Hi how are you doing then? My names are Kenway Afam Oforeh, and me and my team are on a quest to create a very compelling animated feature length movie called KINETIK. You are probably asking "Yeah, so what is the big deal? Tons of people have done that " You are right that tons of people have done what we are about to do but they have never done it in Nigeria and trust me that is a very big deal. A lot of my friends have asked me "why not T.V.?" Among many other reasons I think Nigerian T.V. is way too much trouble, too many layers of people to go through and too many asses to kiss and trust me when i say me and my team and I have kissed our own fair share of booty, or booties, if I may. We do hope to come up with a strategy in the near future to navigate our way successfully through the T.V. business though, in the meantime our focus is the big screens:Cinema.
We will be producing this movie in 2D. Even though i've heard a lot of people say that 2D is dead (for the big screens) I actually fail to see that. I personally think that if a story is good any medium can sell it. This is currently my belief. So we have chosen the 2D medium for this story. However I also understand that my belief is also a hypothesis as well. This means, like a scientist, I have to test it to validate it at least for this purpose. I like to put my feet on the ground while looking into the sky. You know what I mean. Nigeria is an unusual terrain to do anything. You have to test every, I mean every, hypothesis before you implement it. No analogs to make reference to. Speaking of hypothesis we have a lot to validate and we hope that as our early adopters, you will help us do that.
From the production point of view I'll be working with four very loyal team members . They are Nathaniel Orji, Seun Odukoya, Alex "Rudewerks" Ighoja and Olubunmi John. Nathaniel will be handling the animation of effects, Seun will be handling the script, Alex will be handling all aspects of the art, and Olubunmi will be assisting me on the animation. I'm a strong fan of lean teams and methods especially at this experimental stage. Our animating technology (Anime Studio Pro 9) helps us effect that.
Anyone who knows us well also knows that we do not take our audience members for granted which is why we have set up this blog. We would like to know what you would like to see in an animated movie without spoiling it for you. I assure you that is no easy task but hey! we've got nothing else to do.
As we actually start this journey officially on this day (30th December) I have just painfully lost my father (at 7.05am ) to cancer. When we get to the end of this journey (i'm assuming that you all go to the big screens to watch this animated feature length movie when we première it), you are likely to see this at the beginning of the end credit "In Memory Of Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Udezurumba Oforeh 5th April 1949 - 30th December 2012". I'll be dedicating this movie to my father.
Because our effort at this stage is experimental whatever you see in this blog will be a work in progress, that means we will end up using a lot of what we validate in principle but not necessarily in detail. We do not want to spoil the movie for you then.
We are very far from our goal as we are not exactly sure what to produce.Our objective right now is to answer 3 very important questions on which the success of our journey lies. One of the 3 the key question to answer is "Can we generate enough interest, with our audience members, to create a highly anticipated movie (animated feature length that is)?" We strongly hope YOU can help us answer that question by expressing to us your like or dislike about whatever you see on our blog. We will consider ourselves successful if the follower-ship of the blog is increasing exponentially: in a viral manner. That means that YOU FOLLOW and then out of excitement YOU tell your friends about the blog and they FOLLOW. We are not asking that you patronize us for the sake of it. We need GENUINE follower-ship: that is YOU make a comment and say something like "I don't like this character's hat or shoes". The next time you read the blog you might just see that we have changed his shoes or hat to what you have recommended. We might even go ahead to use it in the final movie. That will show to you that we are really catering for your needs as regards what you want to see in the final production of this animated feature length. We will even give you some credit (not cash o!....LOL!) for whatever input you make.
So, if truly you like what you see at gut level in this blog, please go ahead and FOLLOW. If the excitement is way too much for you to contain then please go ahead and recommend it to a friend to FOLLOW
We are very far from our goal as we are not exactly sure what to produce.Our objective right now is to answer 3 very important questions on which the success of our journey lies. One of the 3 the key question to answer is "Can we generate enough interest, with our audience members, to create a highly anticipated movie (animated feature length that is)?" We strongly hope YOU can help us answer that question by expressing to us your like or dislike about whatever you see on our blog. We will consider ourselves successful if the follower-ship of the blog is increasing exponentially: in a viral manner. That means that YOU FOLLOW and then out of excitement YOU tell your friends about the blog and they FOLLOW. We are not asking that you patronize us for the sake of it. We need GENUINE follower-ship: that is YOU make a comment and say something like "I don't like this character's hat or shoes". The next time you read the blog you might just see that we have changed his shoes or hat to what you have recommended. We might even go ahead to use it in the final movie. That will show to you that we are really catering for your needs as regards what you want to see in the final production of this animated feature length. We will even give you some credit (not cash o!....LOL!) for whatever input you make.
So, if truly you like what you see at gut level in this blog, please go ahead and FOLLOW. If the excitement is way too much for you to contain then please go ahead and recommend it to a friend to FOLLOW
Before we proceed with our experiment please let me give you a little back story here: KINETIK (formerly KINETIC) was created for EuphoRya! Animation (comics at the time) by Ifeanyi "The Hecklar" Uba in 2005. The fans of the 2 episodes comic book first published in 2006 will see that the plot, characters have changed but the essence remains the same.
