Nov. 29, 2006 - Using the Juice - pt. 1
There are literally hundreds of great tools available for the independent video producer. One of my favorites are the products of the Digital Juice company.
Whether you need music, stock footage, or motion graphics, Digital Juice has what you need.
NOTE: I apologize if this sounds like a sales pitch. I don't work for Digital Juice, nor do I get any money for recomending their products. I'm just a satisfied customer who thinks everyone should use Digital Juice.
That said, let's move on to what kind of stuff Digital Juice offers.
VideoTraxx stock footage collections. There are three volumes of VideoTraxx. Each collection has hundreds of high quailty clips of varrying themes, from animals, to NASA, from teens to business.
BackTraxx royalty-free music collections. There are two volumes of BackTraxx. Each volume has hundreds of royalty-free music that you can use for promotional videos, commercials, or anything else. Royalty-free means you don't have to pay royalties each time you use a song, just the initial purchasing fee and you're free to go. Each song comes in different lengths for whatever project you're doing, and each volume is divided by categories such as Coporate, Cool Stuff, Classical, Mellow, etc.
StackTraxx royalty-free music collections. These are some of the coolest things ever. It's just like BackTraxx, except you can actually choose which instruments you want in the song. Say there's a great, high energy song you want to use in your commercial, but the drums are a little too rowdy for what you need. Go into the Juicer, DJ's proprietary rendering software that comes free with all DJ products, and deselect the drums track. It's that simple.
Digital Juice has other products, but I must be off to shoot some videos for church.
In Christ,
Zack
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Nov. 18, 2006 - FYI...
I just found out that the episode of Heroes that my dad and I saw being filmed will be airing Monday night on NBC. The episode is entitled "Homecoming," and according to the website will be a pivotal episode in the series. I watched last week's episode on the NBC website, www.nbc.com/Heroes and recognized the diner set they used. I had actually walked through that set when my dad and I visited the studio. It'll be interesting to see how the scene we saw turned out. Despite the evolutionary foundation of the show, the storyline is quite interesting, especially seeing how the different subplots begin to intersect with one another.
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Oct. 22, 2006 - SAICFF - The Results.
Well, the 2006 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival is over. While Close Encounters did not win the "Best Trailer" Award, it was selected as one of the top four finalists, and was very well received by those who saw it. A big "Thank You!" to all who helped with making the trailer. I couldn't have done it without you guys!
In Christ,
Zack
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Oct. 19, 2006 - SAICFA- Days 2 & 3
Boy, it's been a busy last couple of days here in San Antonio. As I write this from our hotel room, the Academy is over and the Film Festival will kick off tomorrow evening. My dad and I just got back from watching Facing the Giants, which I highly recommend. Check www.facingthegiants.com and look to see if it's playing in your area. I believe Christians across the country need to rise up and support these kinds of films. This will send the message to the Hollywood-humanists that these are the kinds of movies we want to see, movies that extol the Biblical family model, that show children to be a blessing, and not a curse, movies that show children repenting and apologizing to their parents, instead of the other way around. Movies that show how God rewards faithfulness and submission, and most importantly, films that exalt the name of Jesus Christ as the Name above all names, and by whom we are saved.Over the last two days, I've heard lectures and lighting, sound design, starting and managing a small video production company, the proper way to do preproduction, an in-depth look at the production process, heard the sucess stories of other Christian films, such as Facing the Giants. It's been like drinking out of a fire-hose. Next is the Festival itself. Over the next three days, I'll be watching as many as I can of the forty short films and documentaries that are in the semi-finals. I hope that I will be challenged, moved, and entertained. Most of all, I hope my trailer wins the Jubilee Award.
Just kidding!
Seriously though, please pray that God will be able to use my trailer as a means to make some connections that will be beneficial in the future, and if nothing else, be means to make some new friends in the Christian Filmmakers community.
