Grand Ma

Here's Grand Ma.

BINO and FINO African cartoon Character Designs

Bino

Fino

Bino and Fino !!

Here they are! Bino and Fino. Here's a sneak peek at our latest project. It's an animation for kids. Bino and Fino are brother and sister. They are curious about the world, loveable and sometimes mischievous!

We'd like much feedback as that will help us in the making of the project. Those of you with young children of your own or as relatives we really need to hear from you. Those who don't, tell your friends with children about us. What would they like to see in a children's animation that's Nigerian/African in origin?

Children's media is powerful so we need to make sure we are well represented in it. How many of you out there still remember Sesame Street or Voltron fondly? More importantly, how many of you were inspired by programmes you saw as a child? We believe there is room out there for animations for young kids that have black African characters at their heart. This is important both for the African and non African audience out there.

Are we wrong or right? Let us know by leaving a comment because your feedback will help in the shaping of this project. It's an in house project and one that EVCL hopes to fund in its entirety. Not because we wanted to but because we had to as we were getting tired of trying to 'convince' people to invest in us.

Spread the word guys!

Our 1st Animation Series Production

Hi all. We’ve started pre production on an animation title that we hope will be a game-changer for the blossoming Nigerian/Sub Saharan Animation market. The subject matter will surprise those of you familiar with our work.

It will be an interesting journey. We're looking forward to working with a lot of talented people on this project. We want to produce something of great quality that will be of genuine value to the audience.

Most details are confidential now but we’ll update you all as things progress. But in case you don't hear from us for a while, we've got our heads down working (not sleeping in front of our computer sceens!).

Planes, Immigration and Nigerians.

Here’s a short animation inspired by the recent negative publicity that Nigeria has been receiving in the international media. Nigeria has been tagged in a Sony Playstation ad, the District 9 movie and even in a little mention in Avatar (cough and you’ll miss that one). Now with the recent unfortunate airplane bombing attempt by a Nigerian national it seems like the international media has got a new target to attack. Nigeria is now shorthand for anything bad in the international media’s eyes. Travelling with a Nigerian passport was bad enough already but now it’s definitely going to be more ‘interesting’...



Nigerians aren’t all saints by any stretch of the imagination. I’m not saying that..
. And god knows the country has big issues to deal with. But Americans aren’t all angels. Neither are the British, Russians, Europeans, Chinese, South Africans or any nation for that matter. Nigerians at home or in Diaspora should stop apologising for being Nigerian whether you still have the Nigerian passport or are now a citizen of another country. If you are honest in what you are doing why do you need to hide?

A lot of Nigerians are setting up groups on online forums and social sites with titles like ‘Nigerians are not Terrorists’ or ‘Nigerians Love Peace’. To me this misses the point and also is slightly scary. Has our national psyche been reduced to a level where we feel we have to apologise for everything a few Nigerians do so we can be let into countries such as the U.S. or U.K. etc? Some Nigerians are even changing their names now.


Those countries and more have proven terrorists than we do. This is our first case. Those countries also have fraudsters, corruption, prostitution, mafias, racism etc. But I don’t see them apologising to us and other countries in that manner. When a U.S., British, E.U., Chinese etc citizen comes to our country, they are treated like kings. In my opinion that is because, for good or bad, those countries have the confidence to fight for their corner in a smart and strong way.


I have nothing against those countries. I lived in the UK for a long time and still love London as a city and will always do. They are just doing what they have to do to further their cause. I believe we have to do the same and play the smart long term game. On a general level, that means a strong confident Nigeria that looks inward to solve its problems before demanding respect and help from others. Media is a powerful tool in achieving that. International media houses are free to report in any manner they wish. And of course it’s not; say CNN’s or other media outfits, responsibility to report wonderful things about Nigeria.


I just feel they should not pretend to be objective and factual when they are not. One only has to watch the recent reporting on the bombing attempt to understand this. First it was an attacking frenzy on everything Nigerian and how we are corrupt etc. When it turned out that the family of the young man actually warned relevant authorities and Western security agencies could be at fault, the media had to alter their direction on how they were reporting the issue.


Yes, travelling will now be hell and humiliating for many, especially our respected elderly. But I’m not apologising for being Nigerian to anybody. That’s just ridiculous.


Adamu Waziri


EVCL

Nigerians Love FOOTBALL!!

Here's an animation we just wrapped up. If there's one thing that binds our crazy country Nigeria together, it is sport. And the biggest one is FOOTBALL!! This short piece was inspired and is dedicated to that idea. We were looking at developing a 2D animated style for this and to keep things simple and punchy. The soundtrack actually drove the visuals/character development for the piece. We wanted something Nigerian viewers could identify with.

We loved the end result and intend to produce more of them in the future with corporate sponsorship. 

Music Video Animation

This is a music video animation done a few years ago which has been remixed for 2009. The concept is loosely based on the idea of creation. It was done for the artist Adama.

Anti Malaria TVC

Here’s a TVC we loved working on. It’s for an extensive anti malaria campaign that was run by the Society for Family Health organisation in conjunction with international bodies here in Nigeria. We were called up by Flint Productions to produce a realistic 3D mosquito for two

Nigerian Sci-Fi Movie

Here are stills from an idea of a sci-fi/magical movie based in Nigeria that we’ve been toying around with for a while. It is an idea that came way before District 9 before anyone comments. The idea itself is nothing new to be honest. What’s interesting is the angle of how it would work in the West African

WIP: The Rule of Law....

These are stills from a project we are working on. The current project title is ‘The Rule of Law’. The Nigerians amongst you will understand the title as will those familiar with our political terrain. This is a highly detailed 3D model of probably the most famous man in the country in the moment, President Umaru Yar’adua.

The sculpture tries to capture the immense inner pressures that come with leading Africa’s most populous nation. EVCL’s Sageer Mohammed had to rely mainly on poor quality images as references. It is actually based on a model that he did for a competition on the Nairaland forum. However working with EVCL director Adamu Waziri the 3D model was worked on further to get it more realistic.

WIP: Mother and Child

Here’s a work in progress still from ‘Mother & Child’, our in house animation experiment. We’ve more or less got the character design we want and we are now working on the background setting.  

Anti Malaria Campaign

These are shots from an advert we did a while ago. It was for the Society of Family Health in Nigeria. It was a spot to educate the general public about anti malaria medication. We were asked by Flint Productions to handle elements of the visual effects. The core of this focused on creating a 3D mosquito that would realistically blend with the HD footage.

3D Fulani Lady

Here are some shots of a 3D model of a Fulani lady done by EVCL character modelling supremo Sageer Mohammed Carpenter. It based on a photo of a Fulani lady from Yola State. He used a bit of artistic licence to achieve the character pose as in the picture she was seated. It’s one of Sageer’s earlier works.

Mother & Child

Here are some scans from the storyboard for a short animation piece we are doing. It will have a simple 2D visual style loosely based on a West African painted artistic style. We want to achieve something simple and elegant. It’s a bit of experimentation at achieving a specific look.