PRODUCTION DIARY WEEK 7

This week I have written the first draft of my script using fact resources such as the study guide of 'Why we Fight' and the Qur'an. Unfortunately, I have not been able to come up with a title for my short film/the script yet, so I will be working on that next week when updating my script.

SCRIPT-FIRST DRAFT

Script first draft

PRODUCTION DIARY WEEK 6

In the past week, I have done excessive research into important information and quotes which can be used for each character when writing the script. I have successfully found and allocated suitable quotes and information sources to each character which will make it easier when writing the script as I will only have to refer to the exact source. In the weeks coming up, I will be writing my script and creating the storyboard for my short film.

RESEARCH ON THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE MODERATE MUSLIM AND THE RADICAL MUSLIM

In order to write the aspect of the script which is the dialogue between the Moderate Muslim woman and the radical Muslim man, I had to do some research on the reasons for Islamic extremism using facts to support them and research on verses from the Qur'an which counter these arguments. As my short film won't be biased, I will be writing the script to support both the arguments of the moderate Muslim and that of the radical muslim man. I have decided to use facts from the 'Why We Fight' study guide to write the script for the radical Muslim's dialogue as it provides evidence for some of his arguments. After some doing some research, I was able to find verses from the Qur'an which will be used by the moderate Muslim to counter each argument provided by her opponent.

RESEARCH ON THE SPEECH OF THE OMISCENT CHARACTER.

The omiscent narrator in my short film will have an opening speech and the closing speech of the film. Hence the conversation between the moderate Muslim and the radical Muslim tackles of the negative impacts Islamic extremism has on both the morals and ethics of Islam and the world in general, I decided that it will be more appropritae to use a quote by a legend which is related to the entire script as the opening and closing speech instead of a quote from the Qur'an. I made this decision because I realised that using quotes from the Qur'an will give the short film a biased stand on the argument and give the audience the impression that the film supports only the ideas of the moderate Muslim. After doing some research on quotes by famous leaders such as Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela and Albert Einstein, I chose to use the quote in the first image on the right as the opening quote and the one on the left as the closing quote.

I chose to use Albert Einstein's quote as the introductory speech because it informs the audience that the dialogue between the moderate Muslim and the radical Muslim is a way of solving Islamic extremism as Islamic extremism is an evil which must not be ignored. Using Nelson Mandela's quote as the closing speech informs the audience that these radical Muslims must not be condemned but instead must be talked to and taught to love. 

WRITING THE SCRIPT

PRODUCTION DIARY WEEK 5

This week I finalized the plot of my short film and wrote my production notes. During the process of writing my production notes, I made changes to the roles of the characters and also altered the development of the plot. In the production notes I included necessary props that I will be using, an explanation of the establishing shot, camera angles tha will be used and sounds that will be used. In the coming weeks I will be writing my script, this involves doing research into the topic area to get accurate facts.

FINAL PRODUCTION NOTES-DIGITAL FORMAT

PRODUCTION NOTES-FINAL DRAFT

PRODUCTION NOTES-SECOND DRAFT

UPDATED FINAL PLOT

After putting more thought into it, I have decided to develop the plot of my short film into a meeting between a radical Muslim man and a moderate Muslim woman in which they both present their arguments, the moderate Muslim woman being against Islamic extremism uses the Qur'an to justify her view points and the radical Muslim man who is for terrorism presents his reasons for his beliefs and actions. I have decided to do this because it provides the audience with both sides of the argument, on one hand the audience sees the moderate Muslim who represents all moderate Muslims aound the world using the Qur'an to justify her beliefs. On the other they are presented with the arguments of a radical Muslim which they use to justify their actions. This will not only educate the audience on the misconception that all Muslims belive in terrorism by providing facts from the Qur'an which states the opposite but it also makes the audience understand the reasons why these radical Muslims resorted to violence and the reason for their anger. To write the script for this film, I will be using the Qur'an and 'War and the Republic' for facts.

