My Vision As A Filmmaker

I just got back from a film "workshop", and the topic of filmmaking is very present on my mind right now. 


I haven't written much about filmmaking on this blog so far. Actually, I don't think I've mentioned it at all yet.  There are a lot of things, actually, that I'm very passionate about that I haven't taken the time to blog about.  One of these days, I'll invest more time into this blog, and write about more of the things I'm passionate about.  But lately... my time has been spent doing other things, unfortunately.


I've mentioned on this blog that I want to write novels, and that I am working on a futuristic novel presently that I want to publish when I finish.  What I have not mentioned is that I have a strong passion for filmmaking, as well as writing. 

It will probably be quite a few years before I can make feature-length films of my own, but that is most definitely my goal.  In the meantime, I am trying to find as many ways as I can to learn more about the craft, and get experience. 


Someday, God-willing, I hope this will be the blog of a novelist... and of a filmmaker.  Among other things.  :-)


Here is an INCOMPLETE outline of my vision as a filmmaker...  (By the way, many of these things apply to my vision as a novelist, as well.)


I want to make movies that....

* Honor God, that follow Biblical principles, and point people to Jesus.

* Show people that there is a crazy, passionate, romantic, fulfilling relationship to be found in Jesus Christ.  That every longing, every deepest desire in our hearts can be fulfilled through Him.  That through Him, there is hope; not some far-off, elusive hope; but a real, tangible, strong, immense, overflowing hope that makes life more than worth living for.


* Pursue, defend, and proclaim the TRUTH.  That are not afraid to speak the Truth, no matter how unpopular it may be.  That ultimately lead people to the source of all truth: Jesus Christ.  To His Word.


* Speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15).  There are too many people who speak the truth, but do not speak it in love.  The Bible says that if we speak without love, we are only "a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Cor 13:1).  And this is so true!  Whoever wants to listen to someone that rants and raves about something, without any love?  It's irritating, just like a "clanging cymbal".  It doesn't matter how right or true their words may be; no one wants to listen.  They might as well not open their mouth.  Actually... it'd probably be better if they didn't!  We need to speak the truth in love.  Not just a cheesy, unfelt little "God-loves-you"; but a true, deep, genuine love, even for the people you disagree with the most (and this is very hard sometimes!!). 

* Have characters who are role models... heroes.  Too many films today depict characters who are role models of how not to live; of how to live in sin, and in rebellion to God.  There is a desperate need for characters that we can look up to.  Now, they will be "real" people, in the sense that they will not be perfect.  They should be 100% realistic, 100% relatable.  But they should be examples of people who are genuinely trying to live in a way that honors God, even when they fail.

* Show children who are respectful and submissive to their parents, not rebellious, as the culture presently encourages them to be.


* Show fathers who are strong, spiritual leaders.


* Show romance in its truest, purest, most beautiful and most desirable way: between a husband and wife.  These will be movies that elevate marriage to the high place where the Bible places it.  They will show that marriage is not when the "fun" ends; it's when the adventure begins!  And... the beauty of true romance simply does not exist, outside of the boundaries of marriage between a man and woman.


* Encourage and inspire Christians in their faith... that motivate them to be radical Jesus Freaks, passionate for Jesus.


* And so much more. 


You know what... I dream of a day when the phrase "Christian film" is not associated with "low budget", "low quality", and "cheesiness".  I dream of a day when Christians no longer have to compromise their values just to watch a movie; that someday, no matter when we go to the theaters, there will always, always be at least one good, high-quality Christian film playing.  It may be a decade or two before this happens, but I believe it can happen.

Why?


Because I am not the only one dreaming like this.


Friends, we are in exciting times.  I hear the rumbling sound of a stampede, or an army, on its way over the horizon.  Can't you hear it?  A movement.  A revolution.  There have been quiet tremors for years; and now, the earth is starting to tremble and shake, as the movement gets bigger. 


