without adequate plans will never sound great. Moreover, the sound community would have grown if the film culture encouraged specialization. Until now, it is almost impossible to specialize in one aspect of audio post-production, for instance being a dialogue editor, a Foley artist, or a sound effects editor. In other words, nobody reckons with you if you can't do it all. Budget is another factor even though I try not to talk much about it when it concerns Nollywood productions—not because it isn't important, but I do this because the intent of this discussion is often easily misunderstood. Aside from the fact that it costs a fortune to run a post-production studio; there are many other factors that trigger these expenses other than the expertise the producer is willing to pay for. The fact that most film producers have little or no clue about audio post-production makes it very difficult for them to comprehend why certain budgets should be allocated to sound post-production. The scheduling would have been a lot better if they had an idea of what actually goes into each of the stages and maybe considered hiring more hands if they wanted it executed in a shorter time. Even at that, all these processes shouldn't have been lumped on one person. On the other hand, the quality control structure in place is inadequate and does not necessarily drive the need for filmmakers to consider satisfying technical requirements (particularly for sound, in this regard). Even though we have a structure that rewards quality in filmmaking in Nollywood and Africa, it still does not recognise sound as expected. The categories of awards available in the sound department are also shallow and further mask the relevance and attractiveness of sound in filmmaking. This negligence to sound in filmmaking has been a deep-rooted issue in Nollywood, a condition that might have been resolved through the reorientation of the industry followed by the open- mindedness of the same to the amazing possibilities available to appropriating sound for film. If we all agreed that sound is at least 50% of a film by now there should have been several candid conversations about the growth of our film sound on the decline. Many sound technicians in Nollywood watch Hollywood films and admire the amazing work, dedication and passion put into their films. We understand our film budgets may not be the same but we always hope to find ourselves creating masterpieces like these, at least if our productions were structured for excellence in sound. So far, for most of us, we are stuck at this stage of hope. Some people in the industry have also suggested that we considered collaborations as a means to strengthening the sound community. This was first an appealing way out till we were cornered by tiny film sound