MACHACHARI NOVEMBER 13

MACHACHARI NOVEMBER 13
Today’s scene is centered on mathematics performance. One child from the well-to-do family has performed poorly in mathematics and his father decides to hire a teacher for private tuition. Through hard work and discipline, the teacher convinces Almasi to change his attitude about maths. The children in the slum have both performed well and the father appreciates their efforts by giving them his bicycle for a ride. It is this bike that they temporarily loose but later find it. The children are taught responsibility in everything they do.
The program starts with a montage, a split screen in which on the left side, the actor/actress sings a song and on the right side, hi/her name appears.
We are introduced to the first scene by an establishment shot, a wide shot then panned to the right, of Almasi’s and Joy’s family house. In the house, a wide shot show Almasi and his dad, the teacher comes in the living room. A tracking shot shows us Almasi leaving the room. At medium shot, the teacher and the dad talk about him. A close up of the teacher’s face tell us of his determination to make Almasi improve in maths. A dolly out introduces Joy to the scene. She tries to convince the dad to be soft on Almasi.
The establishment shot of the slum introduces the second scene. Govi and Baha are with their dad. There are medium shots of them as they tell the dad how well they passed maths.
Back to Almasi’s home, Almasi is trying to plead with the dad to allow him to go and play for some minutes. It starts with a wide angle which is cut to a close-up to show his disagreement with the new tuition arrangement. An extreme close-up reveals that he is near tears. His dad emphasizes that the arrangement has to remain until he improves.
In the scene at the slum, we see Govi and Baha with their dad’s bike that he has given them as a way of appreciating them for passing maths in school. We see tracking shots as each rides. In their adventure, they meet Mzee Kobe. The camera is at a normal angle and the shots are medium shots. Perhaps this is to create a natural feel since when we talk to a person, we pay attention to their upper body and not the whole body. Baha and Govi decide to tie the bicycle on a tree as they go somewhere shortly. A close up show us that they have used a rope to tie the bike. A wide shot reveals them leaving the bike behind. There is a song as they leave, it creates in me a feeling of suspense, and I wonder what will happen to the bike.
That scene dissolves to the earlier one. The mathematic teacher is with Joy and Alamasi. The shot is at normal angle. Almasi is so furious; there is no other sound apart from Almasi hitting the table. I think that the producer managed to bring out that sound so well, it is so natural. The intensity of the light is too much. The texture of the table is so shiny and it also reflects. The camera man takes breast shots (at telephoto angle) of the teacher and the children talking but when they have to refer to something on the table, the angle is changed to wide so that we can see the table.
Back to the scene in the slum, we see a wide shot at a wide angle of madvd and Mzee Kobe as they walk alongside each other as they talk. On the other side, we see a very wide shot of Govi and Baha, we can be able to gather from their surrounding where they have been. A close up reveals shock on their faces when they find out that the bike they had left earlier is no where to be found.
We are shifted to a scene where Baha’s dad is talking to a stranger; he complains that the boys have taken longer than expected. That scene is wiped by one where Govi and Baha are wondering who could have taken the bike. The wiping editing technique works well with the unfolding drama. I notice that the cameraman leaves very good lead room as the boys walk here and there trying to look for the bike.
That scene is cut and we are back to Almasi and joy’s house. I think that, that transition and shifting to the previous scene to avoid being carried by one scene forgetting the rest. The teacher is hard on Almasi and denies them any chance of leaving the table unless they finish the assignment he has given them.
In the previous scene in the slum, we see Govi and Baha asking Mzee Kobe whether he has seen the bike. Mzee Kobe tells them that he saw Madvd around he place where they had left it. A close up tell us they suspect him. We than see them outside Madvd’s ‘commercial’ toilet. At medium shots they are both suspecting madvd of having stolen the bike. Amidst suspense, the toilet door behind them opens and in a slow motion, Madvd comes out. A zoom out reveals him, and the children arguing about their suspicions. Madvd convinces them that he did not take the bike and he offers to help then look for the bike. The framing of madvd is not right as he is cut directly at the knee and that brings the insinuation that he doesn’t have the lower parts of his feet.
We are taken back to the well-to-do family’s house and we find out that the teacher has managed to convince Almasi to change his attitude of mathematics and now we can see him following.
Back to the dramatic scene in the slum, a tracking shot and some fast tempo music in the background shows us madvd walking fast towards something. That is cut and a long shot directs us to Babu. That is cut and we now see them together, Madvd standing infront of the seated Babu. The shots are carefully taken as we see Madvd confronting Babu about the bike and Babu denying that he doesn’t have the bike. Madvd is furious and lifts his hand to slap him. Terrified, he points somewhere on his side, the camera takes us there and a pan right that ends in a long shot reveals the bicycle. The cameraman takes a dolly in and we can now see clearly where the bike had been hidden. The children run to it happy and untie it. A tracking shot shows us the children, and Madvd leaving.