 Yes, welcome back to Why In The Morning. It's time for Strength of a Woman and special thanks to Hilda with Ythi and Joy Meshachi for breaking views. It's always starting our day on a laughing note every single Wednesday at that particular time. Be sure to tune in next week and if you have a video that you think might break the views, weird, amazing, funny, I just sent it away on Y2P4 channel on Twitter, Y2P4 underscore channel on Instagram and Y2P4 on Facebook. And our Strength of a Woman of the Day. The name is a tongue twister, Neha. Neha. Alright, Neha is a set designer and she's heavily involved in film and you're about to know the person behind all these films that have been trending in the country. Thank you so much. Alright, so there's a drill I always follow. Your camera is number four. Introduce yourself. I give people a chance to introduce themselves because some people tend to have very long CVs and credentials. Okay, so my name is Neha Manoj and I'm a production designer and also a director. So I've recently directed a short film. So I direct short films but on bigger sets I am a production designer or I work mainly in the production design department. Alright, so you work with the production team. So films, I'm interested in the films that you don't direct, the films that you do set design for. Do you get the script first? Yes. You get the script first, obviously. Yes. And you need to approve the script is lit or the script is... No, but what we do is read the scripts, break it down and if there are any questions we can direct them to the writer or the director or kind of give suggestions that you know being let's say for Supermodo it was it was very dark towards the end so we would give some suggestions on how we could you know bring that emotion out through the sets. Alright, I want to take you back a little bit to your schooling. How did you get to this point? How did you get to be a set designer in film and the film director? What did you have to study in school? Oh, wow. Okay, so I loved art. Art was my first priority during school here and so I joined fire art at Loughborough University and I was introduced to film so there was like a class for film and I was like you know what this is it. It has to be film and from then on it's never I've never looked back. Alright, had you picked up a camera before? Yes. Before you went to school? Yes. What were you using the camera for? Photography. Photography most of the time. Alright, whose pictures were you taking? Was it a photo studio just fun things you were doing? Events and wildlife. Events and wildlife. You're passionate about wildlife? Yes, my dad's a wildlife photographer. Alright, so we assume to see a film about wildlife? No, no, no, no. Alright, so you got it from your daddy. You got it from school as well. Yes. Alright, supermodo. Yes. Really trended in this country. Yes. People were really fascinated by this film. How did you participate in it first? So I applied for the workshop with one fine day and from then on I don't know, I just became the production designer so I was the head of the department for supermodo. Head of the department? Yes. Alright, so according to the script, it's a really deep story if you look at it in depth, because it's a superhero movie but there's a story behind the superhero. Right. Alright, maybe you can start by telling us the story behind this. So it's about a young girl called Jo and she has cancer and she doesn't have much time to live. So the mom took her out of the hospital and took her back to her home and it's her journey, how she spends the last few weeks and she was always interested in superheroes from the start so she wanted to make a movie about her being superhero and it's really, how do you say intertwined that she herself becomes a superhero to all the villagers as well because superheroes don't, you know, they live forever, they don't die and that's how she became immortalized, let's say. Alright, so it's a deep story. It's something kids are going through around here but it was scripted in a way to make it entertaining. Yes. Alright, so traditionally we know superhero movies are made in Hollywood and some in Bollywood maybe and some in Uganda as well. Have you seen the ones in Uganda? Yes, I love them, the Spider-Man. Why are you scared that you were not going to maybe achieve the standard that you have in your head before getting into it? Some complexities that come with superhero movies? Yeah, not in the beginning, in the beginning it was exciting and then while we were building so we had three different sets so while we were shooting one I was, you know, we had a team kind of erecting the other one and kind of wrapping the last one so that was a bit scary, trying to make sure that everything was done on time. We had great mentors, I had Lorica and Willie who were mentoring us through the supermoder film so I was, so they were like, they were there so anytime I felt that I was not sure about something, you know, they kind of stepped in and kind of guided me. Alright, I'm sorry, excuse my ignorance but who are these guys? So, Willie's done a lot of films, Perfume, then there was Cloud Atlas, he's the production designer for that so he's a German guy and through one fine day he was brought here to mentor us. Alright, did you know him before this film? When you follow in on his work? No, but like I love the films like Perfume was like... Oh, so when he mentioned the films you... I was like, oh my God, this is him, yes. You don't look like there's time to get starstruck but it's funny how we see the lead in the film, we get starstruck but she gets starstruck by the person who did the design. The