Alternative Christmas Message (Channel 4, 25th December 2006)
By The Muslim Lecturer Khadija

The Alternative Christmas message was a very useful piece of research that I came across, as it demonstrated the experiences of a Christian woman converting to Islam 10-11 years ago.

Even though the "Alternative Christmas Message" was a short programme, it had some very typical conventions of a documentary, that would be very useful when we are producing our own documentary on "Islamophobia".

1. Archive Footage -The use of the Archive footage such as the riots in London were very successful as it educated and informed the public about the recent events that have taken place that relate to Islam etc. Additionally the archive footage also helped to back up Khadija's argument. This use of Archive footage would be useful when we are producing "Islamophobia", as we could show where the Islamophobic feeling originated from e.g . September 11Th, as it would help strengthen our argument.

2. Voice over- The voice over/narrator of the programme is actually the lecturer Khadija throughout. This is helping to challenge the patriarchal society due to the fact that it is usually a Male voice over. We have also decided to have a female voice over in "Islamophobia" because it demonstrates that the society that we live in has moved on in time, therefore it connotes that our documentary is dealing with current issues.

3. The Talking Head- Throughout the documentary Khadija can be seen as the Talking Head, due to the fact that she is a lecturer and is therefore seen as authoritative and knowledgeable because she is presenting the public with factual information about her faith. It is quite useful to have a 'talking head' in "Islamophobia" because it helps put an argument to the public across making them think in a certain way, and it also makes your argument seem more believable because you are sort of having an expert talking about their chosen topic.

4. Framing- Throughout the "Alternative Christmas Message" we are shown a number of shots that are mainly medium shots of Khadija on the right hand side of the screen. In the background of the shots it is rather plain, this helps make Khadija stand out . The framing is very successful due to the fact that it allows the the audience to empathise with Khadija's argument due to the minimalism . Therefore when we are producing "Islamophobia" we would have to take into account the different types of framing that we would use, as we want to help create different meanings amongst the viewers about our chosen topic.

5. Music- The "Alternative Christmas Message" has very little music throughout the programme . The only time when we here music is at the beginning and at the end of the programme , the music is parallel due to the fact that it is instrumental Christmas music and therefore it goes with the whole theme of the programme which is 'Christmas'. It is also very calming and therefore it attracts the audience because Christmas is seen as quite a relaxing time of the year . As a result when we are producing "Islamophobia" we would have to take into account the type of music we would use such as contrapuntal or parallel music, as music is a very expressive way to show emotions etc and therefore it helps create meaning amongst our audience about our chosen topic.


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