“Editing is Audience Manipulation”: Martini Akande on the Power of Film Editing in Nollywood

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Before becoming a professional film editor, Martini Akande started his Nollywood journey as an actor. Until 2016, he was still auditioning for movie roles. When he wasn’t getting acting roles as he would have wanted, he, and his friends, decided to start making films of their own. They thought they could start making their own films if people would not put them in their films. They started shooting short films but couldn’t find any decent editor to edit them. Meanwhile, Martini’s side hustle was event videography and events editing as he pursued his acting career, so when they couldn’t find anyone better to edit the short films, his friends asked him to try his hands at them.

Over time, they shot a film, he edited it and they put it out. From there, people started reaching out to him for editing gigs, so much so that “I totally forgot that I was supposed to be an actor.” As he edited more videos and films, he realised the power and magic of editing in coveying the storytelling of a movie. “There is so much that editing can add and take out of a film. So I started studying more on editing, watching YouTube videos and started watching a lot of movies with excellent editing.”

Martini has edited more than 11 feature films, including critically acclaimed films like the newly released “Christmas in Lagos,” “Gangs of Lagos,” “Brotherhood,” and “Glamour Girls.” Among other nominations, in 2022, he was nominated in the Best Picture Editor category for “Brotherhood” at the 9th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA). In this interview, Martini discusses his journey, his favourite edited film, his work with Jade Osiberu on various projects and a project he’s working on next.

Hey Martini. When did you realise that, “yeah, it’s no longer acting”?

It was gradual. About four or five years ago, I looked back and was like, wow I’ve actually stopped pursuing my acting career. I just realised that I was going less for auditions. I was getting more sucked into this film editing thing that I just discovered. I started going less for auditions and at a point, I stopped going totally. Up until 2018, I was still in the African Magic series, Borokini, as an actor. But I was already editing professionally since 2016. In fact, in 2019, I had a small role, which I still do from time to time like “Christmas in Lagos” where I had a very small role. Sometimes, I still feature here and there, as an actor. But I’m not constantly pursuing an acting career.

So, it was gradual. I’ll not say there was one day when I decided because I never made that decision that I was done. Till now, if I find something that is worth my time and while, I can still act. But it won’t be as, “Oh my God, I have to be an actor” anymore. I’m an editor now.

As a writer, I enjoy what editing does to my work. It shapes it into the best form possible. But I know it is somewhat dissimilar to movie editing. Typically, how long does it take to edit a movie? What does it mean to be a movie editor, and what is the process like?

To be honest, sometimes it’s hard to define what an editor does. But what I would call it is interpreting footage, interpreting a bunch of clips, or a bunch of rushes to the audience. How you interpret it is by how you bring shots together. A film is made up of scenes, right? So, the job starts from how you put every scene together. Scene 13 might be shot on day 1 of the shoot and scene 1 might be shot on the last day of the shoot.

So, what the editor does is select the necessary the important shots that tell that story. You know, several takes have been done for a particular scene, but it is the editor’s job to say, this is the best part of this particular take that is going to convey the emotion that is going to convey what is happening in this scene to the audience. You make this decision by how you cut, when you cut, the reaction shots that you use and how long the reaction shot stays for. This is how you convey the information.

For instance, the script says Tayo hits his leg on a stone and falls. The editor edits and brings the clip together to establish Tayo, the stone he will hit his leg on and the moment when you let the audience anticipate the moment when he’s going to hit his leg against that stone. Basically, editing is storytelling. Sometimes, I like to call it manipulation. It is manipulating the audience to feel sad, happy or jump from their seats.

Thank you for this informative analysis. Does being a colourist work into editing itself or is it different?

Most people refer to me as a colourist, but I don’t refer to myself as one, at least not yet. Most of what I do is film editing and post-production management, which is like managing the entire post-production process after the film has been shot. But colour grading is not the same thing as editing. I mean, we kind of use the same tools, but being a colourist and being an editor are completely different things. Colour grading and colour correction are stuff that I do on the side. If someone needs me to do that service for them, I can. But for the broad definition, I am an editor and a post-production manager.

How did you get to work on “Gangs of Lagos,” “Brotherhood,” and “Christmas in Lagos” recently?

The three films you’ve mentioned were all directed or produced by Jade Osiberu. But I still don’t know how Jade found me. She reached out to me in 2021 and asked me to edit “Gangs of Lagos.” But I was busy on Venge, an MNet series. One year later, in 2022, she was looking for an editor again. She reached out to someone, and that person now came to me and by then, I was available. But this time, she was looking for an editor for “Brotherhood.” So, we met and had the agreement. I started working on “Brotherhood.”

When I was about to finish Brotherhood, she said, “Oh there’s this Gangs of Lagos film that we are still editing, do you want to take it up after you’re done with Brotherhood?” I said why not? So, that was how I got on “Gangs of Lagos” after “Brotherhood.” I guess she liked the work I did on those two films. In late 2023, I found out that I was going to be editing Christmas in Lagos.

What is it like working with Jade?

She’s fantastic. My favourite part about working with her is that she understands film. Like, she understands film and filmmaking. I call her a student of film. You know, a lot of times you don’t find a director who likes film as much as you, the editor. So, when I say she likes film, not like you like the film you’re working on, but you generally just love filmmaking. You love watching films. So, she’s a student of film and that makes it very easy to work with her. We can bounce off references and ideas. It’s easy for her to communicate what she’s trying to say, even if she doesn’t know how to achieve it on the software.

I would love to know the highlight of working on “Christmas in Lagos”

My editing journey started with editing weddings and events. So, when “Christmas in Lagos” came, and it was heavy on Christmas, family, music, you know, December. It felt like home. A lot of relatable characters, a lot of funny moments. So, the highlight for me was working on something and enjoying it – being able to work with music with good performances.

Was there a challenge?

The highlight is probably still the challenge because there were so many characters. The film has four love stories and two love triangles between them. Merging all of these together and giving them the amount of screen time they needed was a bit of a challenge, but I guess we made it work.

Was there a particular point that you said to yourself, “Yes, we have a movie”?

That is the sequence I call the early night sequence. It starts with the choir rehearsal and ends with the church presentation of Waje, whose character is Sister Caroline. That sequence is my favourite part of the film. It was when I felt like, yes, we have a banger.

Nollywood produces a lot of movies every year, and you are already doing your best to take the industry to the next level of height. But what’s next for you, Martini?

What’s next is whatever project comes my way. I am also exclusively announcing that I’m working on a workshop for editors to help them create a pathway for aspiring editors into Nollywood. More details will come through my personal platforms later this year. I’m currently working on a project that is like a return to one of those popular films from our childhood. I’m also looking forward to a musical at some point.

What would you consider as the highlight of your journey so far?

Well, the highlight of my journey so far would probably be getting nominated for the AMVCA for “Brotherhood.” You know, I tried to make that film look good. I remember editing “Brotherhood” on my birthday in September 2022. I did not have a birthday that year. Because I was editing Brotherhood for 24 hours. Like, throughout that day, I could not even see my fiancée, now my wife. She planned a surprise and we could not see it. Because I was editing Brotherhood. So getting that nomination felt like, “Okay, it was worth it.” There are many highlights, but that one stands out.