I recently put this advice to the test when onetimeblind and 36 Parables, myself and co-producer John Schimke, teamed up for the third time to shoot 10 more mini-movies. We completed 8 pages on the first day and plowed through the remaining 16 pages on day two. The only way we were able to shoot 24 pages in two days was by sticking to the tried and true production practices that have been guiding our industry for the past one hundred years.

The Basics

Scripts
First things first, take the time to write down your ideas. And re-write them. And re-write them again. At this stage of production all you need is pencil, paper, and your time.

Pre-Production Pt. 1: Production Design & Camera Prep.

Production Design – Leading up to your shoot, take at least a day to focus on Production Design. This means locate your costumes & props and do a Location Scout. Taking time to be deliberate about your Production Design choices will enhance your story without fail.

Camera Prep – The day before you shoot set up your camera and make sure everything works the way you need it to. Test lenses, frame rates, and any other equipment or camera settings you’ll need during your shoot.

Pre-Production Pt. 2: Storyboard & Rehearsal

Rehearsal – If you can do nothing else in Pre-Production, take the time to rehearse. Rehearsal pays huge dividends on set because the talent will have already worked through the scenes and the story with the Director.

Storyboard – Even if all you have is pencil & paper, which I like to use, take the time to draw each and every shot you can visualize. You may not know everything you are going to shoot, but at least create some visual parameters for how you want to tell your story.

Another approach is to take pictures at your rehearsal. For the onetimeblind shoot John used Cinemek Storyboard Composer (http://www.cinemek.com/storyboard/index.php).

Block, Light, Rehearse, Shoot
If you embrace this approach to shooting you won’t go wrong — guaranteed.

Block – Have everyone on set stop what they are doing and watch the talent run through the entire scene you are about to shoot. Discuss any pertinent creative or technical needs for the scene and have the actors step off the set.

Light – Set up the lights, camera, and sound equipment for the entire scene starting with your first shot, preferably the widest shot.

Rehearse* – Bring the talent back in and run through the scene with the entire cast and crew.

Shoot – Shoot the scene. Start with your widest shots and work your way down to your tightest shots. This is called the Master Scene Technique (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1430571/master_scene_techniques_for_filming.html?cat=40)

*I underlined rehearse because sometimes rehearsal demands even more time, and is worth it. Towards the end of our second day of shooting with onetimeblind we stopped work for an hour so the Director and actors could run the mini-movie we were about to shoot.

Slate
Better slate than never. The whole point here is to keep everyone and everything organized. When you slate every single shot you accomplish two things:

1. Insure everyone on set knows what you’re shooting and why.

2. Provide your editor with the exact same information you had in the field.

Check out the basics here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapperboard

Redundancy, Redundancy, Redundancy
As soon as we filled a card on our Canon 7D, we dumped it and made three copies. If you can’t make three copies, at least have two.

Limit Your Choices
It is a good idea to put some bounds on what you will and won’t do. For this recent collection of ten mini-movies, we limited ourselves to a white cyc. We wanted to shoot some of the scripts off the cyc but our schedule wouldn’t allow it. That being the case, our creative choices were severely limited by the location we were in. For the most part, we stayed on a dolly and were on one lens the entire time (Canon 16-35mm/f2.8 L). There were a couple of shots when we used a slider, one handheld shot, and I used a ¼ Black Pro Mist Filter to emphasize the style of one mini-movie.

When you constrain yourself to one location, or one lens, or in our case both, you might be surprised by the creative solutions you come up with to tell your story.

Why are you there?
What part of the production are you? Director, Camera, Sound, Actor… all of the above? If you are a jack-of-all-trades this section won’t apply to you. The best advice I can give you I already have. If there is more than one person on your crew, you need to know why each person is there.

Is one person focused on sound, and the other on the visuals? If you haven’t already, you need to break the work up. If you don’t you are in danger of playing herd ball. Have you ever scene kindergarteners play soccer? Every player on both teams follow the ball where ever it goes. Everyone running to each problem and trying to help does not make for a successful day of shooting. You need to break up the work and then when it comes time to let some one solve a problem in their area, let them do it.

