Pathbreaking experimental and technological directing aesthetics in Kunle Afolayan’s October I

Abstract

Nigerian film directors have in recent times taken film productions to the next level with various blockbusters and large-budget films made, using state-of-the-art audio-visual digital technologies to frame their narratives. Their cinematographic inventions have been responsible for the aesthetics that trail the new achievements, which culminated in the projected big screens in cinemas and at film festivals across the globe. It is on this premise that this study examines the directorial and performative experimentation of Kunle Afolayan in the film, October 1. This study employs descriptive and analytic methods of research, in which in-depth descriptive analyses of the various experimental approaches in the production of October 1 were used. The study finds that the directorial style used in the movie is indeed experimental in technological exploration, which is a departure from the usual styles employed by most Nigerian film makers. Again, the narrative method used in the film is a novel method of revealing mysterious stories by withholding pieces of information in a cinematographic work. The study concludes that the film October 1 is directorially unique based on the experimentations in cinematography and designs. It is therefore recommended that film directors should employ technology that will enable them to tell their film stories in a more fascinating manner that will remove boredom and monotony that have characterised most Nigerian movies.