PRODUCTION NOTES-FIRST DRAFT

PLOT

After pondering on this, using the documentaries that I have watched as an inspiration, I have decided to change the plot of my short film. Previously I wanted to do a short film on a girl who is bullied at school and called a terrorist because she wears the hijab and one day she stands up to her bullies to teach them about Islam. After watching these documentaries, I have decided to produce a short film which tackles Islamic extremism by presenting both a moderate Muslim and an extremist Muslim's view on the topic of Islamic terrorism. This will tackle the misconception that Islam encourages terrorism and that all Muslims are terrorists. My updated plot  is a meeting between a moderate Muslim woman and a radical Muslim man to discuss Islamic extremism and give the extremist the opportunity to relay his reasons for resorting to terrorism.

PRODUCTION DIARY WEEK 4

Having watched 'Why we Fight' and 'Control Room', I will be thinking about the plot of my short film. These films have given me an insight and more information on  America's use of millitary force on Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. This information is vital as I will be producing a short film on Islamic extremism and as these reasons have not been publicly debated on, it is inspiring to use in my script so that I will shed light on the hidden facts which if exposed can make people who have misconceptions about Islam understand the reasons for Islamic extremism and the influence politics has on it. After deciding on the plot of my short film, I will be writing production notes and will commence writing and doing some research for my script.

'MY NAME IS KHAN' ANALYSIS

'My Name is Khan' , a full length movie directed by Karan Johar and written by Shibani Bathija, is a Bollywood movie shot in both America and India which centres on an Indian Muslim man with Asperger's syndrome who migrated to America after the death of his mother to live with his brother. He then fell in love with a Hindu single mother whom he later married and after their marriage both she and her son started using his last name. This film covers the journey of their love but most importantly the journey of the man's Muslim faith and how it strengthens even during the most challenging situations and his inspiring dream to meet the President and say "My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist". As 'Khan' is a muslim surname, his speech connotes that he is a muslim and not a terrorist.

THE MESSAGE

After the 9/11 event in America, Muslims were forced to abandon and denounce their faith in public out of fear of being hurt or violated. America believed that the bombing of the twin towers was an act of terrorism my an Islamic terrorist group hence all Muslims were then labelled as terrorists. This film follows a man who amidst  all the chaos and hate towards Muslims after the 9/11, never denounced his faith or belief and how he single handedly motivated people to help the stranded. In the left picture below, the protagonist is seen praying in public which was a risky act during the period of 9/11 as he could have been tortured or killed but nonetheless he showed that his faith as a Muslim was stronger than his fears and any situation. In the image on the right, he is seen helping people through a flood in Georgia, this act shows that even though the American people condemned Muslims, their is still that one good Muslim who believes in helping people and not killing them. From these scenes, the main message of the film can be decoded to be an inspiration to Muslims all around the world by showing them that no matter how dire your situation might be, you must not forsake your belief. It also tackles the dominant Islamic misconception in the world that all Muslims are terrorists by presenting the protagonist as a Muslim who helps others, even those who had condemned his belief. 

TARGET AUDIENCE
The primary target audience of this film can be said to be Muslims who are facing tough decisions concerning their faith. After losing his step-son when he was killed because he had a Muslim surname, the protagonist unlike most Muslims would had, did not forsake his religion or his belief instead he used this tragic situation as a motivation to show the world that muslims are not terrorists. This representation helps Muslims identify with their faith and gain the inspiration to stand up for their religion despite the amount of backlash they recieve.
It can also be said to appeal to Americans with the misconception that all Muslims are terrorists as it addresses this topic by presenting a Muslim man as a helper, a hero and a role model.

HOW IS THE MESSAGE CONVEYED?
The Director of this film uses narrative techniques such as flashback and sound effects like sad instrumental soundtracks combined with great actors to convey the message of the film. The flashback to when he was a kid who lived with his mum and had her as his teacher helps us understand the foundation of his strength in his faith as in one scene we see his mum teaching him that in the world there are only two kinds of people:- the good and the bad. Using sad instrumental sound effects in conjunction with emotional scenes, helps the audience connect with the actors by sharing their emotions thereby having a passive effect on them.