Slow is Smooth, and Smooth is Fast
I was talking with John about the idea for this article and he made an excellent observation. It is easy to give yourself time to script and even time to edit, but it’s difficult to make time on set. Unfortunately, when time is cut short on set, the story suffers. If we provide ourselves time to write and edit, in order to refine our story, we also need to make time on set for the same refining process to occur. However, there is often so much work to be done it is difficult to see how slowing down and going back to the basics will do any good. You feel like you need to have a camera running all the time. Your feel like stopping for one minute will cost you the entire day of shooting. You feel like you can’t possibly move fast enough. At those moments you need to remember, “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast”.

(this article is also available in the current issue of Christian Video Magazine)

Created for Move . Shot by Stewart H. Redwine.

The 23rd Psalm is one of the most well known chapters of scripture.

This creative stop motion animation video combines unique imagery with the familiar and comforting verses from the 23rd Psalm.

The nearly 1,000 still images needed to create this video were all captured using a DSLR over a period of 5 weeks.

Created by Stewart H. Redwine.

Painter Eric Samuel Timm is Painting Hope. Painting Hope strives to make a positive difference in the lives of young people, the communities they live in, and the world we share.

Eric Samuel Timm – (paintinghope.com)

If you can ignore the brief detour the Internet provided for shorter content, as we waited for connection speeds and video compression to improve, you must keep in mind that every American has been part of an enormous classical conditioning experiment. We have learned how to view, appreciate, and enjoy watching TV and movies much more than shorter content. I’m not talking about the types of programs we watch, but rather the way they are delivered to us. Whether we know it or not, we expect a television show to be 30-60 minutes in duration, with commercial breaks. We expect a feature film to be somewhere between one and a half and three hours in length. Keep this learned behavior in mind when you create content for people in American culture. To some extent, the medium is the message. And please don’t fool yourself into thinking your media-saturated congregation can immediately create context when you fade to black and roll a video immediately following the announcements. They have no clue what they are watching unless you tell them. Most important, no one knows when the video will end.

A few years ago, when I was on staff at a church, I would observe the congregation as they watched the videos I produced. It typically took them 15-30 seconds to get into a video, and it took just as long for them accept it was longer than a television commercial. It dawned on me that the audience had no idea what kind of content they were watching. Of course they knew they weren’t watching something as long as a movie or TV show, but beyond that, they were at a loss. It was then that I began to encourage the pastors to clearly communicate to the congregation exactly what they were about to see and, after the video played, to follow-up with some direct application. For some reason, everyone I tried to convince of this approach seemed averse to holding the congregation’s hand through a viewing experience. I suppose their thinking was that the congregation was made up of people who consume great quantities of media and were therefore equipped to figure out what was happening onscreen. But I don’t believe that’s the case. To use a cooking metaphor, your congregation has been marinated in motion pictures and television programming for the past 60 years. Only recently have people been basted with a light Internet sauce, which cooks off rather quickly once heat is applied.

Studies have revealed multi-tasking and their accompanying short attention spans aren’t helping productivity, so living in a fast-paced modern world is not a good enough excuse, in and of itself, to use short films in church. I believe when people come to church they’re in search of an opportunity to slow down and unplug from iPhones, Facebook, and all things tweetable. Technological connectivity has created the “Global Village” Marshall McLuhan predicted, but in the process, we have lost the experience of the council fire.

For example, it is much easier for my wife and I to watch back-to-back episodes of The Office than to take the time to relate deeply to one another. I find myself looking forward to my time with Jim and Pam, yet romance with my wife is muddled with bills, babies, and the balancing act between work and home. Come bedtime, I just want the credits to roll. The people on the screen aren’t real, but I respond to them. Emotion that is delivered to me in a way that doesn’t require as much work on my part. I have to instigate conversations with other people, but screenwriters are willing to do the work for me. They create an experience that allows me to respond emotionally. Responding to a flesh and blood human, and all their emotional baggage, takes much more effort. Whether we like it or not, it’s hard to open up, but good cinema can inspire us toward that end. From the Greek word kinesis, meaning motion, cinema can move the human heart to a place of feeling very quickly.

The Deidox film series (www.deidox.com) is one high quality option church leaders can use to emotionally connect with their congregations on powerful topics. “For our Deidox films, the ideal situation is when one of our short films is paired with pastoral teaching,” says director Brent Gudgel. “This allows the congregation to be moved emotionally by a short film and then guided by the knowledge and perspective that a pastor best provides. Short films should be looked at as tools to help the pastor communicate to his congregation. When a pastor’s sermon is paired with an effective short film it takes what the pastor is teaching and helps the congregation apply it to their own lives, hopefully outside of the church walls.”

