tahidi high critique .

betty kache 09-1494
Tahidi high
Tahidi high is a local programme that is aired on Tuesday 7.30 to 8.00 and the episode repetition comes on Sundays from 2.30 to 3.00pm. The programme revolves around student life trying to make the administration and the staff work hard and all this entwined together makes the whole scenario very funny and keeps one glued on the screen. With the encounter of funny characters like O.J, Omosh and more others the programme never goes boring trust me. Every episode brings on air different story line that though with a lesson behind it.
Episode one
In this episode,Mr. Kilunda-teacher- is not happy about the students performances in business studies and he is jealous because they perform better in teacher Karimi’s subject and it starts with Mr.Kilunda talking to Mr.Karimi on how he can improve on his teaching skills, When Mr. karimi leaves the office teacher Kilunda plays a trick on him and goes to class. In class he raises the pass mark from 50% to 80% and the students are not happy because they don’t think they will get there in the coming exam. Mr. Kilunda sends Joni to the staffroom to pick his file, and this is why the talk between Mr .Kilunda and teacher Karimi is ironic, Joni finds the business exam paper on the desk and he doesn’t hesitate but he picks it.

It was intentionally left there by Mr.Kilunda and sends Joni because he knows Joni can’t hesitate to pick it. The teacher’s plan was that the students will use it to know the answers before the exam. Joni takes the paper to his three friends unfortunately they are not good in the subject so they seek help from one of the girls called Tina and she includes her friends too in the plan, but wait, they decide to include the rest of the class members in this. The class doesn’t go for lunch trying to get the answers for the paper, mama Jimmy- staff- notices the absence of form three A and he asks Omosh about them.

The students are not lucky because Omosh saw Joni and friends discussing the paper in the library before taking it to class. So Omosh tells Mama Jimmy and she tells teacher Karimi who tells Mr. Tembo the principal. Teacher Karimi tells Mr. Kilunda about his class and shows him the paper and Mr. Kilunda is shocked but doesn’t show it so that Mr. Karimi can’t notice. The principal comes up with an idea instead of coming up with a new exam, when the students are settled for the business paper the invigilator gives them papers and when the bell rung for them to start its the physics paper. You should see their faces. They are all amazed and they don’t know a thing because they were prepared for the business paper and everyone is looking at Joni with anger .

There are several camera shot and movements that have effect on how the story is told. their is evidence of a close-up to see the business paper when it was left on the table and zooming in to see the letters on the paper. When Joni is in dilemma on whether to pick the paper or not there’s extreme close-up that makes the viewer feel like he is in the dilemma too, it leaves you thinking what if I was in his shoes what would I do? There’s a three shot when Lisa and her two friends are reading in the library before Joni joins them. Long- shot and some sounds to create the mood as Mr. Karimi approaches the class and it made me start talking to the TV telling the students to disperse like nothing is going on. Dolly in and dolly-out to show how the different students were revising and you almost feel the tension in the room. It looks so real. The sound is good at least you can hear what they are saying in each scene but they are using omni directional microphone that picks sounds from all directions and you can hear some irritating sounds in the background. And when the person holding the mic moves, you can hear the movements through the mic. The lighting is good I didn’t notice any faults it has improved greatly, especially inside the rooms .
Episode two
O.J got his exam results and he is not happy with his exam results since he got 37% and therefore he had to see the teacher to explain the cause for his low marks. Since it was parents’ day his uncle Omosh had to see the teacher instead. In the process he changed his results to read 87% so when his uncle went to see the teacher he knew he was in trouble. The rest of the students seem to be all over the place because their parents are coming to school to see their results, for some they are happy but for others they are not happy because they didn’t do well in the exams. Omosh is not happy with O.J’s results so he decides to talk to O.J about his academics so that he can improve because this is his last year in high school.
Julia’s mother comes around after not being around the family for long so she comes to see Julia’s results in school. Shish-one of the students- comes running to the science lab telling Julia that she saw the mum kissing teacher Karimi, Julia isn’t happy with the mother and she runs to meet the mother as she is from talking with the teacher. She starts accusing her of cheating on the father and they argue with the mother and Julia slaps the mother. Miss Morgan-the principal- sees what is happening and calls both of them in the office to solve their issues in the office, Julia’s parents are divorcing and it is affecting Julia. It end while the mother is thinking that she is about to lose her family.
Camera shots
Evidence of close-up especially when showing someone’s emotions .Long-shots when Julia was walking toward the mother this is used to show anger and to a viewer you are left to think what will happen next. Full shots- when showing Julia’s mother form of dressing to reveal class there is a the use of a awide-angle lens

