CRITIQUE ON INSPEKTA MWALA

Hi, my name is Peter Mwangangi and I’m critiquing Inspekta Mwala,a local Kenyan drama aired every Monday from 7:30 pm-8:00pm on Citizen TV. It has 3 short sessions of 5-7minutes. It is about police in a local station called ‘kona mbaya.’

1st Feb. 2010
Dolling was used to show a drug dealer who posed as a seller of teddy bears. There was a close up of the trader’s shoes to give an idea of the financial status. Long shots of the police station are taken to show its location. Medium shots and close ups were used to show the police officers talking to each other-purposely to bring out the effect of their loose/broken Swahili. There are long shots of a lady going to the police station and later on long shots of Inspekta Mwala who acts out as a child and gets the drugs in the dolls. This is amid sound effects to increase the tension about what may happen. Finally, the dealer gets arrested.

8th Feb. 2010
This was the pre-valentine week. There was a base camera angle of a tyre and legs of a thief moving a tyre and also of soldiers chasing after him to show how they were really exhausted. There was a close up to show the struggle between the thief and a police officer as Mwala tried to put handcuffs on him. A base angle is used to show superiority of the police officers over the criminal.

15th Feb. 2010
There is a close-up of parents talking peacefully at a leisure park whereby a balloon seller who is actually a mobile phone thief approaches. There is a blurred shot of soldiers which sharpens as they approach the parents. There is a close up of sleeping cops complaining. The mobile thief uses kids to get their parent’s mobile phones and a long range of her escaping is shown. Dolling is used to show the chase between the parents towards the thief as she is finally caught.

22nd Feb. 2010
The drama starts with medium shots of a husband and wife talking about family affairs. A base angel is used to show a man washing a motorcycle. Too much time is used to show a car going from home to the place of work. A good shot is taken from the mirror of the car to show a person approaching from behind. This makes the viewer feel as if s/he is the one in the car. There are long shots of police officers at work (night patrol). A close-up of a license is used to show the contents therein and of drugs tucked in a sack supposedly carrying grass. The driver of the car (not the criminal), is arrested.