Cinema has the power to move your congregation into an emotional place where they may respond on a deeper level to your message. Great content is readily available, and the library of redemptive media continues to grow. That’s why I encourage you to show short films at your church. And when you do, let me suggest five tactics for getting the most out of those films:

1. Pray that viewing the short film benefits you and your congregation.

2. Tell the congregation how long the video is, and let them know how you plan to proceed when the video ends.

3. Explain to your congregation what they are about to see (you could even put a description in your bulletin). Remember, they didn’t choose this short film; you chose it for them.

4. After the video plays, allow 30 seconds for them to think about the video and read a Scripture passage related to the video.

5. Explain what you just watched. Consider asking the audience for feedback or questions.

Think of short films as more than just programming or content for your service: They’re a cultural vehicle waiting to be driven. Tom Rice is the filmmaker behind Soul Refinery (formerly eight20eight) and the church media resource site www.evangelize.com. His work in Hollywood ranges from writing on reality shows such as American Idol and Survivor to directing and producing feature films with Oscar-winning actors. I asked him for his thoughts on using short films in church, and he reminded me of Christianity’s deep history as a leader in the arts. “Throughout history, the church has used and commissioned various forms of art to inspire and impact the masses,” Rice says. “From the cathedral architecture in France and England to the Renaissance artists in Italy, visual images have been used to show and tell. A well-made video with the right message can quickly penetrate a person’s mind, stay there for quite a while, and cause both believers and non-believers to reflect, think, discuss, and grow stronger in Christ.”

Centuries ago, cathedral builders regularly used stained glass as a way to visually and emotionally connect the congregations of those ancient churches with the stories of the Bible. Today, short films present us with a similar opportunity. Let’s make the most of it.

(this article is also available at CollideMagazine.com)

Fortunately, all these variables slid into place so seamlessly you would have thought we had the whole shoot pre-produced to the second. Even the downtown airport re-routing local air traffic over our location didn’t keep us from getting everything we needed within our allotted four-hour window. The video came together because we worked together; we collaborated. When collaboration works it is one of the most energizing and rewarding experiences in life. Nine times out of ten collaboration falls because of one simple and sinister word, pride.

You must choose to collaborate and I can’t think of any better way to say it than this, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4) Every time you start work on a new video you need to ask yourself, what is the desired outcome of the project? Think about that question for a few seconds in light of whatever project you are currently working on. Is your desired outcome that everyone who views your video recognize what a great filmmaker you are? Or is it that no matter what else happens, you won’t use another looping music bed? Or will you only be satisfied if the images you capture are in the purest form? Or will you only use slow motion if you capture in 60p, because you are a purest and there is no way you will ever allow 24p footage to be slowed down in Final Cut? These are all understandable desired outcomes but what if the only concern you had was how well the video you were creating fit into the larger whole?

Very few of the video producers I know are creating work that will exist in a vacuum. More likely than not, the video you are currently working on is part of a larger publicity campaign, sermon series, or promotional piece. Even if you are generating original work for sale on SermonSpice.com, it will be purchased based on how well it fits into a pastor’s existing sermon. A clear definition of your desired outcome will help you in collaborating with others. John Schimke, my producing partner for 36 Parables (http://www.36parables.com), says it this way, “Serve the story”. If you are having trouble figuring out what your desired outcome is for a given video ask yourself, “What is the story you are telling?”

But maybe you don’t know the desired outcome for a video because you just found out about it 5 minutes ago and it has to be done tomorrow. Let’s face it; many of you are in a tough spot. When you are the video producer, everyone in the organization looks to you as a wizard of some sort, the go to person who can save the day time and time again with mystical creative talents. The problem is, you’re not the one preaching on Sunday mornings, directing the event your video will premiere at, or creating the larger promotional context for your work. So when the pastor calls you Friday afternoon with a new creative direction for the Sunday morning video, you have got to come up with something magical in a matter of minutes. Or maybe you work at a ministry where at any moment several different departments may have video needs they need solved ASAP.