sets, yes, oh my God, yes. Alright, very interesting. I'm interested in Rafiki as well. Rafiki was very controversial in Canada but in one of what's abroad so maybe you can tell us your experience first in working in Rafiki. It was amazing. I think working on Rafiki just kind of, it was like a step up to my experience in filmmaking. Working with Wannuri was her vision. I was just impressed that you could actually have this vision and we actually produced it. I mean when I saw the film I was like, oh my God, did we do this? It was just beautifully done, beautifully written and yeah the crew were amazing, they were very professional. Had you worked with Wannuri before? No. This was the first time and you guys made magic. For sure. You have to watch the film, be sure to check out the film. It's called Rafiki but did you guys anticipate the feedback or the energy that you got from a number of Kenyans or a section of Kenyans? Not really, I think. It's weird because when I get the script you fall in love with the story and then you just want to make it, you want to make this story come to life and while we're just doing it it's always about yeah how can we do justice to the story but I've never thought about the reaction, I've never actually you know so it was so when everything came I was like oh okay yeah. Then you remember you live in Kenya and this is how Kenyans sometimes. I live in Kenya, people are really open-minded, people are really open-minded. The ones I've experienced yes so when I was reading all this and people were talking I was like no this this is weird, this is not something you know I'm living through. All right so we have the a section of the film set so my director is going to play for us and then we are going to pick something from the book. Okay. Yes let's see. All right. I'm not crying, I'm crying. I'm not crying, mum. We're not going home. Listen, I promised you. I'll send you these posters. But you can't come by. You'll have to wait. Yes, that is Supermodo right there. And maybe you can tell them how they can get to watch Supermodo. Ah, Supermodo is on Showmax. So it's Katikati, One Fine Day. I think they're about six films. Sorry, Narbi Half-Life. They're six films by One Fine Day. All on Showmax. Alright, thank you very much. Be sure to tune in to Kenyan content. Support Kenyan content and enjoy Kenyan content. Not even support. I'm really interested in all this, the set design thing. So if you get a script, say, that is a Kenyan story. That kid is in her bedroom right there, right? It's an African child. There's a way Kenyans set up their houses depending on class. The middle class design their houses in a certain way. The lower class might design their houses in a certain way. How do you get into that zone to know this is our Kenyan household looks like? Do you visit some houses or something? I know what a Kenyan household looks like. I guess your point. But maybe Indians design their houses differently. Interior design for Indians is different from Black Kenyans. True, but I'm also Kenyan. Alright, so you've been to these houses? Yes, but I also am a Kenyan so I know how these houses are. Also we do a lot of research. So as much as we I know what the houses look like. So for example, Joe's room played by Stacy, her room was very specific. Because she was always into heroes, so the whole walls all the way to the ceiling was covered in posters. I could tell. These are ideas that you come up with in the process. Nice one. So this is the first time you shot a film in a film. This was a film in a film? Yes. I was experienced. It got confusing at times. So of course there was the film which the audience watched and then there was a film that Joe was making about being a hero itself. So for example, because we just saw her room, so within the film the room was different. So we changed a couple of things like the color, the blankets so we could differentiate if it was the film within the film or was it the film itself? So a case study recently we saw a Starbucks cup and in the Game of Thrones we have seen bottled water in films that are set in the 18th century. So mistakes do happen in these sets. Have you ever made a mistake before? Touch would know. So if mistakes were to happen, what is the next step? The beauty is there is like take two, take three, take four so we could always slowly remove the water bottle if need be. If need be? But we usually have somebody called a standby guy or person, standby props on set. So they make sure because I know sometimes what happens is when we're changing the lighting or changing stuff people kind of just leave water bottles which I don't like. I like the set to be a set. But there are times that that happens but this person's job is to make sure that before we go, he or she double-checks the set. The different kinds of media content, apart from movies the music videos the adverts, are these things that you are interested in? Yes, so I have also worked in adverts as well. What about music videos? Not yet. Are you interested in working in a music video? Yeah, I have these pretty awesome ideas just waiting for the producer or director to just come give me a shout and let magic happen. Let magic happen? Yes. To the future right here. This is why in the morning please remember to interact with us on WhiteFair4 channel on Twitter, WhiteFair4 underscore channel on Instagram and WhiteFair4 on Facebook. Don't forget the hashtag strength of women. Don't forget the hashtag Quinz Wednesday and never ever forget to tell us where you're watching us from. This is coming. It premieres on which date? On the 7th Friday, 7th June. This Friday, the 7th June. Not this Friday, next Friday. Next