Jah Prayzah's Mukwasha video goofs

jah prayzah mukwasha — The crew's reflection on Jah Prayzah's shades

By Shawn Zuze

Just like millions of people around the world I have been on YouTube watching the video of Mukwasha by Zimbabwean award-winning musician Jah Prayzah.

The music video, which was directed by Vusa Hlatshwayo of Umsebenzi ka Blaqs, is trending on YouTube and it has, at the time of writing, reached over 3.3 million views in just two months.

In less than 21 hours after its release Jah Prayzah‘s Mkwasha had 172 000 views breaking the record that was previously held by Winky D with 171 000 in 24 hours with his video MuGarden featuring Gemma Griffiths.

Nonetheless, the music video is shrouded in technical glitches that cannot be seen in a naked eye.

Goofs

Crew or equipment visible

I also call these “foreign objects”. Crew or equipment were visible in a reflection in Jah Prayzah’s sunglasses (shades) in most of the frames right from the start up to the end of the music video. Shades work well when filming but there is a need to have a videographer who can work this out.

In Hollywood films or on other sets in Nigeria and South Africa they usually use shades that are specifically designed for filming. The designer will make sure that the material he or she uses does not reflect the crew or any of the equipment.

At about 1 minute 30 seconds, there is a purple colour that is reflecting on the wall. This is perhaps a reflection from some of the crew’s equipment. That is a foreign object which was not supposed to be in the frame.

At 2 minutes 25 seconds, there is some lighting equipment visible in the frame. Again at 2 minutes 59 seconds, there is some lighting equipment in the frame.

At exactly 4 minutes 47 seconds, Hlatshwayo’s shadow can be seen in the frame while holding his camera, “the beast”.

I have been wondering how on earth did Hlatshwayo and Jah Prayzah fail to notice these errors in a 5 minute video.

I have done these reviews in local feature films and errors are common with such but it’s very rare to have errors in a 5 minute long video.

In responding to this on Facebook, Hlatshwayo, said he usually considers the entertainment aspect in his videos and not the technical aspects.

“Some of the shots are usually too good to edit out. I’m different in that I consider more the entertainment value of a shot than the technical stuff. Either way we will continue to improve on the parts we lack,” he wrote.

As Hlatshwayo’s fan and follower I hope this will improve the quality of production in the country. This matters usually on the international scene. Mistakes are common, even as a journalist I also make mistakes.

Now, since we have put some “microscope” in your eyes, you can watch the video below.