AESTHETIC APPRAISAL OF SELECT NOLLYWOOD EPICS AND THE REALITY OF POPULAR CULTURE

Abstract

This study explored aesthetic appraisal of select Nollywood epic films and the realities of popular culture. Content analysis and survey method were adopted with the use of the questionnaire interview schedule and coding sheet as instruments for data collections. The study was guided by the aesthetics theory and cultural imperialism theory. The population for the study was in three streams; the first stream was the 10 selected epic films for content analysis, the second stream was the 92 mass communication lecturers in the six selected universities in the South-South States of Nigeria and the third stream was the 187 registered members of the Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN).The sample for the study was the selected epic films, the 92 mass communication lecturers which was determined because the research adopted the census technique and 3 executive members of DGN who were interviewed. 92 copies of questionnaire were administered and retrieved, interviews were conducted and content analysis was carried out on the epic films. The result from the analysis of the data gathered shows that the aesthetic elements employed by epic film producers in Nollywood include dress pattern, architectural design, sound, music, make-up, hairdo, language, lighting, furnishing and colour; that epic films are interlaced with popular culture in various ways, ranging from type of food, conflict resolution, dress pattern, language etc; that experts believe that there is synergy between Nollywood epic film offering and popular culture appreciation of aesthetics experience. The research therefore recommends that Nollywood filmmakers should continue to adopt the existing aesthetic elements including dress pattern, architectural design, music, make-up, hairdo, language, lighting, furnishing and colour as well as camera angles; that Nollywood epic film producers and directors should insist on avoiding the interlace of popular culture aesthetics in epic films, that Nollywood epic film producers and directors should continue to promote epic film aesthetics as this has the tendency to develop new ideas in popular culture.