A movement of Christian filmmakers is on the way.  Christian filmmakers who want to reclaim the media world for Christ.  They are all across the country... some of them may be quiet now, but you will hear of them -- all of them -- in time.  Slowly, their films are becoming more numerous. Slowly, they are released more frequently.  Slowly, they are increasing in quality.

I don't know about you, I want to jump on board this movement.

There are a number of Christian films in development right now that I'm excited about, and I can't wait until they come out.  Here is a list of them.  There are lots more that I'm not listing here, I'm sure.  Feel free to add to the list yourself by leaving a comment!  :-)

•  A Stubborn Journey (about the life of young Josh McDowell)
• For the Glory (from 1Voice Films)
• Courageous (from Sherwood Pictures; the makers of Facing the Giants and Fireproof)
• Alone Yet Not Alone
• Hero (from Advent Film Group)
• Red September (from Advent Film Group)
• Eleventh Hour

The Entire Purpose of Life, the Reason We Exist, the Meaning of All Our Deepest Desires and Longings... in 10 Words

A passionate,

romantic

relationship

with the God

of the universe.

Help! I Can't Understand Economics Or Government!

Hey there!  Is that one of your cries of woe?  To you find economics or government just too dull, complicated, or confusing to understand?

If that's the case, I highly recommend two books to you:

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?
 (economics)




and

Whatever Happened to Justice?
 (government)


 both by Richard J. Maybury.


 



These books are short, (Penny Candy is 150 pages and Justice in 250 pages), fun to read, and extremely easy to understand.  You will never feel that the information goes over your head; instead, you will walk away from these books feeling like you completely understand the basics of economics and government.  


These books are especially important for today's economy!  After reading these books, you will understand why the economy is where it is today, and you will know how to face the future; you will know how to prepare, if and when things get worse.  For this reason, I strongly believe that everyone in America should read these books... even if only to understand the economic troubles we are experiencing right now; and to know what steps we, as a nation, should take next.

These books work great as supplements for school economics/government courses, or just as fun, leisure reading.

Now, I will say that the author is sometimes opinionated in these books, and I don't agree with everything he says.  I think that sometimes he just misses the truth because he doesn't have a Christian worldview, but he does come close.  But, for the most part, I agree wholeheartedly with his books; and even if you don't agree with his opinions, you will benefit from understanding the concepts he teaches.

If you want to view these books on Amazon, here are the links:

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy

Whatever Happened to Justice 


I want to conclude with this quote from Whatever Happened to Justice: 

"Always beware of anyone who tells you a topic is above you or better left to experts.  This person may, for some reason, be trying to shut you out.  You can understand almost anything.  If you know you are giving it your best effort and you are still finding an explanation difficult to grasp, it may be because the expert has poor communication skills.  It could also be that the expert doesn't want you to grasp it.  Many people are twice as smart as they think are, but they've been intimidated into believing some topics are above them." (Page 20)

This applies to both economics and government!  You can understand!


Blessings, and keep pursuing the truth!
Brianna

Must-Have For Christian Fiction Writers!

Are you a writer?

Do you write Christian fiction?

If you do, then there's a book you have to read. Like, HAVE to read. It's this book below:

I don't care if you're a newbie writer or if you've been writing for many years. Whatever level you're at, you'll get something from this. 

As for me, this book gave me a MAJOR inspiration boost. The wheels of my mind just went flying. I had a piece of paper with me at all times while I was reading it, just so I could jot down ideas. And it also taught me a lot about writing. Here are just a few things I benefited from:

* Using the dumb puppet trick

* Tips on how to write descriptions

* How to handle profanity in Christian fiction

* How to introduce a character

* How to juggle lots of characters and plots in a big novel

 * Using the "or-else" component, or the "ticking time bomb", to add suspense in a story

* Including the hero's inner journey

Click here to buy the book on Amazon; click here to buy the book from the original publishers.

