‘MultiChoice Talent Factory unschooled and reschooled me in sound’ 

Earlier this year, while shooting an episode of season one of Kampala Creme, the entire crew’s shoulders collapsed in frustration when they discovered that, for some inexplicable reason, the sound had not been recording the whole time.

As you can imagine, tempers flared, and tensions rose between the directors and the sound crew. The sound crew had previously complained about being ‘disrespected’ by other members who considered themselves more technical and important.

Fortunately, everyone learned from the unfortunate incident and moved on, as there was no choice but to reshoot the entire locked-off confession episode. Samuel Mafayo, a Congolese filmmaker and a sound recordist who benefited from a 12-month training at the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) in Nairobi, highlights a significant issue in Ugandan filmmaking: the lack of attention to sound.

Mafayo points out that in Uganda, when people think of film production, they immediately think of cameras and lighting, but 70% of a quality film depends on good sound.

“No one pays attention to the sound mixer or the type of mics used. Are you going for the booms or lavaliers?” he says.

A look at Ugandan vloggers on YouTube and Instagram, even for well-established productions, affirms Mafayo’s concerns. He believes Ugandan films, while improving, are still far behind those from Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa in terms of quality. This might explain the relatively low airplay and audience reception Ugandan films receive.

Nigeria’s Nollywood appears to have addressed its sound issues, eliminating the background humming sounds of running generators and the perceived shouting/argumentative speech patterns of their actors. South African productions, such as Generations, Isidingo, and the newly premiered Queen Modjadji, which profiles cultural events of the Balobedu kingdom from 200 years ago, clearly demonstrate the stark difference in quality when compared to recent Ugandan productions.

The task ahead for Ugandan producers is evident as was previously for Indian and Nigerian producers. Mafayo says the MTF “took him back to school” in filmmaking, despite his earlier three-month basic training in filmmaking at Cinelab Akademie. At MTF he went deep into filmmaking which he says opened his eyes.

Moreover, this came against the backdrop that he was already producing for Reach a Hand Uganda. Although his admission into MTF came as a surprise because when he applied, he did not have much hope and the surprise call that he had been considered for the training found him shooting in Karamoja.

He says he could not have asked for better training. At MTF, he learned the importance of sound in filmmaking and chose to specialize in it due to the lack of attention it receives in Uganda.

“Man, at the academy [MTF] I learnt that I don’t know film production yet. I thought I knew filmmaking, but from what we were learning, I knew nothing,” he said.

From January 9, 2022, for the next 12 months, Mafayo and 3 other filmmakers from Uganda, along with others from the East African region, were trained in various aspects of filmmaking, including scriptwriting, storytelling, editing, post-production sound, business of film, low-budget and no-budget filmmaking, script supervision, cinematography, mentorship and photography.

This was interspersed with film conferences, premieres, and networking across the continent and beyond. Their trainers came from the established filming giants in South Africa, Nigeria, USA, and Kenya.

Since returning, Mafayo has been the sound recordist for Fulltime Husband, Somewhere in Kole, and Enigmatic Mark, all 2024 productions. However, he still faces challenges with Ugandan filmmakers who prefer working with their usual friends, are resistant to feedback and new talents that they see as threats. This practice, he says, hampers the industry’s growth and innovation.

“The biggest challenge we have is lack of collaboration. We have producers who just work with their friends, but honestly, the quality of work is still wanting. You can feel the difference when you watch Ugandan productions after watching a South African production. We’re getting there but we’re not yet there. Do you know why? Because South Africans collaborate; you will find like five different production houses each bringing in different ideas and in the end it’s a masterpiece and an amazing product,” he said.

Could the phenomenon of working couples be the cause of that, since in the Ugandan film industry you can easily find at least four to five couples producing together?

He says that would not be a problem as long as the couples keep professional and leave their emotions out of work. He cites the Nabwisos – Eleanor and Mathew Nabwiso – whom he says are doing amazing work together and have since created a dream team.

“Unfortunately, many people in the industry see you as a threat and think that you know more and have come to upstage them and so, never want to give you a chance which is a bad thing because you have the latest knowledge and skills and they have the experience and together we can collaborate and do amazing things together. If you keep working with the same people, how are we going to keep the industry sustainable because what happens if something happens to the same producer or same director or recordist that you always use? Should the industry end with them as well?” he asks.

Indeed, Tom Hanks’ famous quote, “No one knows how a movie is made, but everyone thinks they do”, will forever resonate across the film industry.

fkisakye@observer.ug