Camera movement
There is a follow right and follow left- when following the students as they stood in a straight line being addressed by the teacher this brings a lot of drama.Tilt up and down.- when Omosh was being admired by one of the staff since he was smartly dressed.

Sound
The sound in the episode is of high quality you can hear them clearly and the sound tracks match what is going to be happening.when Julia rushed to confront the mother the sound reveals there is going to e adventure.

Episode three

In this episode, sound was used very well. There was a scene where a school worker by the name Kibuja, was creeping into the school’s kitchen to put paraffin into the students food. In the process of shooting this part, sound effects were used to create suspension in the viewer’s mind in order to give the program a more taste.
In the process of shooting this scene also, there were different angles used. Aerial shooting was used in order to show the whole part of both the actor and the environments.
The movements were captured clearly especially when Kibuja was caught red handed by his fello worker Omosh trying to put the paraffin into the student’s food. As Omosh was creeping, the camera movement would capture the feet creeping and the actor’s eyes moving from side to side.

Episode four
In this episode, the main theme was early marriage to young men in the society. A student in Tahidi high named Abdi, is being forced to get married to a lady that has been reserved for him by his parents. The camera movements were used well especially when Abdi’s relatives come to school to talk to the principal. The two relatives tend to move very fast and the camera man seems to be taking the shots very well as he is keeping up with their pace without shaking the camera.
The sound effects are used very well when the relatives are arguing. A viewer could hear very well the heavy breathing to represent the anger that they had.
Sound was also used very well when these ‘so called’ relatives go into the men’s changing room while they are dressed as ladies. Omosh goes to peep and see what was going on. When he is creeping, sound effects are used here to create a little suspension. When he finds out that the two ‘dressed ladies were just students, the sound effect is even used more.

Episode five
In this episode, the main theme was early marriage to young men in the society. A student in Tahidi high named Abdi, is being forced to get married to a lady that has been reserved for him by his parents ,every one is not awhere that this a whole joke by his fellow students
The camera movements were used well especially when Abdi’s relatives come to school to talk to the principal. The two relatives tend to move very fast and the camera man seems to be taking the shots very well as he is keeping up with their pace without shaking the camera.
The sound effects are used very well when the relatives are arguing. A viewer could hear very well the heavy breathing to represent the anger that they had.
Sound was also used very well when these ‘so called’ relatives go into the men’s changing room while they are dressed as ladies. Omosh goes to peep and see what was going on. When he is creeping, sound effects are used here to create a little suspension. When he finds out that the two ‘dressed ladies were just students, the sound effect is even used more.

Episode six
To day they are focusing on sexual relationships among the youth and the consequences that come with it. Freddy-student- receives a letter from a girl called Schola in their rural home and it gets in school through the principal Miss Morgan but luckily she doesn’t read it instead she gives it to Omosh- staff- to deliver it to him. Omosh reads the letter before delivering it and they create suspense because he doesn’t say what’s in the letter, so he takes it to Freddy’s class and there we find Mr. Karimi talking about the dangers of having sexual relationships outside marriage. Freddy receives the letter and he thinks he might be in some kind of trouble.