Good night, and God Bless,
Zack
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Oct. 17, 2006 - SACFA- Day 1
Wow! What an amazing day! It was so awesome being among so many fellow Christian filmmakers with the same vision of becoming the industry that replaces Hollywood as the primary source of entertainment. I saw many faces I had met last year, and lots of new ones.As usual, Doug Philips did most of the talking, but I admit that his talk (at least, the one he gave during his alotted time) was very inspiring, and really did a good job of reminding us why we're doing this, which is to bring glory and honor to God, and to hopefully bring people to a relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, if only he wouldn't take up the other speakers' time so much...
Isaac Botkin spoke on the very practical topic of ways Christians can make an income doing video production, and David Rasmussen gave a presentation on his experiences shooting video on Mt. Everest and K2. Geoff Botkin quizzed us on what things we were most intersted in learning, (technical, theological, technique), where we got our gear (rental, own, or borrow), and even whether we used Macs or PCs.
PCs won, of course.
Well, I have to get ready for today's talks. Panavision will be giving a run-down on using 35mm film cameras. I'm definitely looking forward to that!
In Christ,
Zack
PS. Check out www.therebelution.com for live reports on the Academy and Festival.
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Oct. 14, 2006 - Coming up...
Well, my dad and I will be flying out to San Antonio tomorrow! The Film Academy starts on Monday. I'm really looking forward to it.
I'll be posting daily reports of what happens during the Academy and Festival, so check back soon.
In Christ,
Zack
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Oct. 9, 2006 - On the Set of "Heroes"
My dad and I had the opportunity today to visit the set of the new TV series "Heroes". It was quite an experience. We got to look over the director's (Greg Beeman) shoulder as he worked with the actors and crew,(which was the coolest part, IMO.) we got to see the reeeeeally sweet Panavision cameras in action,
and saw how a professional Hollywood set is run. (Plus, we even got a copy of the day's sides!)
I can't tell you what we saw, since we were treading a fine line just being there,
but the episode we saw being shot will air in about six weeks (for those of you who have TV). I can't recommend the show, since I haven't seen it. From what I've heard of the plot, it's basically about people who find themselves endowed with superpowers via evolution, kind of like X-men
(again, haven't seen, but heard.) So I leave it up to you to decide.
In Christ,
Zack
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Oct. 6, 2006 - SAICFF Trailer Entry - Accepted!
I got a phone call from Vision Forum today. My trailer has been accepted as a semi-finalist!
Needless to say, I'm pretty happy about it.
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Aug. 16, 2006 - My SAICFF Trailer
Boy, it sure has been a while since my last post. That darn ol' real life keeps getting in the way. I've been especially busy these last couple of months, getting ready to move to Colorado and all.
I did manage to find time to submit a trailer for the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival's Trailer Competition. It's called Close Encounters of the Epistemologically Self-Conscious Kind, and you can watch it here.
The file is 2.63 MB and is in Real Media format.
NOTE: It helps to understand it if you've seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In other news, I have a helpful link for anyone interested in filmmaking. It's Digital Juice Television, (DJTV) a web-based show put on by Digital Juice, the makers of Editor's Tool Kit production elements, BackTraxx royalty-free music libraries, and VideoTraxx stock footage.
In Christ,
Zack
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Apr. 29, 2006 - Report from NAB2006
Well, I just got back from Las Vegas, NV with my dad. We were at NAB2006, one of, if not the largest video conference in the U.S. We attended their Post Production World Conference and learned some great stuff. Not to put down the SAICFF, but the stuff we learned in Vegas is the kind of stuff we need to hear in San Antonio. In San Antonio, they tell you all about the "Why" of Christian filmmaking, (i.e. replacing Hollywood, etc.) but there wasn't much of the "How to". NAB was full of "How to": editing, lighting (one of the areas that is severely lacking in Christian films), how to use all the new toys, distribution, how to run a video production company, stunt choreography, getting shooting permits. And these were just the sessions I went to!
The vendor hall is what draws the biggest crowd, though. Four huge conference halls absolutely filled with everything from distrubitors to broadcasting companies. The "big three" of NLEs, Adobe
, Apple
, and Avid
, were all there, as well as Artbeats (stock footage), Serious Magic (producers of revolutionary software Ultra and DVRack), Hash, Inc. (3-D animation software Animation:Master
), Canon, Sony, Panasonic, JVC, and hundreds of others that I had never heard of before. It was quite overwhelming.
If anyone who is serious about Christian filmmaking is reading this, let me say this to you...
GO NEXT YEAR!!!
If we're going to replace Hollywood, we should use their own knowledge against them. If the price of admission intimidates you, let me remind you that filmmaking is not exactly a proffesion where it pays to be stingy. 
Just as a disclaimer, I'm not intending to put down anyone in this post, I'm just speaking to the Christian filmmaking community as a whole. I really feel that this is important.
Zack
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Mar. 24, 2006 - Writing a Screenplay - From the Zack Lawrence Christian Video Academy, Part 2
Do not include camera directions in your screenplay. By camera directions, I mean things like, “pan up to see the sun setting over the hills,” or, “zoom in on his eyes as he searches frantically.” A script goes through different forms throughout the production process: first is the screenplay, which should pretty much read like a novel, next is the shooting script, which is used by the director during production. This has all the camera moves and angles.
At the beginning of your script, you start with FADE IN and at the end you put FADE OUT. Always start a scene with scene description, never start with dialogue. Also make sure the character is mentioned in the scene description before you write his or her lines. Always double-space down from the scene heading to the scene description. The dialogue must be kept concise. Lengthy exposition bores an audience. When a character is first introduced, his or her name is capitalized. Also, sound effects are capitalized. And if you absolutely have to have camera angles, they need to be capitalized as well.
CHARACTER CUE is the character’s name and it is followed by the dialogue. Two techniques you might use are Voice Over and Off Screen. These are placed after the character cue and are abbreviated, capitalized, and put in parenthesis. The Voice over, (V.O.) is used when dialogue is placed over the scene, like if someone is narrating the story, or talking about something that happened to him during a flashback. Off screen, (O.S.), is used when someone is talking out of our view, like if he’s in another room.
Here’s a sample page of a script I wrote to show you how this all works out. I’ve used almost all of the elements we’ve just discussed.
FADE IN:
EXT – SWAMP HUT – DAY
Somewhere in the midst of
EDMUND
Father is late, Wolf. I hope nothing has happened to him and Cousin Egbert.
Edmund’s hound WOLF lifts his head and gives a lazy wag of his tail. Edmund passes his hand across Wolf’s head.
EDMUND (O.S.)
(cont’d)
Don’t worry, old fellow. They’ll be home soon, and then we shall learn what has been happening since the Vikings attacked.
Edmund gets up and walks over to a small coracle tied up to a wooden stake. Wolf BARKS. Edmund turns to him.
EDMUND
(cont’d)
No, Wolf, you can’t come with me. I’ll be back in an hour.
Wolf watches as Edmund gets into the coracle and paddles off into the swamp. When he loses sight of Edmund, Wolf walks over to the door of the hut and flops down with a WHINE.
FADE OUT
You’ll notice that when I gave Edmund’s age, I spelled out “fourteen”. Always spell out two digit numbers, personal titles, and indications of time. Also, don’t hyphenate long words, and never break a sentence from one page to the next.
Most stories are broken down into separate “Acts.” The most common is the three-act structure. In the first act, we’re introduced to the protagonist, the good guy, the antagonist, the bad guy or some other obstacle, and the problem that the protagonist is trying to solve. In the second act we have rising action: there’s conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist, and where the protagonist has several obstacles thrown in the way of achieving the goal. In the third act, we have Climax, and then Resolution. This is where the final confrontation takes place: a duel; the protagonist faces his worst fear; the antagonist is about to succeed in world domination; and the hero overcomes and everyone lives happily ever after, basically.
One of the speakers at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival was Mr. Geoff Botkin, a Christian filmmaker from
Probably the most important thing you can do to your script is, once you’ve got it all finished, rewrite it. And when you’ve finished rewriting it, rewrite it again. And when you’ve finished rewriting it, rewrite it again. And when you’ve finished rewriting it, rewrite it again. Most screenwriting classes and books say you should do at least 20 drafts of your script before you start shooting.
Also, I think I should add that when your script is completed, and before you begin shooting, you have to make a storyboard. Storyboards are basically taking the script, and turning it into a comic strip, showing all the camera angles, the progression of the action, and providing a blue-print for the production team to follow. If you don’t storyboard your movie, you’re going to run into a lot of problems. It’ll make things harder for the crew to be on the same page and work with the same vision and goal in mind.
In Christ,
Zack
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Feb. 23, 2006 - Writing a Screenplay - From the Zack Lawrence Christian Video Academy - Part 1
What’s the first step when making a movie? Writing the story. Every movie, good or bad, starts with a script, also called a screenplay.
Now, when you go to write your screenplay, there are certain rules for how to format the structure of your story.
First of all, when you type your script, you have to use a 12-point, Courier font. On your computer it may be called “Courier New”, but it must be one of the Courier fonts that look similar to a typewriter-style of typeface. When you get to your final draft, and you’ve got your screenplay in the correct format, one page of your script will approximately equal one minute of screen time. So if you want to write a feature-length film, you’re going to be looking at a script that is 100 to 120 pages in length. Now don’t start off doing feature films. Start by doing 5-15 minute long shorts, then as you hone your skills, move on to longer projects.
The cover of your script should be gray or white card stock. Don’t do pink construction paper with green flowers drawn on, even if your movie is about hippies. You definitely want to stay away from that. The title page should have nothing but the title of the film, and you, the author’s, name. Put the title of the movie in ALL CAPS, and type your name regularly, first letter capitalized, and the rest lower-case. Having your name in all caps makes you look like a snob.
Next is “screen headings”. Screen headings are what tell where and when the action of the scene is taking place. It tells you whether it’s inside or outside, the specific location, and whether it’s day or night. Let’s say your scene takes place inside a house, let’s say it’s the kitchen, during the daytime. You would put INT - KITCHEN – DAY. Now let’s say your scene is in an old, dark alleyway at midnight. You would put EXT – ALLEYWAY – NIGHT. You do not say whether it’s midday, evening, dusk, morning, twenty-five past 11:00. You just put day or night. Now that doesn’t mean you can only have your scenes take place in the middle of the day, or in the pitch black of night. If you want your scene to take place late in the afternoon, you describe it in the screen direction.
What is the screen direction? The screen direction simply is where you say what’s happening, what characters are in the scene, and where the scene takes place. Here’s an example of a screen heading and screen direction from a script that I wrote.
EXT – SWAMP HUT – DAY
Somewhere in the midst of
Now from what it says in the screen direction, at what time of day would you say this took place? Dusk or evening. Now did you notice the detail I went into? Can you picture the setting and surroundings in your mind just from what is written here? If you can’t, then it’s my fault for not being descriptive enough. I got to tell you, I don’t like writing. Of the whole process of making a movie, I most dislike the writing part. For me, I can see in my mind, clearly what I want to portray, but I just can’t get it down onto paper, or onto the computer fast enough for me to keep my creative juices flowing. Now I hope for you, it’s a little easier. If not, you either need to find someone who will write it all down as you dictate it, or you could record yourself, telling your story, and then going back and typing up, or transcribing, your story in script format.
In Christ,
Zack
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Feb. 17, 2006 - Using the FS-4 Firestore
At NAB 2005, my dad and I got two FS-4 Firestore units from Focus Enhancements for our production company, Lawrence Multimedia. The Firestores are basically 40GB hard drives that you hook up to your camera and record your video onto. You then hook up the unit to your computer, copy the files onto your main hard drive, and start editing, bypassing the capture process, and saving your camera or capture deck from excessive wear. The FS-4’s have a 40GB, or three hours of video, capacity, and the FS-4 Pro units have an 80GB, or six hour, capacity.
After getting the Firestores, we did video coverage for an entrepreneur conference in
When we got home, we looked over the Firestores and tried to figure out what happened. In order to record, you press the record button on the FS-4 once to enter “Record-Pause” mode. You then press the record button again to begin recording. Well, when we did this, the record symbol showed up on the screen of the unit, but the timecode indicator remained at 00:00:00;00! After seeing that nothing happened, we resolved to call Focus Enhancement’s tech support and see what was wrong. Unfortunately, we are terrible procrastinators, so it never got done. A few weeks later, we tried again, and lo and behold, the units worked! We figured it must have been a momentary glitch. So we took the XL2 and the Firestores to a family reunion and tried to use them there, but suddenly, we had the same problem as before: the units wouldn’t record! WE took them home and tested them again, and sure enough, they worked like a charm.
Needless to say, we were getting a little frustrated, and very confused. So this last week, we did one last test before calling tech support. The units worked again, so I figured we didn’t have a problem. But as I was putting the equipment away, I got to thinking: I had been using our Canon GL-2 to test the Firestores. Thinking back, whenever I had tested the units after experiencing problems, I had been using our GL-2, but when we had the problems, we had been using the XL2. This led to the conclusion that it must be something to do with the XL!
We called tech support and told them the problem and my discovery. They suggested we download the Firmware update on their website. Well, we had done that when we had first purchased the units. I called tech support back to get an RMA number so we could send the units in to be checked out. I spoke with a different representative this time and explained the problem to him. He said that he had heard of this problem before, and had walked several people through the process of fixing it. He asked if I had “DV Control” set to “on” on the camera. I thought I did, so I told him yes. He then went on to explain how other people who had similar problems had checked to see if DV control was turned on. It almost always wasn’t, and when they turned it on, the problem was solved! Well, this got me thinking, so as he was telling me this, I got out our XL2, turned it on, and looked through the camera menu to see if I could find the DV Control setting. When I found it, guess what? Yep, it was off. I turned it on, hooked up the Firestore, and the very words that countless people before had uttered passed from my lips.
“Hey! It’s working now!”
So, the moral of this story is: If you get a Firestore, number one: always run backup tapes even when using the unit just in case, and two: make sure the DV Control is turned on!
In Christ,
Zack
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Feb. 15, 2006 - On your shoot, hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Anyone who has been in filmmaking for any length of time can tell you any number of stories about when something went wrong on set. My motto when on set is "Hope for the best, Prepare for the worst." You never know what might go wrong. To illustrate my point, here's a little story that I got out of An Encyclopedia of Humor by Lowell D. Streiker.
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Cecil B. De Mille was well known for his spectacular motion pictures, especially those based on the Bible. Unfortunately, he had a tendency to allow his lavish special effects to drown the simple morals of the scriptural stories. Shortly before his death, he undertook the most breathtaking of his magnificent spectacles.
He was filming the six days of creation-the coming of light, the forming of the Earth, the separation of the sea from the land, the appearance of sun, moon, and stars, and the start of life itself.
This carefully planned sequence would cost more than fifty million dollars. For this purpose a huge valley in
To cover any problems, therefore, De Mille set up four separate camera crews on four separate peaks overlooking the valley, each under instructions to film everything.
At the appointed time, De Mille waved his hand at the special effects crew, and the magnificent display began.
Everything worked perfectly. The creation had been recreated. De Mille himself was reduced to speechless tears at its magnificence. When he recovered his composure, De Mille hastened to check on the camera crew.
He lifted his walkie-talkie and contacted Camera Crew One. “How did it go?” he asked.
“Gosh, C.B.,” came back a shocked voice. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but when the creation started, we were all so fascinated by it that we actually never thought to roll the cameras.”
De Mille silently praised himself for his careful preparations. After all, he had expected trouble. That was why he had four camera crews. He put in a call to Crew Two.
“Gosh, Mr. De Mille,” came back a terrified voice. “I can’t explain it. We were all set, but it turned out we just didn’t have any film. Somehow no one had ever thought to bring any. I don’t know what to say. I’m so upset I could just die.”
“Do that,” barked De Mille, and he rang up the third crew.
“Gosh, C.B.," came back a hysterical voice, “we were ready, we were running, we were loaded, we took everything, but C.B. – I don’t know how it happened, but we somehow never took the cap off the lens.”
Now De Mille was dazed and stupefied. With a trembling hand, he called the final film crew.
For once a cheerful voice answered, “Hello, Mr. De Mille!”
De Mille said, “Is everything all right?”
“Couldn’t be better,” said the camera operator confidently.
Wild hope sprang up within De Mille’s heart. “You have film?”
