MACHACHARI EPISODE 1

The programme started with a montage. The actors and actresses of the program sing a song as their shots appear onscreen. The lyrics of the Swahili song introduce us (the audience) to the character of the actor or actress.  

The first scene in the program is introduced by an establishment shot, which is a wide shot that is slowly zoomed out. This is Almasi’s and Joys home. Inside the house, three boys; Almasi, Baha, and Govi are playing play station. The camera focuses on the monitor and a tilt down shows us how the boys control whatever appears on the monitor. A close up shows us Almasi so keen on controlling the game.

That scene is wiped by an establishment shot of crowded people walking on a dirty path in the slum. Three women, one of them stella’s mother, are conversing as they walk along the road, a dolly out reveal this.

That is cut and the Establishment shot of Almasi’s house takes us back to the previous scene. A close up of Baha talking to the rest makes us to focus on him. A tracking shot introduces the house girl (Sophia) to the scene. She sends the children away with a letter to deliver to Madvd.

A smooth transition takes us to the slum where we see the children with Madvd. That transition ensures continuity and we (the audience) are able to follow. A medium shot reveals half of Madvd. He takes the letter and reads it, a close-up of his face shows us that he is happy with it.

A Fade in takes us to the previous scene. The table is being set, they are taking breakfast. I think that the transition from the previous day to the present day was not well brought out. It is only by hearing what the talents are saying that one realizes it is a new day. I realize good sound as the phone rings; a tracking shot takes us to where the phone as Sophia moves to pick it.

That scene is cut abruptly and we are shifted back to the slum where Stella is wondering who will go with her to school for the parents day.

Unlike the earlier transition, the next one is smooth and creates continuity. We are shown Joy and Almasi worried that their parents were there to accompany them to the parents day. A medium shot reveals him calling the mother.

A wide shot the slum takes us back to the slum. That dissolves into a medium shot of Baha and Govi talking about the parent’s day.

The scene is cut, rather abruptly and we are back to Joy and Almasi. They too are talking about the parent’s day. Several medium shots of joy and Sophia show us Joy pleading with Sophia to accompany them to school. We then see a medium shot, then a burst shot and finally a close up that reveal   Joy’s happiness as Sophia has been convinced to go with them. A long shot, at a wide angle shows us Sophia and Madvd walking alongside each other

We see a wide shot of Almasi, Joy and Madvd walking towards the school. They get into the school compound but Madvd is left at the gate to sell DVD’s. A close-up of the box he is carrying reveals the DVD’s. Several shots of the head master of the school approaching, and Madvd shouting the DVD prices bring a lot of suspense. His vision of selling DVDs is finally cut short when the head master finally reaches where he is and sends him away.

We are in another scene, we see stella’s mother in a hurry, a full tracking shot shows she is walking towards the school. A close up shot reveals tiredness in her face. A tracking shot takes us where stella is sited with the teacher, that scene ends in a close up of stella happy that the mother has finally showed up.

The programme ends with the screen half split horizontally, on the upper part, the montage is playing and on the lower part the credits are rolling.

I think that the programme was well produced, save for some transition problems here and there. The sound was very good. I note that the programme ends abruptly and somehow one is left ‘hanging’. May be it was the producer’s tactic but if I was to reproduce the programme I would bring the story to a smoother finish.