PART 1 : “Positions, Please!”
A few months ago, we were asked to be one of a number of production companies creating short films on marriage. Our assigned topic was marital roles, and certain parameters came with the request: the film needed to be in four linked parts that could fit between other teaching pieces; it needed to support the subject material surrounding it; it needed to use dancing in at least one part as a visual metaphor for marriage; and it needed to fit in a small budget. I find short films to be great opportunities for experimenting with different styles and methods, always hoping to do more with less. In this post, I’ve included the four parts of the film as well as brief comments on the experiments we did with narrative structure, camera style, directing method, and editing choices. It was a fun little project; I hope you enjoy taking a peek into it. [Click HD in the upper right corner to watch in HD; if it's loading too slowly, then turn HD off.] [click to continue…]
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One of the questions I have as a filmmaker is, ‘how does one film spiritual realities in an effective and realistic manner?’ Film is a notoriously physical medium, one that dominates two of our five senses to the exclusion of everything else. Since, by definition, spiritual things cannot be seen or heard, how exactly do we show the spiritual? I’m not talking about showing spiritual beings such as angels or demons: for years film has used actors or computer graphics to represent these characters; but this is more fictional than real. The average person has never seen a demon or angel, and so knows there is something unrealistic when they are used in film. Rather, I’m interested in understanding how to film daily spirituality in a realistic manner without it seeming forced or fake. How does one show the influence of the Spirit? How does one reveal the personal relationship between God and man? How does one show love between the creature and his Creator? 
I’m in a bit of an odd situation since I was the one today giving the advice to an aspiring young documentary filmmaker. But I do wish someone had told it to me a decade ago instead of learning it from the school of hard knocks. So, here’s the advice: figure out how to build a revenue stream from a video asset you can create, own, and distribute yourself. Perhaps it’s a series of cooking lectures that can be purchased digitally for a dollar each; or biking techniques; or Bible study curriculum. I don’t know what it will be, other than that you likely already know so much about it (or know someone that knows so much about it) that it seems too commonplace to be interesting to others. But it is. You shoot the videos, create an e-commerce website, then distribute them digitally. The key, however, is that it may take years for it to make decent money – which is why this is a piece of advice best given to the young filmmaker who has flexibility with his time and few demands on his wallet. In my opinion, this is the better mousetrap; and there’s a whole world waiting to beat a digital path to your door.