“Plenty.”
“The right film?”
"Naturally.”
“The cap is off the lens?”
“Of course.”
“There is nothing wrong?”
“Not a thing.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Relax,” said the fourth camera operator. “We’re in perfect shape, so get started whenever you want, C.B.” 
In Christ,
Zack
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Feb. 14, 2006 - Excerpt from the Zack Lawrence Christian Video Academy
On December 10, 2005 I held the first Zack Lawrence Christian Video Academy (ZLCVA for short), where I spent all day teaching some local homeschoolers how to make videos. Here's some of what I taught on Christian Video Principals.
As Christians, we should do everything for the glory of God. This includes making movies. We are on the verge of something magnificent that I believe God is going to use to rock this world, and change the culture. In October, my dad and I went to Vision Forum Ministries’ San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and Academy, and there we saw several dozen films made primarily by young filmmakers like you, that were outstanding in their production values and in their spiritual messages. The goal of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival is to create an independent film industry, as a replacement to
Why do we need to replace
In Christ,
Zack Lawrence
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Feb. 3, 2006 - Video and Movie Terms (part1)
Well, it's been a while since my last post, so I thought I would take the time to explain some different terms used in filmmaking.
TALENT - The person or persons in front of the camera. The actor(s) or interviewee.
DIRECTOR - The person who calls the shots on set. Basically, his word is law.
GRIP - Person who puts everything together on the set (lights, cables, cameras, etc.)
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY (DP) - Sets up the shots as per the director's orders. Tells the grips where to put the lights and cameras, what kind of equipment to use, etc.
FIREWIRE - Technically known as IEEE-1394, this is the primary cable used to transport video from the camera to the computer or to other equipment, such as a switcher. Faster transfer time than standard USB, but it's slower than USB-2
FRAME RATE - The number of frames in one second of video or film.
FRAME - (1) Individual pictures that, when played in sequence, create the illusion of movement, similar to a flip-book cartoon.
(2) What can be seen when watching the video.
ASPECT RATIO - The width and height of the frame. The "standard" aspect ratio is a 4:3 ratio. This is the standard for television, and video cameras. This is also called "full screen"
The "widescreen" aspect ratio is 16:9. This is most commonly seen in feature length movies, though some television shows air in 16:9.
I'll continue with more at a later date, hopefully sooner than later.
Zack
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Dec. 18, 2005 - Movie Review: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
[WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!]
I just saw The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on Thursday, and I was completely blown away. The effects were amazing, especially the CG/Live action intergration. There were a few times where you could tell the actors were green-screened. Personally, I think Liam Neeson should not have been the voice of Aslan. When he leaps upon a rock and gives a roar when he's about to fight the White Witch, I half-expected him to pull out a lightsaber! John Rys-Davies would have been a better choice IMO.
I had watched the old BBC version of LWW the night before seeing the movie. While the new version's production values were much better, the BBC version was more accurate to the book. One thing that I was dissapointed at in the new version was the religious symbolism being downplayed. The director (can't remember his name) had said in an interview that "[C.S. Lewis] didn't consider [the books] to be Christian books."
Excuse me? C.S. Lewis said or insinuated on numerous occasions that Aslan represented Christ, and that Aslan's sacrifice for Edmund was symbolic of Christ's sacrifice for us!
Anyways.
Overall, the movie was excellent, and even though the effects were done by Weta, I didn't think it looked like Lord of the Rings... well, to much anyway.
ZACK'S RATING: 5/5
In Christ,
Zack
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Nov. 27, 2005 - Movie Reviews
Boy it's been a busy couple of weeks! I haven't blogged nearly as much as I've wanted to.
I just got back from visiting relatives in 
(Don't worry; this isn't a 'what I did on my Thanksgiving vacation' report. I'll get to the video stuff momentarily)
My family and I stayed at one of my uncle's house. He's the pastor at a church in Fountain Hills. While there, my aunt "made" us watch several movies at their house. (Notice that I put 'made' in quotations. It doesn't take much persuading to get me to watch TV.)
The selection was interesting: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Jonny Depp, The Parent Trap starring Lindsey Lohan, and Freaky Friday starring Ms. Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis. (Forgive me if I spelled their names wrong. I don't really care if I did.) My reviews of the movies are as follows:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was by far the best of the lot. While I don't usually watch any of Tim Burton's works, I thoroughly enjoyed the quality of the special effects, and most of the humor. Albeit, some of it was a bit crude, and parts of the movie were a bit intense. My dad had to take my three-year-old brother out of the room when the gum-chewing girl turned into a blueberry. If that hadn't freaked him out, the next part with the squirrels would have. I was even shocked at that scene. (If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about.) However, I think they did a very good job of showing the consequences of improperly raising children, and the very strong message of family first was very pleasing. Zack's Rating: 5/5
I only saw the tail-end of The Parent Trap, but I did see it when it was in the theaters. The behavior of the twins was inexcusable (but you have to admit, it was pretty funny at times.) Zack's Rating: 3/5
If Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was the best of the lot, Freaky Friday was the worst. The immodest dress of the girls, the blatant teen-rebellion being portrayed as "cool," the heavy-metal soundtrack, and the poor language were absolutely appalling. I have read the book a couple of times and I can tell you that the movie was nothing like the original story. In the book, the daughter was in need of an attitude adjustment, so the mother switched their minds (how it is done is not explained, nor is it needed to be), and the daughter learns what it is like being a mother and taking care of two children. In the movie the mother and daughter are switched by the matron of a Chinese restaurant (Oriental magic is implied as the cause) and it is the mother who learns to let here daughter be herself, and to respect her, basically, disrespect for authority. Although the actresses did a superb job at portraying the other, I would not recommend this movie to anyone. Zack Rating: 0/5
Most of the family gathered over at my grandmother's house the day after Thanksgiving. My Mormon uncle from
Isn't pretty sad that the Mormon uncle is showing better movies that the Christian minister uncle? Don't get me wrong, I mean no disrespect to either of my uncles, but Christians need to wake up! What is wrong with this picture? It should be the Christians who show and recommend movies with strong moral messages, instead of showing the garbage of
On December 10, I'll be teaching the first ever
In Christ,
Zack
EDIT: Registration for the Dec. 10 class is now closed.
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Nov. 4, 2005 - What a trip!
Well I'm finally back from the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, and what an amazing experience it was! Being around so many like-minded, Christian filmmakers was such an encouragement and inspiration. By far the most moving experience was the world premiere of The League of Grateful Sons, a documentary produced by Vision Forum Ministries, about the men who fought at the battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. Seeing some of the elder men in the audience weeping during some of the songs of the era played by an authentic 19-piece brass band was something I'll never forget.
Reflecting on this, I can help but stand in awe of the impact the arts have on people. Take movies for example. When we watch a movie, we laugh, cry
, sometimes fall asleep
, or are scared out of our wits and we jump at every shadow for weeks afterwards. (I'm just now getting over Signs, which I saw several months ago.
) When we make movies, we must be extremely careful as to what we portray, teach, and say. At the SAICFF, Doug Phillips and Geoff Botkin could not admonish us enough to be so very careful when we make our films, as they can, and usually do, have a lasting impact on people.
To learn more about the SAICFF, as well as who won the big $10,000 Jubilee Award, go to www.independentchristianfilms.com
In Christ,
Zack
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Oct. 26, 2005 - Report from the Vision Forum Independent Christian Film Academy
Well, here I am again. I've spent the last three days at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Academy put on by Vision Forum Ministries. It's been an amazing experience. There were approximately 150 people in attendance, including my dad and I, and we all learned a lot of amazing stuff from speakers like Doug Phillips, Geoff Botkin and his son Isaac, and Ken Carpenter to name a few. I don't have much time right now, so I can't go into much detail of what all went on, but for now let me say that the death of Hollywood is near, and what's happening here in San Antonio is the declaration of war from Christian filmmakers against the garabage and evil of both Hollywood and the secular indie flim movement. Great things are going to be happening in the years to come and I feel greatly priveleged and blessed by God to have been part of this beginning.
I'll tell more at a later date, until then-
In Christ,
Zack
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