Journalists had to move with the times technologically or perish.
by WILLIAM INGANGA
Audio By Vocalize
Henry Bwoka worked with the 35mm film when the Kenya Newsreel was active. Film cameras were later replaced by camcorders such as the Betacam and DVCAM series. Bwoka had no choice but
to shift with the emerging trend /BENEDICT WASICHE/KNA
Resilient as the film seemed
to be, the time had come
for the filming fraternity to
acknowledge, even albeit
inadvertently, that its term
was over. It had lost the filming war.
It couldn’t cope with the avalanche
of shots fired at it by a myriad of
camcorders.
Some ‘filming’ expressions such
as ‘shooting’, among others, though,
were to cross over to the new imaging
landscape.
Instead of the filmstrip, magnetic
tape was taking over the reins of filming at a rate similar to a pandemic. If
you can’t beat them, join them. This
is the attitude that Henry Bwoka was
forced to embrace.
A film cameraman was expected to
be artistically keen. He was to avoid
under and overexposing shots. His
images had to be in crispy focus. He
thought and did more to capture appealing shots.
A video cameraman wasn’t necessarily subjected to
similar stringent handling that film
cameramen had to observe.
The tapes
were not light-sensitive. Put aside
were darkrooms and loading bags.
Processing of latent images to render
them visible ceased.
With the infiltration of video-based
recording systems, Bwoka didn’t
necessarily have to be retrained to
operate every new camcorder that
came onto the stage.
“It’s like driving
a vehicle. Once you learn how to do
it with one, you can figure out how
to drive another,” he says.
The key to successfully mastering
any video camera is to understand
the basic principles of motion picture photography.
Many camcorders have automatic exposure control
and built-in light meters that hint at
the correct exposure settings.
If a
camcorder operator is oscillating
between indoors and outdoors, the
Auto Tracing White (ATW) balancing
may take over, especially if the action is fast-paced. Bwoka’s days had no
such luxury.
As camcorders are produced, an ever-changing variety of media keeps
rolling out — after tapes, discs, cards,
solid state drives (SSDs) and others came.
Bwoka has tried his hands at
most of these.
As a seasoned filmmaker, Bwoka
would take time to visualise how the
final image would be.
He exerted himself to produce
pictures worth being glued to the
silver screen.
The cameras he operated caused him to preserve valuable
memories.
His wife Jennifer, a teacher, is
proud of what Bwoka did for this
nation.
She says, “I used to watch
the movies he produced and brought
home. We would go to Nairobi and
Kenya Cinemas. Kenya Newsreel
used to be the first thing.”
The couple got married in 1990,
when Jennifer was still a student at
Kenyatta University. They have two
daughters, Tracy and Brenda, 28 and
27-year-olds respectively, who live
abroad.
IMAGING HARDWARE
Observing Bwoka working with filming hardware elicits some empathy from her.
“Carrying those cameras
was not easy,” she says. “I used to cry
because they were too heavy.”
Brenda says of her father, “He used
to travel all over the world, showcasing his talent as a cameraman.”
Bwoka would tell his family that
when he was growing up, he wanted
to be a cameraman. “His dream came
true,” she says.
“The house is full of
his memorabilia.”
Bwoka has kept some older versions of the film still cameras and accessories manufactured by Minolta
and Zenit.
Brenda says that he used to teach her and her sister how to take pictures and how to use microphones
when they were kids.
“Anybody would feel proud travelling with the President and other high-ranking personalities in the
same plane,” Jennifer says.
Following the
entry of video
tapes, the
film projector
was put aside.
Videocassette
players (VCPs)
and recorders
(VCRs) took
over. These
were linked
via cables to
monitors that
displayed the
images
/BENEDICT
WASICHE/KNA
When the Betacam series shot to
the fore, most newsmakers, particularly politicians, some of whom
doubled as Cabinet Ministers, loved
it.
If a function was scheduled and
only print journalists were present,
the function would not start.
Immediately a cameraman wound
his way through the gathered multitude, the occupants of the dais
would become boisterous because
“the journalist has come”.
Speeches
that would ordinarily take a minute
or two were extrapolated. Woe to the
cameraman if for whatever reason,
that item never went on air.
During part of the time that the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was housed at Jogoo House
‘A’, Albert Ekirapa was the Assistant
Minister. He shared a lift with a cameraman who was returning from covering an event.
Ekirapa asked to hold the camera.
He said, “It’s too heavy. They should
reduce its size.” That time was coming. The DVCAM series, which had
camcorders such as the DSR 300 and
370, arrived and even smaller ones,
such as the PD 150 and 170.
Several newsmakers sneered at the
new babies on the block.
“Hii itatoa
kweli? (Will this one record?),” some
would ask. With time, the smaller
camcorders proved they could do
the job. Confidence in them increased.
In the gathering and dissemination
of television news, sometimes comical
issues arose. For instance, consider
this flashback.
A cameraman receives
a call from the editor, asking him to
be on standby to cover an event. The
cameraman inserts the battery and
the tape into the camcorder. He waits
to be picked. The editor calls him,
saying the event is cancelled.
The cameraman ejects the tape
from the camcorder and returns it to
a cabinet. There’s another turn. The
editor calls yet again, saying the event
is on. The cameraman is picked.
On
arrival at the event, alas! He has no tape. In his mind, the tape was still
in the camcorder.
In some media houses, it was the
responsibility of the reporter to carry the tapes.
But once in a while, a
reporter would assume that the cameraman had done so and vice versa. It
was common to see colleagues from
different media houses coming to the
rescue of the distraught crew.
VIDEO EDITING
Editing material has undergone a
complete metamorphosis. The film
used to be cut physically using a splicing tool. This was to be precisely done.
Otherwise, if just one frame were to
be lost, the pictures would go out of
sync.
One part of the cut film would
be joined to another using a liquid
cement applied by a tiny brush. The
process was known as linear. It was
tedious.
When video came in, analogue video editing machines came in. It was
just a matter of shuffling knobs and
keying in and out at desired points.
Digital editing software is what’s taken over, a non-linear system.
Just like sound techniques lecturer John Wambulwa, Bwoka, too, has
moved from film production to farm
production. He keeps some sheep,
ducks and chicken. He also farms a
few crops for subsistence.
After Bwoka retired, though, he
taught for some time camera operations at KIMC and the Kenya Film
School at Kasarani Sports Centre. He
still loves teaching.
He’s a co-director alongside Jennifer at ORRECC School for Orphans,
which has primary and junior wings.
Brenda says, “As a father, at school,
he’s the father to many, but at home,
he’s a father to two: my older sister
and I.”
At the school, Bwoka’s passion for
teaching exhibits itself. He teaches
mathematics and of course photography to groups of curious children.
He hopes that the tips he gives the
learners may inspire some of them
to take up journalism.
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