3 Screen Setup

For the Winter set we decided to to a three screen set up as the center piece of our stage. We run ProPresenter software as our lyrics and video play back solution so all we had to add was the module package and the Matrox TripleHead2Go box. We already had the projectors and screens and each projector had a individual cable runs.

I set up my sequence in Final Cut Pro to 2400 X 600 and Shot all the footage in HDV720p. It is a challenge to think about editing this way when you are shooting I put some guide lines on my LCD viewfinder to help out.

Unhindered

So for the month of January we are doing vision messages. Our lead pastor came up with the title Unhindered. I had a hard time coming up with imagery to go with the title. The first things that came to mind was a person in a field with their arms raised (ok I know very cheesy) the next was someone dancing crazy. I knew neither of those were good options. On our drive back to Oklahoma I came up with the ink concept I called Tim he loved the Idea so I spent the next couple of days thinking about how to make it happen.

I picked up a $12 fish tank at the local pet store and some fabric dye at the art store. I set up a soft box behind the fish tank and shot straight into the tank. let the water settle and and squirted in the dye. I then took some white paper and and shot the ink drops.

s l o w

The last three weeks were insane. I have always wanted to not do one big production for christmas but split it up over the first three weekends. Sounds really cool in theory but it is a lot of work. Usually I have one big week where you work non stop to do a set and production and life goes back to normal. Well this has been a non stop 3 week period. The set was insane to get in place. My computer crashed and I lost a lot of work. And it was finals week so most of my volunteers had crazy schedules and could not be here a lot. 

All of that to say I am taking it slow this week. This Sunday is scaled back but still very cool. I am spending time with the family again. And getting ready to head back to Tulsa for a week over Christmas.

long day

Sunday is over. They are long days. We do 4 services I am at 3 of them. I am always exhausted at the end of a Sunday. I think they are more draining that manual labor. You are "on" from the minute you walk through the door until you leave the building. It is a constant barrage of trouble shooting, managing time, and quick decision making. I was talking to Jaxn this morning about how people walk through the door and have no idea what goes into to making it happen. People often are surprised we can find stuff to do during the week they think we just show up and do Sunday. But I love what I do and it is all worth it.

Home now going to rest now.

Jason

Sunday live

Just snapped this pic of the stage.

just me.

As a creative person it is hard to take criticism or to be challenged. I can only speak for my self but when I do a project I really feel like it exposes a private side of my life. Art and emotion are so closely intertwined. Judgment about what I have done is difficult to not take personally, because the art is very personal. 

I recently did a project for Christmas that I feel is some of my best work. It was received very well by my community. A few people in my community challenged how performance oriented it felt. And a couple of people outside my community challenged it on my blog. The question was brought up “how does this direct people to Jesus?”.

I do what I do in a local church because that is where I feel called to. I could do what I do for secular companies and probably get paid more than I currently do. But I am in the church world. I love the entertaining side of my job but as a Christian everything I do is from a lifestyle of worship. Therefor I consider what I do as stage design, lighting, audio, and video an expression of worship. The creative/technology areas is where I am gifted, I have no formal training and obtained all my experience in the local church.

When people challenge whether or not what I do points people to Jesus I would have to say yes it does based on the foundation of worship that I am doing it from. I like to create atmospheres that people can better connect to God in. Not all my expression is flashing lights, actually very little. 

The people who are challenging this are the same kind of people in history that has protested using drums and electric guitars in a church setting, because that is what the “world” uses. God created all things and there for we as Christians have the authority to redeem what the world has corrupted and use it to worship God.

Rehearsal

Doing band rehearsal for Sunday.

Dinner

Dinner on the run with the fam.

CRASH

My hard drive on my Mac Book Pro crashed. I erased my back up two weeks ago because I needed to move a big file with that drive. I got to busy and did not do the backup again. I lost a lot.

The Wide Shot

So this is the wide shot of our opening song. Curt Carson our Band director arranged the song. It was fun to do live. Video never does it justice.

The Stage

I actually started out with not a clue of what to do for Christmas this year. Christmas has always been my favorite time of year and I love doing Christmas production work. That said I was drawing a blank. My art has shifted a bit since moving into the city. I did not know what christmas was going to look like through my new lens. Also due to the economy my budget was cut by more that half. I toyed with several ideas but always kept coming back to using light.

At one point there were going to be 8' tall letters spelling incarnate across the back of the stage. And frosted plexi-glass stars hanging around the stage. In the end I stuck with all light. The only hint that it is christmas is the 60in wreaths on either side of the stage. I even kept them very plane with only lights.

We put the three screens center stage. In the end it was a good play of horizontal and vertical lines. Everything was kept very clean and simple.

The back wall of the stage has 576 strands of lights for a total of 57,600 points of light, or 24,000 watts of light.

Christmas Artwork

So the artwork for Incarnate took several paths. We started with trying to create something we could use in the stage design as well. That fell apart so we were going to go with the light writing look, like in the sprint commercials.  Then once we started putting together the music part of the month the sound was ancient, tribal drums and didgeridoos. So I created the art work with that in mind. I wanted something that reflected all of that but still said christmas at first glance.

out of control

As americans we are very in control of our lives. Sometimes we don't feel that way but we go where we want when we want and if we want something we really never give up on trying to figure out how to get it.

We often look through this lens when it comes to being a Christian. We want God to do what we want him to do when we want it. And we also what to know why. Although this is a contrast to what we are told in the Bible. We are told to surrender all to christ at all cost.

Moving to the city has been a great illustration for me on what it means to let go. Often I put my safety and my family's safety in other peoples hands. If I take public transportation I am restricted to their schedule and have to plan around it. Their schedule is not dictated by my needs but by the big picture on how to best serve the masses. Every day I put my life in the hands of countless engineers, often supported by structure that was designed over 80 years ago.

We need to rethink our view of what it is to surrender to God. What it means to let him be in control. we should question if our imminent happiness is what is best for the masses. We need to reflect on how God has provided for us in the past and take the next step with confidence that God will be there with His plan and that that step will bring attention to God's work in our life.