Friday, 7th June. Yes, you rushed a little bit. This Friday is 30th May and then Saturday is about to agony. So 7th June on Friday you'll be premiering the film. Do you have a location and time? Yes, I'm at Prestige Cinema. It's part of the Nairobi Film Fest and also the DocuBox short shorts shorts shorts. Yeah. Alright, so maybe you can tell us something about this film. Is it a short film? Yes, it's a short film. It's about 10 minutes long. It's directed by you? Yes. Written and directed by me. So it's, you know, I like that even though I'm a designer by profession I also write on the side and DocuBox loved the story I had submitted and so they had funded for my film to be produced. And yeah, so it's about a recently blind girl who ventures to the outside world and she learns to be independent through an unforeseen friendship. Wow. Wonderful story. Wonderful story. You kind of go into because it's really the amount of people who are becoming blind is at an alarming rate and a lot of us just kind of ignore them because they're blind, they're stupid but they're not. And this film takes us into what it's like to be blind. She could see first and now she's just become blind. So it's all that frustrations, her clumsiness and how learning to leave with it. And also listening because now your ears become your eyes. You have to use your other senses. Yeah, so it's a very wouldn't say sensual film but it's a sensual film. Are we going to cry at the end of the film? I don't know. Is it for us to cry? Anyway, so maybe you can tell the video again at the time. Yes. So the film is called Love Sweet Sound. It's premiering on the Friday 7th June at Prestige Cinema at 5 o'clock. Please buy your tickets early because I have a feeling that they're getting booked really quickly. Alright, it's going to get sold out. This is really hot in the streets so be sure to get your ticket. How much is a ticket again? 600. It's good enough for a film. Yes, so there's 11 short films bunched together. Wow. So they're all Kenyan films. So this is good to see what... Only one is by you. Yes. The 10 are by other Kenyan film makers. Yes. Wonderful. So as we come to the end of this you are the first set designer of Met, to be honest. I meet doctors every day. I meet teachers every day. So this is an industry that is I don't know which word to use. It's not really exploited in the country. Yes. What are the challenges you're facing in being in this industry right now? Oh, wow. Okay, so can I talk about the challenges I faced while producing my short film? Give it all to them. The challenges you face in general. The challenges you face while studying. Give it all to them, whatever you want to give. Right, okay. So the first was like the licenses to shoot are hell-expensive. Governor, Mike, movie, song called, I hope you hear this. The NCC license and the KFCB license are very expensive. I think they took most of our funding. In a way, I would like it not to be this expensive so that a lot of films can be created. A lot of people can be expressive and shoot. That was one. The second, which I'm super happy about, the private sector are really supportive in films. I was really surprised by this. You know, I'm really happy. So that is a good thing. Amazing thing. I didn't think a lot of people supported us because our industry is not we don't even have an industry, we're still building it. So when we had a lot of people sponsoring us and helping us, I was just like, wow, this is great. Support us. They were like, sure, what do you need? What can we give you? I was like, wait, what did you just say? Fight. Push it. I only didn't go extra with what you needed. On to another challenge now. The other challenge. Because we need to solve these problems. How are we going to save this industry? I think the other challenge would be people, please watch Kenyan content. Please come to cinemas. For some reason, I knew you were going to say that and I wanted you to say that. And be sure to check out the film next Friday on 7th at The Sire Center. Prestige cinema. Prestige cinema rather. Be sure to watch 11 Kenyan short films for 6th century. It doesn't get better than that. How can they find you on social media? Before you tell them you're social media handles. In this age of Instagram and Facebook and YouTube and everything. Are these things supporting your industry first before we can carry on? We get a lot of exposure, but that doesn't support us. Support would be great when the money starts coming in. Exposure does not pay the bills. No, it does not. In this era of Instagram and Facebook are you like tailoring your content to fit these platforms sometimes? No. You're just sticking to the script and doing film? Yeah. I haven't explored the internet channels as yet. But they can still find your internet channels? Yes. So the production company I usually work with is 7th Ivory. You can find them on Instagram and Facebook. My personal channel is B underscore with underscore love. A lot of people have B with love. Love is a beautiful thing. Thank you very much for coming through. I appreciate you. Thank you so much. Yes, definitely. We have come to the end of strength of a woman and yes, it's amazing. It's beautiful. We can do it together. We can do it together. You'll come to the end of strength of a woman. And yes, it doesn't get better than this. Be sure to watch her film at the pre-stage cinema on Friday the 7th only for 600 shillings alongside other canon short films. I go by the name of Bymosis or it's by my own every social media platform. Don't go nowhere, don't take that doubt. Val is coming up next with Girl's Talk. It's a hot topic. You don't want to miss it.