What you deserve

IT IS THE RIGHT TIME to report about a new joke from the NAFTI KIDZ..

Before I start to report more about the film industry in Ghana, experience of shootings here, ideas/ plans and projects I want to show you what we did at NAFTI not long ago..

In short: One day – One Film!

Our task: „Shoot and edit a film in one day about the topic envy or greed.
The location must be around the the university compound“

Because of the category „directing“ which I study at NAFTI, we were supposed to write screenplays for this task. Out of all the screenplays we chose five. „WHAT YOU DESERVE“ is my short story and together with nearly all departments of NAFTI (directing, camera, sound and art direction) we made it possible and finished editing the film on time to show it on the next morning in the „NAFTI Film theater“ at the NAFTI Hostel.

Scene pictures:

Together with Emanuel, who had the task of directing the shooting of my screenplay, we planned how best we can shoot it. For the location we chose the unfinished NAFTI building.

This building was supposed to be the new university complex for NAFTI. What you see in the film was built already many years ago and that’s why the students simply call it „the monster“ today. After an election, the new government decided to cancel the budget for the building – film was seen as a luxury which is not necessary. Just this year there is a change of thinking in the government – when I consider what the Minister for Information told me at a press conference at NAFTI.

About this, I will go more into detail in another article at my blog in future time.

Now back to the film. To answer the first question for some filmmakers..

We used the following equipment:

Technical list: simple but effetive DSLR-Set

Cameras:
– Canon 550D / Rebel T2i
– Canon 600D / Rebel T3i

Lenses:
– Canon Zoom Lens EF L 70-200mm F2.8
– Canon Lens 50mm EF F1.8
– Canon Lens EFs 18-55 mm F 4.5 (18mm) – 5.6 (55mm)
– Tokina 11-16 F2.8 (IF) DX

Sound:
– Rode Video Mic (+ Dead Cat)
– Zoom H2

Light:
2 x 0,8 K Arri´s
Reflector

Extras:
– simple camera rig from F&V
– Self-Made-Glide-Track: and a wooden bench and my laptop cover to slide on it (final result: intro shot!)
😀 You can see it works!
– clapperboard
– simple DSLR Viewfinder
– „Gaffertape“ – hm.. no idea what you call it in English?! 😀

GHANA and GERMANY – united filmmaking

Together with my NAFTI classmates from the „Level 300 directing class (=5th semester)“ and the „camera class“, „sound class“ and „art directing class“. We experienced a two week „cinematography and acting workshop“ from Professor Axel Block (Wiki / IMDb) from the film university in Munich (Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen München) and Professor Peter Bringmann (Wiki / IMDb) from the media university in Cologne (Kunsthoschule für Medien Köln) at NAFTI.

This exchange project was possible because the university in Cologne (under the umbrella of Prof. Bringmann) established a collaboration with NAFTI in 2010 which will help NAFTI to grow and get better equipment while students from Cologne can study in Ghana and in future even the other way round.

Here is a detailed article about the collaboration: English / Deutsch – lesenswert!
And this is the website of the NGO which was established by Prof. Bringmann to collaborate with NAFTI: http://www.mighana.de/

It`s funny. KHM and Mr. Bringmann were faster!

In 2009, when I thought about the plan to study at NAFTI one day I was also thinking about creating a collaboration between my university in Germany where I study film (or also called „video“ 😀 ) and NAFTI. However, in 2011 when I talked to some of the lecturers at NAFTI which are my friends since I visited them at NAFTI with the film workshop group from Komenda, they told me that KHM had just started a collaboration with them.

So I just decided that I will try it on my own to attend NAFTI.
And that’s the beginning of the story.. With the help of two scholarships I finally managed after more than half a year of burocracy, tests and millions of emails to come here to go deeper into the word of cinematic arts… (big thanks to DAAD & HBS!)

Okay..nuff talk so let’s watch the small piece and watch out for more…

THE SWEET LITTLE THING: