alexschwindt.com

video and digital storytelling

It's exciting and encouraging to see ministry leaders and church planters begin to grasp how crucial video will be moving into the future.  Missional churches are churches that speak the language of the culture they are in, and in the US culture that 'language' is video.  Now that we're beginning to accept this new reality, I think we need to challenge ourselves to become far more fluent in 'media.' 

Imagine for a moment if you felt called to share the gospel in El Salvador.  Would you take a one-week crash course in Spanish and then hop on the next plane out?  Would you buy a coffee table book about the country from your local Barnes and Noble and assume that would teach you everything you needed to know about the culture?  Of course not.  Yet so many Christian leaders today assume that a video camera and firewire is all you need to create compelling video. 

Speaking 'video' fluently really isn't any easier to master than any other language, and Christian leaders need to stop assuming it is.  If you participate in Christian worship experiences with any kind of frequency you've probably experienced a time when no video would have been better than the embarrassing video that was used.  The intentions were good, but the results were cringe-tastic. 

So how can take our media to the next level?  

a reflection

. . . you show me your faith apart from your artistry, and I'll show you my faith by my artistry . . .

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(faith by Ben VanDyken)

Concept Photos

Hey Everybody.  It's been a while since I posted anything, and I thought it might be cool to show one of the projects I've been working on lately.  Last weekend we were using a song called "Movie of My Life" (by Justin McRoberts) and we thought it might be effective to tie some imagery to the song.  Fortunately, my good friend Kari Landman was singing that weekend and was also willing to be the subject for a photography session.  Click on the images to see larger versions.

This was one where minimal lighting really helped define the shot.  I love the contrasts in this one.

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This one was a total surprise.  The the reflections on the wall really create this great sense of space and dimension.

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This is probably my favorite of the shoot.  The space is perfect, the dust/light ray thing provides this a nice depth what otherwise might be a shallow image, and it has a real narrative feel to it.

When you spend so much of your time helping other people develop their gifts, you sometimes tend to neglect your own.  It's nice when a project comes along that calls for some artistry. 

In Defense of Fiction

You know, lately I've been on a real nonfiction tear.  I've been reading a lot of leadership studies, essay collections, biographies, and the like.  It's all been interesting stuff and I've definitely gotten a lot out of it, but as I'm finishing up my latest nonfiction ("The Unstoppable Force" - really good btw) I'm feeling myself beginning to go through fiction withdrawal. 

What's interesting to me is that I find myself feeling a little bit guilty about wanting to get back into a good fictional read.  You see, over the past couple of years I have spent a lot of time working with people who look down their nose on the whole "make-believe" category of literature.  You probably know the kind of people I'm talking about - the ones that make a bee-line for the self-help section of the bookstore.  The ones who keep copies of Fast Company in their commodes.  The ones who always seem to have just finished reading 'this great new book" that will completely solve whatever problem you're encountering and keep that bully from kicking sand on your towel and stealing your girl.  The kind of people that coined the term "pulp fiction" (one of the most spiteful, envious phrases I've ever heard).

I think the problem is that while knowledge puffs up, narrative belongs to everyone.  While you can memorize lists and acronyms and wield them like weapons, the edges tend to dull easily.  Stories are powerful, stories cut through to the heart, good stories contain levels of truth that can literally be felt in the soul. 

When trying to explain the Kingdom of God Jesus literally asked "What story can I tell to explain this."  I think the next time I try to talk to someone about Jesus I'm going lean more towards some stories and away from the Four Spiritual Laws.  And you know what . . . I'm going to be better at sharing those stories because of my lifelong love affair with the fiction genre.