Because I know you’ve been dying to peer behind the creative arts curtain at Friendswood Community Church, here’s a glimpse at my diary entries on the creative process used for a typical Sunday morning service.
Monday (2 weeks out) – Dream up jaw-dropping video concept with Toby…cool villain…plot twists…surprise ending…oh yeah, and it’s spiritual…too important to call a video, more like a short film…best original screenplay nomination at Academy Awards a distinct possibility…practice ‘surprise’ face in front of mirror…happy that we’ve got a good idea and 2 weeks to produce it
Tuesday – Propose idea to Rick…seems excited…thinks it has potential...asks how much it will cost to produce…he laughs, but not in a good way…sulk the rest of the day… on way out of the parking lot, decide to key Rick’s car
Wednesday morning – Depressed…sleep til noon
Wednesday afternoon – Brainstorm scaled down version, this time without the pyrotechnics and skydiving hippos…land on idea that will include Kenny G soundtrack and adorable puppy…term “video” now seems very appropriate
Thursday – Toby and I fight over creative control of the project…he thinks it should be filmed in color, I say black and white…decide to arm wrestle for it…I come to conclusion that color would create highest impact
Friday – Still mad at Toby…awkward tension…buy him an HEB salad and we make up…I apologize for being a little gruff…he’s sorry that he’s an idiot…finally get around to storyboarding…as the day wears on, more excited about the idea…on way home, think this might be the best video we’ve ever done
Monday (one week out) – Hate the video idea…scrap it completely…scan YouTube for other church videos…become sidetracked by “Charlie bit my finger” video…wonder how such drivel can have 300 million views…watch 10 more times, laughing harder each time…find a powerful, God-inspired video beautifully executed by another church…decide to rip off their idea
Tuesday – Pitch revised concept to Rick…likes it, but says he thinks he’s seen it before…assure him that he hasn’t…reluctantly agrees to idea…beginning to wonder if he regrets hiring me…he asks me if I know anything about his car getting keyed…tell him I don’t even know what that means
Wednesday – Begin shooting…production halted three times because of rain…decide to move shoot indoors…filming commences against painted backdrop of rainbow and monarch butterflies…review footage – hate the shot – looks fake…quick meeting with Rick updating him on video progress…use the last 2 hours of the day to update resume
Thursday – Scrap idea again…thinking about just using a clip from Schindler’s List, or maybe Tommy Boy…call mom to tell her my frustrations…tries to cheer me up by sending forwarded emails of kittens dressed up like “The Village People”…more depressed than ever
Friday – 48 hours out from Sunday, and still no good ideas…eat lunch, stare out office window at passing cars…begin to think about the movie, “Cars”…decide that “Toy Story 3” was a much better movie…scan Wikipedia to find out how old Tom Hanks is…spend half-hour wondering how they filmed the ping pong scene in Forrest Gump…startled by phone call from Rick…asks how video is coming along…tell him that good art cannot be rushed…he assures me that it can
Sunday morning – Toby and I up till 2am, creating video slideshow of “The Village People” kittens
Sunday evening – email inbox full…consensus is, best video ever…sleep well that night…job well done
so funny!
ReplyDeleteLove it. Can you post the video from sunday (4/17)somewhere. I commented that the video went so well with the message and that you guys did such a great job. who knew that you probably did that the night before.
ReplyDeletefreaking hilarious!
ReplyDeleteyou funny
ReplyDelete