During class break we see Freddy reading the letter and after a short while he faints and Louis and Tanya help him, instead if helping him they start reading the letter creating more suspense because they don’t say what’s in the letter, when he wakes up he goes straight to Omosh to borrow his phone because he needs to talk to his cousin and this is where we get the story behind the letter. He had sexual relations with Schola in their Rural home and she is pregnant. So he is asking the cousin how come the contraceptives he gave him didn’t work and the cousin goes off because of credit. On the other side Louis is telling his friends about the letter and they are curious to find it but Tanya doesn’t give them, Freddy is at risk because he might have contracted STI’s or HIV/AIDS so he goes to the guidance and counseling teacher on hoe to go about the test. Just after talking to the teacher Omosh comes running giving Freddy the phone and it’s Freddy’s cousin telling him that the girl was playing a joke on them. She wasn’t pregnant. Freddy is relieved but there’s another problem Miss Morgan saw him talking on phone so he is in trouble and it ends in suspense.

Some of the characters reactions are not real for example when Freddy faints it is not real at all. And when Louis is shocked and tongue-tied it looks so fake. If I was the producer what I would do different is the lighting in order to see the subjects clearly especially in dark areas.
The camera movements
dolly in and dolly out while Ratai is sweeping the compound, pan-right and pan-left when Tanya, Melvin and Joni are talking while standing on a straight line. Camera shots- medium shot- when focusing on Omollo and Miss Morgan talking. Omollo while reading the letter. Long-shot when focusing on students in class. Extreme close-up to see Tanya’s reaction when reading Freddy’s letter.

Episode seven
There is use of an extreme long shot showing the staff room and Miss Chebii inside, this gives the viewer an overview of the surroundings in a scene. A long shot is then used to show when Becky student is seen from a distant approaching the staffroom. This enables viewer see her dressing and be able to conclude that she is a student and not a teacher.
However, the lighting used to show it is day time became too much that it almost caused her image to be blurred, which is very risky on a production despite the fact that it was able to portray and make the viewers know that it is mid morning just after classes have began. Adequate and appropriate lighting should be used in every production when need be. Finally, instead of zoom in, an extreme close up shot would have been used in order to show Becky’s facial expression best.

Episode eight
The episode starts with Tonny and Ted, who are classmates of Mohamed walking to the head masters office in Islamic women regalia. Their identity is hidden from the audience not until we are shown, the two changing back into their school uniforms. However, all thanks is to the use of the tilt up technique. The viewer suddenly sees two young women walking towards the head masters office, Mr.Tembo while engrossed in a conversation .
We are not shown the faces or the whole body at once but we are gradually shown their images fro m the bottom to upward creating the correct suspense mood. This leaves the viewer with the question “who are these? Parents or student’s in disguise?” The production would have been best if better sound effects appropriate to the mood of the scene were used. Hence boosting of the delivery. An extremely close up shot is also used on Mr.Tembo when he makes a facial expression of being in great shock after the exchange with the disguised students who threaten to pull out a gun on him if he accepts to release Mohamed a fellow student for earl marriage rights. The extreme close up shot increases delivery and the adequate appropriate lighting used makes it easy to be ware of the events taking place.

Episode nine
In this scene, the students are in a class taking a Physics exam. Shish a student then passes over a paper to Veronica containing answers. The viewer learns that the paper has answers through the use of an extremely close up shot that reveals the details to them. In addition, the pan to the right shot have been well used as the camera is moved to the object to the right, being Veronica who is seen clearly receiving the paper. However, it would have been best if an extreme long shot would have been used to show the building holding the classes, the silence and the absence of students outside only teachers going to their various classes for the lessons. This would have easily helped the viewer have an idea that classes are on and the next scene is likely to take place in a class room setting. Finally long shot is used to show how Mr.Kilunda is approaching his class. His sulking
facial expression is made visible to the audience with the help of the extreme close up shot.


Episode ten
The camera movements are defined in this episode. Panning is used on a character when they are walking and the shot used in assimilation with this movement is a wide shot, this gives the whole view of the subject. There’s also the zooming in, which is normally used when the program begins, in the signature tune as the camera zooms in on the schools logo/emblem.
Over the shoulder shot is used on a subject when they are having a face to face conversation with each other.
The sound and lighting are perfectly laid out though at times we get to hear the sound projecting to the background especially when the setting is in a closed room.
In this episode, the theme of authority and respect and subordination is brought out. O.J. and his friend had tried to initiate a strike but didn’t succeed as the administration found out. Sound and lighting are done well.







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