REPRESENTATION OF RELIGION
Using a narrative style which can be explained by Claude Levi-Strauss's Binary Opposition Narrative theory, the director presents Muslims as both weak and strong. Throughout the film after the 9/11 event, we see some Muslims forsaking their religion and conforming to social pressure and on the other hand we see the protagonist who refuses to follow the crowd or conform to the social pressure. This connotes that there are Muslims who can stand up to challenges and those who prefer to take the easy way out.
Challenging the common stereotype and representation of Muslims in the media after the 9/11 event, the film presents Muslims as heroes by making the protagonist a helper and a role model. This condemns the common ideology that Muslims are only good at terrorising states and killing innocent people but not helping make the world a better place.

REPRESENTATION OF DISABILITY
The protagonist of the film is a man who suffers from Asperger's syndrome. Society normally presents disabled people as vulnerable and weak people who depend on others for support. In this film, this stereotype is challenged by presenting a hero who despite his health condition goes to extreme lengths to help people and to have his voice heard. He persisted until he met the president and delivered his message. This represents disabled people as determined, strong willed, compassionate and caring people contrary to the negative stereotypes that they are usually associated to.

WAYS IN WHICH THIS FILM HAS INSPIRED MY SHORT FILM'S IDEA

After watching this film, I was inspired by the director's encoded message. He was conveying the message that not all Muslims are terrorists as the world thinks so therefore people should get to know each Muslim more personally before passing any judgement. This inspired me to produce a film which reveals that there are good Muslims who do not support terrorism or Islamic extremism and that there are radical Muslims who share the idea that violence is the key to success.

WAR AND THE REPUBLIC

 

WHY WE FIGHT-FILM INSPIRATION

'Why We Fight' is a documentary on America's foreign policy that tackles the debate on wether it is dominated by the idea of military supremacy. This documentary covers America's millitary involvement in Middle East countries which date back to the 1940's, providing substantial facts and accurate information on vital details of this especially the invasion of Iraq. Comments from popular leaders such as John McCain, George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Dwight D.Eisenhower(some which were derived from archive footage) were used to present a clear argument on America's Millitary supremacy. As I will be doing a short film on Islamic extremism, this film is important because it provides adequate information on the invasion of Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries. These invasions can be seen as the foundation for the anger exerted by Islamic extremist groups who terrorise Western countries. I t is also important because it provides facts and quotes from reliable sources which can be included in the script of my short fil.

PRODUCTION DIARY WEEK 3

This past week I watched two documentary films which were given to me by my teacher. The first film which was 'Jesus Camp' covered the representation of children as the bearers of evil and good by Christians, hence they must be strictly raised to create a world without sin. It also reveals the use of religion as a political tool to gain victory. The other film which was 'Control Room' covered the factual aspects of biased media coverage on delicate issues such as the invasion of Iraq which is one of the main reason of Islamic extremism. These two documentaries have helped shaped the idea for my short film, it has provided two ways that I can do a short film on the topic of religion. In the coming weeks I will be doing more research on religious short films and documentarie on the invasion of Iraq to further decide on what I will want my short film to be on.

CONTROL ROOM- FILM INSPIRATION

Produced in 2004, 'Control Room' is a documentary which was written by Julia Bacha and Jehane Nujaim and was also directed by the latter. It is a documentary on Al Jazeera's relations with the US Central Command(CENTCOM) and other news organizations on the coverage of the 2003 Iraq invasion by America. This documentary does not only examine the frenzy of broadcasting on such a delicate matter but also scrutinizes the issue of biased broadcasting amongst different news organizations due to political influence. It reveals the omition of vital facts about the invasion of Iraq by many European and English news organisations under the influence of America and shows how an Arab news organization such as Aljazeera covers all of the information. I found this documentary important to my project because it provides facts on America's invasion of Iraq which I was previously unaware of, and hence my short film tackles the topic of extremism, I need these facts to understand the reasons why some of these Islamic extremists resorted to violence, when the invasion began and why it happened.

'JESUS CAMP' ANALYSIS.