EthioBlog

Music Videos Move Beyond 'ETV Style'

Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
NEWS
September 19, 2006
Posted to the web September 19, 2006

The making of music videos or clips in Ethiopia has over the past years matured into an industry that keeps on growing due to the demand for more creativity.

Music videos in Addis Abeba were traditionally considered to be dull, associated with a singer standing in front of a beige curtain on one of the ETV sound stages with a microphone in her hands as she lip-synched to a song, often nervously and off beat.

According to Hailemariam Segewokal, co-founder of Artist Developments Clinic Films and Vision 20/20 Studios, music videos produced some 30 plus years ago were actually more attractive in their content. But there was a period when the 'curtain' or picture background with the performer holding a mike became a norm for music clips. He said that this unfortunate habit defeated the whole purpose of the music video, for it lacked the storytelling aspect the format should contain.

As the years progressed, special effects were included in some of the clips; colourful moving picture backgrounds and kaleidoscopes were just two of many tricks that came into style.

Clips were comical to some, interesting to others, but were generally not taken seriously. As far as many were concerned, it was just something your eyes rested on while your ears did the listening; you looked, without really watching.

In these past few years however, the music video scene has developed a more western approach. Upcoming new directors and producers are trying to make clips that will be more appealing to the young, including a continental and international audience.

According to Hailemariam, music videos in Addis Abeba are poorly done because of the unavailability of high-tech equipment, stylish creativity and full-time professionals.

He said that if every Tom, Dick and Harry starts making a video based on his knowledge of wedding video shooting than the industry has no chance of getting to where it should be.

He has noticed progress in the past couple of years especially with people working with positive energy; one of these people is Aida Ashenafi, producer of Johnny Ragga's new album Kulfun Sign and director of two of his music videos that were nominated for the Channel "O" Best music video in the Reggae Category in both Africa and East Africa.

"These days, people think about what the music video is going to be like once they have heard half a song", said Hailemariam referring to the young Ethiopian population from Addis Abeba and its neighbouring towns.

"Girls in Addis always have a DVD or CD in their purses."

On comparing the traditional music video style to the current one, he said that traditional music videos include a lot of dancing and ignored the acting aspect.

Aida, co-founder and partner of Mango, which is a communication company co-shared with Feleke Deneke, told Fortune that music videos in Addis Abeba have progressed quite significantly since she returned to the country seven years ago.

According to her, casting in music videos is not so difficult in Ethiopia, because Ethiopian women are generally beautiful. Aida said that all she has to is find someone who is comfortable in front of the camera.

It may be take a while to convince the public on the new direction of music video. One music fan, an architect aged 27, said that she did not understand why there was so much hype about something that is going to end up as dull as our film industry.

She added that although she is a great music fan, she always gets turned off when she sees an Ethiopian music clip. The cast try too hard, she said, making her irritated or making it all seem unintentionally hilarious.

A Unity College student, aged 24, was slightly more positive. She stated that she was happy to notice that some of the music videos coming out are becoming more interesting and even pleasant to watch. She said that although she really is not an Ethiopian music video fan, she appreciated that there is an obvious improvement.

A minibus driver said that he loved Johnny Ragga's Kulfun Sichign clip because he liked the part where different people of a variety of ages and features pretend to play musical instruments.

Yet another commentator was a 15-year-old high school student who said she liked some of the local music videos. She nevertheless preferred watching American music clips because they were more hip.

Proving that the old ETV style of video-making might be missed by some, a 49-year-old mother of three said that she did not understand why westernization was necessary for music videos to be considered good. She stated that by trying to be American, directors and producers are not selling what they should, which is Ethiopian music and culture.

Despite the fact that a lot of people seem to be sceptical about the music video industry, the Johnny Ragga videos nomination is a clear sign that Ethiopian music clips are getting noticed and accepted in a bigger audience than just local one.

Source: AddisFortune