We will start with the character profile
We will start with the character profile
CHARACTER PROFILE
RUDIKI “INA” DINJO
5 years ago, after a frantic and futile search he was declared missing by his family and eventually dead.
Present day, he has “resurrected” and reappeared in the most mysterious of manners. Rudiki, is also a partial host of the “Entity”.
Because he is a “street graduate” of psychology, Rudiki is highly proficient and profound in the art of the human mind and how it affects human behaviour. This has enabled him to learn to use effectively the “The Entity’s” expression of his own emotions.
Fondly called “Ina” by his gang members because of his ability to exaggerate fire from a simple spark or flame, Rudiki is strongly of the impression that human race is weak because of their capacity to become emotional and get attached to, other humans and, a set way of doing things. In light of this he is seeks to be constantly detached by being emotionless and to have the quality of water (the ability to be formless especially in his thought patterns, personality and actions.). He has devoted himself to the perfection of his “cause” as he calls it.
Even though he is the real leader of a street gang called “Akan” he has disguised Baba Lado as the leader (Baba Lado actually thinks he is the leader). This way he can easily launch a contingency attack on whoever might pose a threat to the gang.
Rudiki uses as an auto suggestion “I’m not a nice or a bad guy I just understand the laws that govern human
behaviour” to strengthen his desire and belief that he is formless and not emotional but he is really trying to suppress his source of insecurity and weakness: his human nature.
BELIEF SYSTEM:
• No situation has any meaning except the one I give it.
• The end justifies the means
• I’m superior to all humans.
• Your world is a creation of your thoughts
• Life is grey and not black and white
DISLIKES
• Humans (because of their nature-their capacity to be easily attached)
LIKES
• Mixed Martial Arts
• Psychology
ARCHETYPE
• The Lord: (Into Presentation and appearances), Well educated (Especially in the areas of Psychology), has a
cold and unemotional outlook (apathetic).
• The Egotist: Self Centered and self absorbed
• The Boss: Driven
• Villain: Plays games, has a dark and sick sense of humour
• The Shark: Personality change when necessary.
WEAKNESS
• His Desire (if objectively pictured to him he would realize that one actually does get emotional when driven, but he has chosen not to believe it)
POWERS
• Ability to exaggerate fire from a spark or a small flame.
IWE DINJO
Iwe is a seemingly regular Nigerian boy with experiences and aspirations like most Nigerian teens. A football fan with a liking for hooded tops, he is shy of chicks and thinks they “form” too much. He is still battling with the dreaded JAMB exam,which he has flunked once already. Despite all these, he wants to be a successful businessman.
Since the mysterious disappearance of his father and brother, Iwe has lived with his “troublesome” and ever nagging mother and baby sister in a remote but suburban area of Lagos. The cause of his experiences and insecurities however are exclusive to him. He possesses an unusual “inheritance” which has some how stayed hidden since his conception.
Fraught with abysmal confusion, a broken home and the most enigmatic of legacies, young Iwe seeks to understand himself and reunite his family......... or so he thinks.
BELIEF SYSTEM:
• There is good in everyone.
LIKES
• Mixed Martial Arts
• His family
ARCHETYPE
• Nice Guy: thoughtful, helpful, sympathetic, empathetic, easy going.
POWERS
• Pre – recognition / Clairvoyance: Iwe can see a disjointed 10 seconds into the future.
• Empathy: Iwe has the ability to sense and control the emotions and feelings of others.
Because of this, his powers are in proportion to an individual’s perception or belief of him.
WEAKNESS
• The Entity (It uses up so much human energy, every time it manifest itself through its host)
MA-NU
(He who knows)
The mysterious old man, from a powerful lineage of The Clan of the Aro (Meaning Voice) people.
The Aros have been custodians to “The Entity” time immemorial.
Precocious as a child, he developed a profound understanding of “The Entity” and inherited it from his ancestors.
Brash and impatient as a youth, Ma-nu derailed from his pre-destined path and decided to show love to a woman outside his clan circle. But he had to pay a price; he had to strip himself off the mantle of “The Entity”. This he did, concealed in a talisman and placed in a very mysterious but remote forbidden corner of his village; in an oracle called the “long Juju”.
The Aros were well known pre-historic dispute settlers. And it is well known that the “long Juju” was what they used to strengthen the perception of their arbitrating might.
During the civil strife, young boys and men were coerced into forming an army to defend the territorial integrity of the land. During one of its expeditions, one of these young soldiers stumbled across a strange but ancient looking contraption. And his curiosity caused him to “inherit” its contents. In the aftermath of the strife “The Entity” had taken firmly root in another lineage far away from its custodians.
Ma-nu had lost his powers to man’s most misunderstood emotion; love.
Guided by occasional and vague premonitions he will stop at nothing even in his senile state to, find, retrieve and restore “The Entity” to where it belongs: his lineage from the Aro clan.
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Our next post will be a short clip of Rudiki performing a fire "dance". If you follow the blog you will be one of the very first to see the clip. Take care then.
