Jesus at Crossroads

We received a really great call from the pastor of a church in Tucson, Arizona on Friday. After buying our video Jesus Is to use in one of their services, Pastor Kyle contacted us to see if they could use it on their website. They have a page directed at new comers and seekers that raises the question “Who Is Jesus?” He thought our video fit so perfectly with their purpose for that page that he wanted to incorporate it. We were really excited about the idea and they’ve already got it up - Check it out here!

Kyle is leading a really cool church in Tucson called CrossRoads Church. They are meeting weekly in an active movie theater in Tucson and are very much a community based church. Our home church here in Austin started out portable and meeting in movie theaters. We have really fond memories of that time in our church, so we were excited to hear about how they’re doing church. They get a really early start every Sunday, set up in one of the theaters, have their service and have to get all their equipment and people out before the matinees start.

CrossRoads is focused on creating relationships and getting people involved in small groups/home churches and that approach is really paying off. By meeting in a movie theater, Kyle says the typical non-church going person is more intrigued by their set up and is more likely to come and check it out. He is really excited about what God is doing with their church and it’s so cool that our media can be a part of helping CrossRoads reach people in Tucson.

The Art of Cinematography

I was just writing my new bio for our about page (look for it there any day now), and it got me thinking about one of my favorite things: Cinematography.

Wikipedia says a cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera (the art and science of which is known as cinematography). The Cinematographer’s roles are many and varied and the job varies from picture to picture depending on the Director, the crew, etc. But at it’s heart, cinematography is writing with light. Writing and light are two of my biggest passions and so I love cinematography.

The late Conrad L. Hall is my favorite cinematographer. The shot he captured of the boy standing at the edge of the water in the beginning of Road to Perdition is one of the most beautiful and profound images I’ve ever seen. And one of my top five movies of all time is a little movie called, Searching for Bobby Fischer, beautifully rendered by Hall in a style he termed: magical realism. I love the movie and I love that term.

To me, magical realism means showing the transcendent, the supernatural, in the every day. That God is all around even in the mundane moments of life. I hope I can one day photograph a feature that can capture and communicate that style.

My monthly cinematography guide is a magazine called American Cinematography. If you want to learn more about how your favorite movies are captured and the people who capture them, pick up a copy. It gets into the details of the way a movie was shot, the cameras and film stocks used, the types of lighting the used, the special effects. I’ve been reading it for years. I love it. They have a couple of articles online here.

Here are some great links and resources on cinematography:

http://www.cinematography.com/
http://www.theasc.com/
Wikipedia List of All the Best Cinematography Award Winners
The Cinematography Mailing List (a great resource - this is a forum where you can go looking for answers on how to capture the look and feel you want for your next film or video)