And this is where choosing humility becomes rather difficult. Pride can well up very easily in your heart when you feel like you have to solve everyone else’s problems but don’t have any part in the greater creative decisions being made concerning the context and presentation of the video. When the 11th hour creative decision comes your way pride may tempt you to tell whoever is making the demands why their idea won’t work simply because you feel put upon. However, your success as a creative team member does not come from defeating those who inconvenience or disagree with you. You are most effective when you are focused on being the very best you can be, which leaves very little room for monitoring others’ performance.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.  James 1:19-20

When you are quick to listen you equip yourself to best serve those who need your video production expertise. Make sure you ask questions about the context and presentation of the video.

- Find out what elements it will be preceded and followed by
- Hear creative ideas without raising technical issues too soon
- Listen for the desired outcome and insure everything in your control serves that end

If you do these things and remain grounded in humility and listening to others, I guarantee your collaboration will begin to click, as the poet W.B. Yeats puts it, like a well-made box.

Of course, nothing will every change the fact that when you are working with others, opinions will abound. Put another way, the clearest way to accelerate collaboration is Stephen Covey’s 5th Habit from his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “seek first to understand, then to be understood”. Sounds like the quote from the Book of James doesn’t it? Collaboration is not the result of polarities defeating one another, but the power that is unleashed when they combine. Such is the story of electricity. This concept was introduced to me by Roy H. Williams, the Wizard of Ads (http://www.wizardacademy.org/scripts/default.asp). You really should check out his non-traditional business school and Monday Morning Memo (http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/) if you want to learn more about making something out of nothing.

Messiah Sees More is the title of the video I was telling you about at the beginning of this article. We had a lot stacked against us that day, questionable weather, a sudden shift in air traffic interfering with our helicopter, and only 4 hours to get it all done. It was by no means because we had an easy day of shooting that the video turned out well; it was because we collaborated so well. We were able to communicate several times via videoconference before we shot. “On the morning of the shoot we took 2 hours to review our plan, time we could have spent shooting, and confirmed we all understood the desired outcome for the video.”
Collaboration with others, when grounded in humility and listening, can overcome the most difficult shooting situations and will always produce your best work.

Watch Messiah Sees More by clicking here: http://stewarthredwine.com/2010/03/21/messiah-sees-more/
In order to fully appreciate the Messiah Sees More you will want to see it in context at the 2010 Believe Messiah Tour (http://www.ciy.com/believe/tour-dates/), and there are still five tour dates to go.

(this article is also available in the March 2010 issue of Christian Video Magazine)

Painter Eric Samuel Timm plays the part of God the Father in this video from Christ in Youth’s 2010 Believe Tour (ciy.com/believe/tour-dates/).

Believe – (ciy.com/believe)
Eric Samuel Timm – (nooneunderground.com)

“A Day in the Life”, the first video I wrote and Directed after joining the video production team at Christ in Youth, recaps an entire day from a student’s point of view at MOVE, Christ in Youth’s high school intentional summer event.

Many of you have been with 36 Parables since 2005, when we released our first film, Found. The January 2010 release of 36 Parables’ Lime DVD marks the official halfway point of our original vision; 18 of the planned 36 Parables are completed. We are thrilled to see 36 Parables made it this far, and we could not have done it without your support along the way. The Lime DVD not only marks the half way point, John and I both agree it is our best DVD to date.

This is most likely the last newsletter you will receive until one of the following happens:

1. Our publisher decides to complete the last half of the series.

or

2. We obtain additional funding to complete the series independently.

John and I have not been paid for our work with 36 Parables, it has been a labor of love we desperately want to see through to completion. Most of you have been with us since the beginning so we thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask, are any of you willing to help us finance the completion of the series? It could be you, your church, ministry, company, or someone you know. Please contact me if you want to help us finish what we started 5 years ago with Found.

Thank you for all your support over the years, we endeavored to make the very best short films we knew how with every DVD. Please continue to use 36 Parables to illuminate understanding by pointing people back to Scripture and the lover of their souls, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Illuminating Understanding,

The Cinematographer
Stewart H. Redwine
C: 310-770-0448
E: sredwine@36parables.com

Synopsis: A young jazz saxophonist struggles to make a living as an artist.
Runtime: 5 minutes

Based on: The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Scripture: Luke 13:18–19, Mark 4:30–32, Matt 13:31-32

Directed by: John Schimke
Director of Photography: Stewart H. Redwine
Produced by: Stewart H. Redwine and John Schimke

Available: February 2010
Publisher: Zondervan/Youth Specialties

Technical Specs: RED ONE 4K & 2K, RED 18-50mm F2.8 CF LENS