Thanks, Whisper, for recommending this book to me! ;-)

Picture of the Month

Book Review: Sword in the Stars, Part 2

So, here's Part 2 of my book review on Sword in the Stars.  (Read the first part here.) I'm just listing random thoughts about the book, more or less in the order they occurred to me as I read it.

* Throughout the book, Batson uses a lot of strong, powerful, universal themes. I thought they were very effective in making the story more real and relatable. Some examples: judgmental and legalistic religion, the "evils" of drunkenness, forgiveness, love, (those two went hand in hand), healthy marriages, redemption, sacrifice/heroism, thirst for power, parenting/growing up/family.

* I actually didn't like the cover (shown above). It was a really good book (especially once you get about 1/3-1/2 of the way through), and I somehow didn't feel like the cover really represented that. But, there is some fun symbolism on the cover. It was fun when it suddenly clicked for me, after I had begun reading the book: "Oh, that's what that means on the cover!"

* The romance in this book I actually liked. That means a lot coming from me; I'm normally very annoyed with romance in books. In this book, the romance is not cheap, it's not obnoxious, it's not silly, it's not pointless, and it's not sensual or focused chiefly on appearances or feelings. On the contrary, it is quite the opposite. It is not about a couple kids or teens becoming infatuated with each other; it's about two grown people who are old enough and mature enough to get married. It is a picture of what a right, healthy romantic relationship should look like, in my opinion. It does not feel like it was just thrown in there JUST for the sake of adding romance; it very much has to do with the story, and again, it is a picture of a good relationship. It actually helps illustrate one of the biggest themes -- if not THE biggest theme -- of the book (that being redemption). It is about true love; true love for who someone is, for the honorable traits in them; true love that develops slowly. 


* Allastair (the main protagonist) is such an amazing, heroic, sacrificial, honorable character! He embodies a strong, STRONG roll model that is painfully, sorely lacking in many books and movies today. (You just have to keep reading the book before you realize what a good character he is... he certainly isn't perfect, just like any real person isn't perfect, and some of his imperfections stand out strongly at the beginning of the book. But you have to keep reading... I found myself admiring him at the end.)


* Just gotta say, if you're a fan of Wayne Batson's writing, you should definitely read this book. :-)


* The ending is awesome. There was a realization at the end that had to do with the evil in the book... it left me stunned and disturbed... quite a bomb to drop on the reader right as the book ends. :-)


Conclusion: This books successfully passes my strict book-critiquing standard. I label it: highly recommended.  5 out of 5 stars. *applause* *cheers*


Over and out,
Brianna

Movie Review: Jane Eyre

This week, I watched the movie Jane Eyre (2011), based off of the novel of the same name by Charlotte Brontë.  Because I am a big fan of the book, I was excited and curious to see how it translated onto the screen, in the form of a modern, well-budgeted film.  (There have been many film versions of the story in the past, but as far as I know, all of them were old, low-budgeted, or both.)  I was also very curious (and admittedly a little anxious) to find out how closely the movie would stick to the original story. 
 

For the most part, I was not disappointed. The casting was absolutely excellent; Mia Wasikowska played a perfect Jane, Michael Fassbender played a perfect Mr. Rochester (although he was not exactly how I imagined him, he captured Mr. Rochester's personality exactly), and the same was true for every actor, as far as I could tell.  The lighting was also done excellently; its dark tone helped set the mood for the story. 


Also, the story was almost exactly identical to the book; for about a third of the way through the movie, I was completely thrilled with watching the book seemingly come to life in front me. However, there were a few differences that popped up; some were subtle, and they seemed entirely appropriate and acceptable to me; while others did bother me a little bit.

The two most noticeable differences, for me, were the general mood of the story, and the sequence of events.  In the book, the mood was dark, mysterious, and intriguing; while there was an aspect of sadness to the story, I thought the mysteriousness and suspense far outweighed the sadness, and I did not come away from the book feeling heavy-hearted.  The movie was somewhat flipped; it definitely captured the dark mood of the story, but it seemed to emphasize the sadness of the story more than the mysteriousness.  There was certainly a happy ending, but I still personally came away from the movie feeling more saddened than I did when I read the book. 

