Friday, November 26, 2010

VIDEO CRITIQUE OF THE PATRICIA SHOW ON KBC

DAYSTAR UNIVERSITY

AN ASSIGNMENT DONE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE COM 264

TOPIC: VIDEO PROGRAMME CRITIQUE

PRESENTED TO: MRS.ROSEMARY KOWUOR

PRESENTE BY: ANNE N. WAGACHA

annewagacha@gmail.com

ADM NO: 09-0340

ATHI RIVER CAMPUS

EPISODE ONE- CHRISTMAS CARAVAN
Clours on stage compliment the lighting or vice versa. The lighting was good however I did notice faint shadows of the centre piece on the floor. With use of a reflector, they would have dealt with that shadow. Camera work was good; there was plenty of dollying, where the camera moved closer and further away from the subject. There was good lead room except lack of headroom when it came to Patricia’s close up shots. In the follow shot, the camera moved with the subjects from their seats to a tree they were decorating. They had footage from a hotel kitchen of a chef cooking. It was taken with a handheld camera. However I liked the close up shots of the flame from an angle that was beautiful. There were instances when Patricia was half in the frame of the shot


EPISODE TWO- CELEBRATING AFRICAN MUSIC SHOW
This as a great show, Patricia interviewed Ayub Ogada, Nazizi and Kanda Mbogo man. All do a different kind of genre but are all African. The close ups, especially on Patricia, did not allow for any headroom. Because of this I am not sure to blame her hairdo or the camera man. There was good dollying, where the camera moved closer and further away from the subject. Otherwise it was a good show, colours on stage compliment the lighting or vice versa. The lighting was good with no shadows present.

EPISODE THREE- BEYOND DIFFERENCES
This was an interesting show with lots of lessons to learn. The close ups on the guests were perfect, but once again like in the previous episodes, Close-ups on Patricia leave no headroom. Lead room was perfectly observed. There was good dollying, where the camera moved closer and further away from the subject. Lighting was good; bright and complimented the mood of the show. This time there was no table and there were seats for each individual, rather than one big couch thus accommodating more than one guest at a go.

EPISODE FOUR- EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
The lighting was good, no shadows and I noticed also of wide shots capturing everyone on stage, and close-ups especially when the subject was speaking. There was good dollying, where the camera moved closer and further away from the subject. They had footage from the field, and there was a beautiful shot they took of the sunset with the silhouette of the subject in the background.

EPISODE FIVE- WEIGHTY MATTERS
In this show Patricia held an interview outdoors thus the major source of light being the sun. The lighting was ok; I didn’t find the lighting exciting, it was dull. There was not much effort put on the set with the props or furniture. However the were no shadows visible and there were lots of side shots and lead room was provided and there was good dollying, where the camera moved closer and further away from the subject.

EPISODE SIX-CREATIVE AND SUCCESSFUL
In this episode, they were back in their set thus the colours were good for the lighting and the mood. There was good dollying, where the camera moved closer and further away from the subject. Close-up shots were well done except on Patricia; the headroom was the problem. Wide shot were well taken thus allowing us a glimpse of the surrounding.

EPISODE SEVEN- TEENS CLINIC
Camera work was good; there was good dollying, where the camera moved closer and further away from the subject. There was good lead room except lack of headroom when it came to Patricia’s close up shots. The lighting was good with no shadows present.



EPISODE EIGHT- MEN HEALTH
The lighting was good with no shadows present. Good close up shots and wide shots. Medium shots where two subjects were captured at the same time, and the headroom and lead room well observed. There was good dollying, where the camera moved closer and further away from the subject.

EPISODE NINE- BUNDLE OF JOY
Clours on stage compliment the lighting or vice versa. The lighting was good however I did notice faint shadows of the centre piece on the floor
Camera work was good; there was good lead room except lack of headroom when it came to Patricia’s close up shots.

EPISODE TEN-
Medium shots were well executed, giving the audience a shot of both Patricia and her guest. There was good dollying, where the camera moved closer and further away from the subject. There were also wide shots which captured both Patricia, the guest and the surrounding.



GENERAL CRITIQUE
The Patricia show is a show hosted by Patricia Amira, shot in Kenya. She talks about everything from entertainment, family, fashion, holidays, food e.t.c she brings guests involved in this various fields to share their experiences and careers. It is on its second season which is aired on M-Net.
After watching ten episodes of the Patricia how, I went back to my notes and realized there was little difference of how the episode were shot. I concentrated on the
i. Lighting
ii. Camera shots
iii. Presentation (set design)

PRESENTATION

The colours used on the set are bright creating a homely mood. There is nit much furniture. However, I noticed in some episode there was a table present with a centre while in others there was no table, just a couch. In other episodes, the couch was not there and in its place single seats especially if Patricia had more that one guest at a go. Green plants were visible in the background, thus bringing colour and life to the set.

CAMERA SHOTS
Dollying, is the movement of the camera closer or further from the subject, was used more than once during the show. It was especially used when in episode one the guest was showing Patricia how to make the decorations for the Christmas tree, and the camera dollied in to get a close up shot then dollied outward to capture a wide shot of Patricia, the guest and some of the surrounding.
Follow shot is when the camera moves or follows the subject. I noticed the shot when Patricia and her guest moved towards the tree to decorate the tree provided on stage, the camera followed them. It was well executed.
The wide shot is used to capture the subject and some of the surroundings. The wide shot was used to capture both Patricia and her guests thus the audience got to see the set, its colours and the props used.
The medium shot helped capture both Patricia and the guest at close up. This was used well to capture the speaker and the reactions of the listener at the same time.
The lead room (talk space) was a shot taken when Patricia, the host was taking into the camera. As required of this shot, the subject should be in the centre of the frame, and so was Patricia. Also when she was talking to her guests who in most instances were at her side, there was lead room observed in the direction Patricia or her guest were facing when speaking.
I had a big problem with the headroom in all episodes. Headroom is the space between the top of the subjects head and the top of the frame. However, there was no headroom for shots of Patricia. In this season, Patricia’s hairdo is an afro and I think that’s the reason for no headroom, for thy kept cutting her hair in most of thee shots. My biggest issue was the headroom.
Extreme close-ups were used to capture emotions on the subjects face and capture the features.



LIGHTING
Generally I found that the lighting was good and constant for the whole 45 minutes an episode ran. There were no shadows visible and when I did manage to catch a glimpse of a shadow, it was a very light shadow of the table on the floor.
There was obviously use of backlight above which accentuated the hair and shoulders of the subjects thus separating them from the background.
Key light is the main source of light providing majority of the light, and fill light is the light placed at an angle on opposite side of the key light that helps kill the shadows created by the key light. Therefore I concluded that there was good use o this lighting basics thus there were visible shadows on the faces of the subjects.

In conclusion, I would love to see a little more of risks being taken. I felt that with the camera shots, they were playing safe. I would like to see over the shoulder shots, aerial shots,and probably a change of Patrica's hairstyle, then maybe there will be the proper headroom. in general, kudos to the show, it is a beautiful production.

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