PAPA SHIRANDULA CRITIQUE

This is a weekly show that is aired from 7:40pm-8:30pm every Thursday on Citizen Television. The cast is composed of papa shirandula family, neighbors and workmates where he works as a security guard. He is married to three wives and of the two wives one stays with him town and the rest stay in the village.
Papa Shirandula or Papa Wycliffe Wilson Wilberforce Shirandula is an old confused man who lives a double life. An office manager to his family, but a watchman to the rest of us! Uncomfortable with his status in life, he keeps his source of livelihood a closely guarded secret, only revealed to his workmates and his beloved cousin. Even his long-suffering, ever-loving, inquisitive wife Wilbrota, is none the wiser! Papa lives on a lot of debts and his miserable pay slip often reads zero, thanks to his frequent salary advances. A humorous, likeable burly fellow, Papa Shirandula will resonate with the ambitions, struggles and values that so many of us hold so dear in a most comical way. The show can be rated as average according the Kenyan standard which is still shaping up in terms of quality production.
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It is a well directed show that is flexible enough to accommodate the daily challenges that a common Kenyan citizen goes through. The choice of having the cast done in the office and at Papa’s home helps one to identify with the program.
The cast members have been able to win accolades locally both for themselves and the TV station. This is according to the station website, with Papa topping the list with two awards, his ‘wife’ Wilbroda one award and the director Mr. Mudegu Kibwana has been voted as the best TV director. Most of the production elements has been incorporated into the show i.e. camera movements, lighting, video recording and the switcher.
During this process one can pull up, cut, paste, and join various shots to produce full motion video and audio sequences that is transferable directly onto an edit master tape for on-air use. Here different camera angles are merged to create a continuous piece of work, and this is evident in the production because we can see shots taken at home and the papa working station. Special effects are also created and by the use of character generation, putting titles to the production is also done during this process. This show is not an exception and we can see this in the comedy show.

Papa shirandula producer has incorporated this aspect because as one watches you can feel there is a flow of events and the combination of audio, image ad lighting controls has been employed is professional.
In terms of quality production for an outside audience I would beg to differ because the target audience is limited and what may be considered comical may not be the same case in other audiences.
The producer has used different camera shots, example, close up of Papa shirandula to show how  mad he is with his friend Njoroge for asking him money for a drinking spree, a long shot of the of Mr. Juma Anderson’s car as it enters the gate and as papa struggles to open the gate for the vehicle.
Microphones
Camera with a good microphone pickup are used in the production of the show, it is likely some of the microphone used are shotgun which is suitable for outdoor and normally fitted with a wind jammer to prevent any sound alteration by wind or noise.
To get a clear and candid sound the producer has also used the long fish pole boom mike which can be held from different positions, i.e. from above the subjects, below the subjects and sideways.
Generally so far the production is good and a little bit of changes in the production team will ensure that the program receives an additional audience.

There are several camera shot and movements that have effect on how the story is told. 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. Anderson  approaches the work place. Dolly in and dolly-out to show how the  Njoroge is feeling after being caught by  Mr. Anderson   at the gate with the watchman’s uniform and you almost feel the tension in the compound. 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. In some instances I noticed that the use of the omni directional to especially when papa shirandula and his family visits Mr. Juma Anderson in their house. However I would suggest that the producer uses the lavaliere mike to reduce the costs of hiring people to carry around the boom microphones. Because the former are mounted on an individual and they can move freely without any restriction as long as they are within the frequency reach. But on the other hand the lavaliere mikes provide quality sound though is not common in outside studio operation.
 The lighting is good I didn’t notice any faults it has improved greatly, especially inside the rooms and they have dealt with the shadows.