CRITIQUE OF INSPEKTA MWALA by Peter Mwangangi

CRITIQUE OF INSPEKTA MWALA by Peter Mwangangi

Watching Inspekta Mwala leaves one feeling that the script should be revised, especially for continuity-the plot doesn’t flow well. There are many scenes which are ‘unnecessary’ as they add no value to the storyline-actually, by the time the first session ends, one almost always doesn’t know what the theme is really. Camera shots are used appropriately, audio is good and lighting is good though not in some few cases which will be highlighted.

22nd February 2010
An establishing shot was used to show a house where a family supposedly lives. Close up shots were used to show a husband and wife talking over family issues. Then a long shot of their car was used to show the car leaving the car. A lot of time used to show the car leaving the house to the work place. Something else could replace this. A shot was taken from the car’s mirror as a person approached from behind the car.
Since much of the script seemed to major more on talking, close up and medium shots were mostly used. An extreme close up and a cut in was used to show the license of driver’s license when it was demanded by a traffic officer.

15th March 2010
An establishing shot progresses to a medium shot of a couple talking, but that they seemed to be too conscious of the camera. Though the show’s main plot was street boys planning to harass a ‘boda boda’ driver who had apparently taken over their business, it took long to discover this. There was a long shot of a ‘mkokoteni’ pusher and the cameraman also dollyied backwards in front of the street boys to show them approaching the driver. A long shot is taken to show Mwala entering the ‘tuk tuk’ owned by the driver, as his ‘boys’ in plain clothes enter the hotel where the street boys are seated waiting for the driver. A slow motion is used to show Mwala running over one of the boys and attacking them. Lighting and audio were good in this episode.

22nd March 2010
On this day the lighting was really poor. All the shooting was done at night (at a street and at a night club). Still, the lights of police motorbikes and car were too bright at a shot and shadows of people behind the camera also appeared on the frame one could even determine the side from which the light came from. There were too many shots of a lady in labour. Over the shoulder shots of two men talking in the club, tilting, long shots and close ups were used. The theme for the programme was unclear and there was a poor ending.

27th March 2010
There was a base angle dolly of a person moving towards the camera person. The following shot is done in the office and progresses from a long shot of people working to a close up of senior police office (a lady) then to an extreme close up of her dissatisfied with the shoddy work of the office cleaner. There was also a close up of a job advert pinned on a tree reading ‘security guards wanted’ then a long shot is used to reveal a jobless man reading it. Panning was used to reveal an instructor and recruits being trained. Tilting was used to show composure of recruits down to their shoes. Close up shots were taken to show legs as they demonstrated the different marching orders e.g mark time, attention e.t.c. These instructors were vague, hence a dolly of Inspekta Mwala approaching from behind was used to show him nearing near the criminals.

5th April 2010
The establishing shot was that of Nairobi town from the outskirts to show the major buildings and then a long shot of a road. The theme on this show was carjacking. There was a backward dolly past coffee trees to show where the victims of carjacking were being to. There was a cut in to show handcuffs on the office cleaner who handcuffed himself. A base angle was used to show the desperate cleaner as he cried regretting his mistake-the office belonged to the senior police officer (the lady who jokes not). Dollying was also used to show the victims running past the coffee trees when they were finally released. A weakness was noted when Mwala claimed to use footage from a cctv camera situated at an ATM machine to reveal suspects-this was just a normal shooting done by a camera!

I hope that these critiques and the entire com 264 course will bring out the best in us, and that we will sell out in the market, producing the best ever Kenyan productions. May God bless us.