Recently, I’ve been looking at ladies working in our entertainment industry (mostly those in and around Buea) and I couldn’t help but notice how many of them have “video vixen” written proudly in their social media bio. I mean, I didn’t know Buea was such a lair for foxes, hehehe.
I have always had a problem with that word vixen, other than when it is used of course, for the female of a fox. Rap music and misogyny have a troubled past, and present, as a matter of fact. And young women proudly tagging themselves with a name that bears the stain of that troubled relationship seems rather queer. Maybe they don’t know the history behind it, or maybe they just don't care. Weti be ma own dey?
All that to say, video vixens and make-up artists are some of the most sought-after jobs in our industry, besides the obvious actor/actress, singer, video director and photographer. Whereas there exists a number of other positions that are vacant and either filled by people who for lack of trained professionals have to do it, or by imposters who do a bad job at it.
That’s why today I want to talk about the role of an Artistic director.
For explanatory purposes, I will focus essentially on music videos because these productions are more numerous in our entertainment industry.
So, when it comes to music videos, the artistic director is the person who is in charge of the creative direction of the video with regard to matters of aesthetics. To put it simply, they are in charge of what will constitute the IMAGERY of the videos. In effect, a heavy part of what we call ‘the visuals’ is determined by the artistic director. This means that they are heavily involved in the planning and pre-shoot process. They will sit down with the musician and people from the label, as well as with the video director to decide what path to take in the imagery and what and who will be needed for said purposes. Sometimes they have to run with what the label wants, other times they have full creative control.
Art direction is crucial because it takes into account a lot of technical work too. That is, things like lighting, camera movements and even the editing.
This means that if you are not naturally a very creative person, then this is not something you should venture into. People in art direction are usually very perspicacious people who often see little details in ordinary everyday things that we all otherwise miss. They are also very gifted with their hands and are good at picking up skills that deal with arts and craft e.g sewing, decorating, papier-mâché, painting, drawing etc. I’m sure you see where I’m going with this.
What I’m saying is that you need to naturally be a very curious and creative person to really suit such a role. Furthermore, you have to be able to pick up skills in other areas and in technical parts of the job such as photography, editing, lighting, set design etc. At the very least you should have a very good and in-depth understanding of these areas.
In the western world, people who do such jobs sometimes go to art school. We really don’t have such schools here in Cameroon, so your best bet is either travelling abroad or taking the less expensive but limited online option.
Something else you can do is to surround yourself with creative individuals. Meet museum curators, visit painters, sketch artists, writers, choreographers, actors, sculptors, jewellery manufacturers and clothes designers. When I say clothes designers, I’m talking about those who create original pieces; not the ones who slap a logo on tee-shirt and call themselves designers. READ a lot about African history and the history of art. Take virtual tours of foreign museums. Go to our palaces and visit the museums. Take pictures and get inspired. Cameroonian culture and history is rich and has a lot to feed your creative mind.
I’m not sure how it happens here as I have never really been on the set of a music video, but I’ve been made to understand that roles can sometimes overlap as our video directors often are responsible for the artistic direction of the videos. And in a way, it makes sense because good directors are often quite creative and need to bounce a lot of ideas in order to come up with something unique for each video they shoot.
But I am talking here about a unique position and an individual who shoulders this responsibility and is able to come up with new and attractive ideas every time for what a video should look like.
I’ve always admired the work of Adah Akenji. I think one of the most interesting videos he has done from the artistic point of view is Blanche Bailly’s “Dinguo.”
Apart from being my favourite of all Blanche’s song, I particularly like the video. The mannequin “playing” the role of the love interest, the plastic feel of the video, and the bright colours give a certain....plastic feel to the video. I don’t know how else to describe it. It gave Blanche Bailly a certain Barbie look which connected to her plastic mannequin love interest as well as the other props used in the video. It was quite avant-gardist and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
A lot of people in the comment section complained lol. But I think it’s because we are so used to seeing the same type of videos packaged up in different attires. We actually need more of such ideas. But even Adah Akenji, as good as he is, can run out of ideas too. The recent debacle with the Awu-Yayato video is an example. And then Geraldrico Guevara came in and look in what creative/artistic direction he took the video.
I recently directed a video shoot and the whole process of trying to make use of the little space and figuring what props we could incorporate into the video, arguing over what background to use and how to edit was an overall fun one. And I think someone really creative would very much enjoy dictating the artistic process of music videos, photoshoots etc and getting paid for it.
So, if you are a very creative person, this is something that you should consider. Take the time to read up as much as you can, watch as many videos as you can, find any online course and look for internships with music video directors. Just try to be on set and observe. Even if you have to start as the person serving water to the filming crew, go there and learn. In two years you can make something of it.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
- Wandji Wilfred.
Photo credit: Adah Akenji
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