Shedding light on televised debate programmes in Burkina Faso

Under the tutelage of director Christophe Coutens and director of photography Philippe Marchais, the session was aimed at supporting the teams in relation to the filming, set design and lighting of locations for political and election debates.

This training gave around twenty trainees the opportunity to learn some essential principles about how to set up the lights, scenery and cameras for debates of this kind.
The goal was to be ready for the campaign launch date, which was scheduled for 19 September. However, the coup d'état of 16 September disrupted these plans, with the start of the campaign being pushed back to an as yet unknown date and the mission being cut short by a few days.

"In spite of this setback, we still got a lot of work done with regard to how to set up the lighting for a range of different sets. We suggested lighting solutions tailored to each kind of media so as to create a more structured lighting scheme and a more harmonious atmosphere than is usually seen. We also gave our recommendations for new layouts for sets, despite being hampered by a lack of equipment", notes Philippe Marchais.

A new mission, planned to take place two weeks before the ballot, will focus on how to film and host televised election shows and will also provide an opportunity to reschedule the three days that were lost from the previous session, enabling participants to consolidate the knowledge they have acquired.

This initiative was organised in partnership with UNALFA (Union Nationale de l'Audiovisuel Libre du Faso – National Union of Free Broadcasting of Burkina Faso).