The NAMAs have come and gone and yet again, they have been accompanied by a lot of complaints from the general populace of Zimbabwe particularly those watching the live broadcast and have access to social media. This year I had more incentive to watch the ceremony as a couple of my friends had been nominated in the same categories.
Although the organizers had promised a glitzy affair, it turned to be just like any of the other awards ceremonies they have held before minus the dinner seating which instead of making things better, did the opposite.
The Problems- Lighting and Set design As a creative who is involved in these industries, the set and lighting design were the biggest disappointment of the night. There was no set design to speak of. The projector was in light and therefore the images were not crisp. A newbie to light design can tell you that. The fact that it stayed for the whole show, well most of it, distracted us from the beautiful LED curtain that was at the back. There are many competent designers in Zimbabwe including Robin Goneso, Linda Hyde, Carine Tredgold, Tariro Mushonga, Mildred Moyo and PJ Smyth who ironically got the gong for best director among others. Take money from the over serviced food industry and pay these professionals to do a good job for you.
- Performances: God Bless Jah Praiser. I love him to bits but that performance belonged to one of his shows at a Mbare Beer Hall. It was not made for Television and the fact that the cameramen and video director were incompetent didn’t help his case. That was not just meant for TV. The performers were unrehearsed and the presenters were uninformed. Awards ceremonies are televised events. Organisers earn money from sponsors and advertisers for putting brilliant show that attract millions of viewers. There was nothing special about that Antivirus Performance. They were out of sync. Even legendary Dorothy Masuka’s set which has been described as the only touch of class the whole evening was unrehearsed. The band had to be reminded how the song went! I rest my case
- Cinematography: The thing that makes live performances cool to watch is the constant change to different cameras form different angles all panning and tilting around the subject. I only saw 4 wide shot of the stage and even so, they were not straight on! The iris (controls the brightness of output picture) was in-existent as we constantly got the glare in cameras. And in that co-moose, one of the cameras focused on the backstage only to reveal spaghetti of electrical cables lying looses. It’s against firer and safety regulations!
- Dressing: It’s a fact; we are not the best dressed nation, especially those of us who live up here in Mashonaland. I am not a fashion person, committing 90 fashion crimes a day so my only suggestion is that our designers must do a better job to try and dress our artists. While at that, performers please do not during the event wear the clothes that you will were during your performances. It kills the magic you create when you go up there.
The Solutions
2. Do a select broadcast like the Americans or the South Africans do where only important awards likely to garner more public interest and then add a lot of performances. If the Grammy’s were to take after NAMA’s format, they would take days to finish their one hundred plus categories
3. Get the best people for the job. That how HIFA has retained it pole position as the most looked forward to arts event. Like I have suggested food is not necessary nor is accommodating artists travelling from out of town. Those industries are over serviced. Channell that money to equipment and personnel who will improve the quality of the event.
4. Get strict on the dress code.
5. Rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse.
Well that’s my two cents which ended up sounding like a million dollar contribution. Let’s hope NAMA2015 will be more awesome.
www.imakandomusho.com
www.imakandomusho.com