Also, while there was definitely a lot of suspense in the movie, I did not think it built up as strongly as it did in the book; in fact, the resolving of the mystery seemed somewhat anticlimactic to me.  But this could just be because the movie is only two hours long, so it does not have nearly as much time to built up suspense as a 300-page book does. 
 

The other major difference from the novel is the sequence of events.  The movie starts off later in the story, with Jane running away from Thornefield and meeting St. John and his sisters.  It then flashes back to the rest of the story to explain Jane's history.  While this is a slightly different order of events, I did not think it affected the story at all; in fact, it was a great way to suck the viewers into the movie right away.  Starting from the very beginning of the story, with Jane's childhood, worked great in a novel, but it would not have had the same affect in a visual-based medium like film.

There were also a few minor differences in the movie that were less noticeable than the mood and the sequence of events.  First, because a 300-page story was compressed into a two-hour-long movie, a lot was left out.  While nearly all the important points of the story were covered, there were quite a few minor details that got chopped out; and the result was a story that seemed to jump staccato style from event to event, without any real transitions in between.  It did not bother me, because I knew the story, and I knew what was being left out; but people who had not read the book told me it was very confusing and disorienting. 
 

Also, the Christian themes of the story were watered down, and (almost) completely removed.  The overall treatment of religion (specifically Christianity) seemed somewhat negative in the movie, while I found the overall treatment of religion to be more positive in the book.  (Yes, there were some negative aspects to religion in the book, but I thought, overall, the book cast religion -- especially Christian morals -- in a positive light.  Maybe it was just me.)  I thought Christian morals were strong in the book, but they were hardly emphasized at all in the movie. 


The two main morals the book deals with are the sanctity of marriage, and doing the right thing -- resisting temptation -- even when it is extremely hard.  Both of these themes were definitely in the movie, but just not as strongly as in the book.

Another minor difference that bothered me was the fact that Jane's school does not change, as it does in the book; it seems to remain just as strict, cold, and harsh when she leaves the school as when she arrives. 
 

However, any other story changes in the movie seemed pretty subtle, and not noticeable or memorable enough for me to complain about.  For an example, when ten-year-old Jane is locked in the "haunted" bedroom, she is frightened by a cloud of smoke coming out of the fireplace, instead of a little "light" that she thinks is coming from a ghost.  Obviously, the smoke is more visually interesting, and I think it worked better in the movie (while the light was perfectly affective in the novel). 


Also, during a dramatic, climatic scene (specifically, the "attempted" wedding), Mr. Rochester starts to strangle his brother-in-law in a heat of rage; in the book, he merely lifted his arm to strike him (but did not actually deliver the blow).  Again, I thought this was good and necessary, because the scene had to be more visually grabbing for the movie (no pun intended).  I thought the affect was the same in the book and the movie.

As you can see, the movie had a few differences from the book; but in general, I thought it was an excellent and well-made rendering of Charlotte Brontë's novel.  I definitely recommend it to fans of the novel, and to fans of period romances like Pride and Prejudice. (As an aside, I understand that the soundtrack for Jane Eyre was written by the same man who wrote the soundtrack for the recent version of Pride and Prejudice!  Although, it certainly has a darker and sadder tone than Pride and Prejudice does, so fans of that soundtrack might be a little disappointed.) 


My only restriction on recommending the movie is that it is PG-13 for some violence and blood (mostly just one scene, where someone is terribly injured and we see his bleeding wounds up close), and a brief moment with a nude painting on a wall (which, by the way, had nothing to do with the book).  So, I would not recommend the movie for younger viewers. 


P.S.  Part 2 of my book review on Sword in the Stars is still on its way!