Yeah, yeah, I know lovers of mediocrity will be up in arms but this is a conversation
we must have. This is a question that must be asked: are Cameroonians films videography or cinematography? Simply put, do the reels of films our toddler industry is increasingly churning out worthy of the appellation movie or film in the professional sense of the word? Or are they nothing more than video lengths of motion with no underlying artistic logic or design? Are our films just “persons caught on camera”. Don”t get me wrong. Nobody is denying the socio-cultural function of self-projection that our films play, no that is not the issue. Somebody is simply asking when we will focus on quality. As the film industry goes up a notch, this is a question we must answer soonest. An industry cannot start, exist and thrive on just the socio-cultural value. So let”s ask ourselves the
question, are our films more of videography or cinematography?
I will argue not only against Cameroonian films/movies or video as I call them but all movies/films produced by an African production house.
From all the Cameroonian/African movies/films that I have seen, none qualify to be raised to a professional standard when it comes to production quality.
Starting from pre-production (location sourcing, lighting, sound, framing shots, test shots, equipment used) to post-production (editing, sound, after effects) cinematography or motion pictures is not a word that will apply to the movies/films unfortunately.
The truth is it takes a lot of planing both before and after filming and also good equipment (cameras, lenses, lights, sound, camera supports etc etc) to be able to produce beautiful cinematography. And the most important of all a talent DP (Director of photography) to pull out beautiful motion pictures. Until a Cameroonian or African production house is able to do that, I am afraid all the movies/films made will always look like home video shot on a home camera aka videoish