Blog Post 4 – Peer Review

I really appreciated how Zain managed to create a though provoking piece and engaged with the process. The focus on “Islamophobia, specifically how media outlets spread Islamophobia rhetoric and how they have the ability to influence public opinion and create misconceptions” is an important topic that is in need of exposure. The sensitive, intelligent and confrontational tones created a dynamic that is both challenging and emotive while adding exposure to an issue that is known but rarely talked about in mainstream media, especially from a progressive perspective. I particularly liked when the intensity associated with media cuts out to a more emotive and slow moment that allows you to catch the depth of the issue from a very personal perspective. The music cuts out to an interview of a female presenting person saying “I have to deal with this… for the rest of my life”. This really hits home on the gravity of the situation as it is not a personal issue that con be resolved short term. It is a societal issue, that is oppressive and dehumanising, taking away the right to identity in agency replaced by a lifetime of prejudice. I think this does an amazing job of connecting with the viewer, of any religion, to expose the dangers of prejudice. The juxtaposition of the tempo, fast music when the video is showing clips about the media against the slow music in the personal moments, is extremely effective. The fast tempo creates a chaotic and almost distressing narrative that reflects the trauma of having a narrative devised around you for the rest of your life. Whereas the slow tempo creates a human moment that encourages us to empathise. Ending the video on with the words “in the end deep down we are all the same” summarised the message of the video very accessibly and concludes the video with a statement for people to think about. For me, this project was all about humanising people, looking past stereotypes to see a person for the value of their character. With modern day society we are surrounded by so much propaganda and social media that we forget to value people for who they are and not what they are.

Zain has created a sophisticated piece that connects the audience with a critical issue in a sensitive and sophisticated way. The ability to progress the idea but change the approach, due to the pandemic, and create a trailer that Zain is still proud of shows great resilience, taking advantage of a bad situation and using it to develop a useful skillset in video editing.