Stanley Ohikhuare Set to Release First Nigerian Animation Movie.

Staying glued to his I-Mac Apple computer with his hands fidgeting with the mouse, the artist talked on in his studio called Stanleesworld. One moment he seems to be meditating with the characters he is creating and the next, he is laughing and mimicking some his animated beings. 
Stanley Ohikhuare reveals that he is not only a trained artist, but was born with the talent.


“What I did was just to consolidate on my God-given talent by going to study arts at Yaba College of Technology Lagos and University of Benin respectively to study Fine and Applied Arts. I believe art is not something you work for, it’s a talent you: don’t just know how it gets to you.”
Ohikhuare specialized in all kinds of painting; oil on canvas, water colour, oil on paper, pastel and so on but went into graphics when he worked with some advertisement agencies in Lagos . He explains that he went into the advertising field because there were some works he saw and felt he could do better and the experience and skills he acquired in graphics helped him to explore other areas in arts.
 “I wanted to do graphics along with painting because there were some designs I always saw and felt I could have done better. I learnt the use of computer from graphic designing, web designing, multimedia, 2D, 3D animation to video editing, compositing and special effects.”
 Apart from the painting he does, which is no less ubiquitous, Ohikhuare learnt the art of animation. This is a kind of art that is more demanding and involves all the processes to produce the finished product. At present, the art of animation is not very popular in the country and is limited to commercials alone. The artist said that the curiosity which he developed as a kid when he watched animated cartoon movies propelled him into developing an interest in animation.
 “I had always admired animation as a kid; I watched Sesame Street and Tom and Jerry and always wondered how these films are made. This led me to animation which was hitherto unknown in Nigeria some few years ago. I got the tools and software needed and started learning animation and today, I have not only learnt it, I am ready to produce an animated movie here in Nigeria .”
 Animated movies appears interesting from a viewer’s perspective but it is very tasking and demanding for the artist who produces these works. The procedures, according to Ohikhuare, include conceiving and writing the script. The script the characters are chosen either to appear in human or animal form. These are drawn on a storyboard; this shows the illustrations of what’s going to happen and all that has to be done must stick to the storyboard. After the preparation of the storyboard, you get to the character design; this is where you decide on what the characters are going to look like, their clothe designs etc. At this point, the work is taken back to the 3D application where modelling of the designed characters starts; it’s like using clay to mould the characters but this is done using computer software. After modelling comes rigging. This process tends to give bones to the created characters to enable movement.
Scaling follows rigging and helps in attaching the bones to the mesh or already designed body so that the bones will be able to affect and deform the mesh. After that comes mapping and texturing to give the animated characters a life human or animal appearance, this can be achieved using Adobe Photoshop to generate the maps needed to make them look real.  The next phase the characters will pass through is animation or movement; this takes care of the movement, jumping, walking, limb movement etc. Lip Sing comes after the movement fine-tunes the facial expressions which make their lips to move in speech, crying, etc.

 The environment the characters will appear in and corresponding sounds needed are also designed and the necessary sounds like rain, thunder, smoke developed by the special effects technique. It is at this junction that compositing is done; this is incorporating all the different processes into the designed scene as illustrated in the storyboard.  The work is almost finished and is finally rendered into a video file or image sequence before been passed through an editing software where the voices and other sounds are put. A final rendering is done before outputting the finished job.
 Such a demanding job you may say but Ohikhuare says animation make s him do all he loves to do at the same time.
 “Animation makes me do all the things I love to do as an artist; I draw, I paint, I mould, I do graphics all at the same time.
His clientele transverses multinationals like MTN, Celtel, Coca-Cola, Oando , Nigeria Breweries to corporate bodies and individuals like comedians Basketmouth, Gbenga Adeyinka including confectionaries like Chicken   Republic .
Ohikhuare explains that for now, animation is limited to commercials alone but he is working on a project to produce a world standard animated. The movie, titled Lifespan, is based on the rich cultural heritage of Benin in Edo  State where the artist hails from and has Nigerian locations, names and scenes. 
Lifespan is a story of a royal clan of mosquitoes, situated in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, over 4000 years ago, which tried to get a magical solution to malaria by embarking on a quest to a cave inhabited by men. Their goal is to get a dose of blood from a human body to perform a ritual of purification that will put an end to the spread of malaria since they didn't want to transmit malaria anymore, so as to co-exist with mankind peacefully. The twist in the story comes in form of a hidden agenda from the Queen of the mosquito clan.
“We want to use Lifespan to pass positive messages about Nigeria . Lifespan is about love, compassion and making people more aware of malaria. Lifespan will entertain as well as educate everybody,” Ohikhuare said.
The movie features the voices of notable actors and actresses, such as Joke Silva, Queen Shebaz; Kate Henshaw - Queen Shekil; Bola Edwards - Akpor; Ashionye Ivie, and Femi Sowoolu - Opiah.
 Others are Idia Imahe as Omon; Ighodaro Umaigba as Waspie; Patrick Edwards as the Ant; the comedian, Basketmouth as Scout, while two month-old David Edwards voices as the baby in the cave.
 According to Ohikhuare, two movies namely Taming Toti and Feato had to be stopped to produce Lifespan, which he says will take approximately two years to complete, though it was shown at the unveiling of Mighty Jots Studio, which took place at Planet One, Ikeja, on March 19, this year.
 “I already have five scripts ready but this one is almost ready. I am planning on releasing it next year though I will have to approach animation giants like Walt Disney for the marketing because I cannot afford to market the work here due to activities of pirates. But rest assured that Lifespan will be produced locally but will be of international standards.”

There was the problem of finding suitably qualified professionals in the labour market who are competent in the 3D animation. He also pointed out that finance was the greatest challenge they have encountered on the project, as the movie is estimated at N80 million.
“It would really be a relief if we could get appropriate sponsorship or partnership deals from reputable companies in Nigeria . We are inviting them to be part of Nigeria 's first full 3D animated movie,” he mused.
Presently, the character design and voice recording for the characters have been done. , 90 per cent of the research has also been done. The character animation, texturing, mapping, rigging and skinning, lip synchronization, cloth simulation and dynamic calculations, music score, lighting, set design, props set-up, special effects (audiovisual) rendering, editing and screening are yet to be done.