Media Missionary Focus

Take 2: Re-Shooting Life

Working with media definitely has it's tedious side.

For the last few days I have been shooting some clips of a young man just talking to the camera. It is for a video we are working on that is designed to be used in recruiting college age young people to commit to spending one or two years working overseas with an unreached people group. The main video itself will be just over two minutes long, and the section where this young man is talking is only about a minute. So I scripted out what he needed to say and we set out to shoot it.

After two days of shooting and re-shooting I'm still not entirely satisfied (in fact I am about 95% sure we will NOT use any of the shots we have taken so far in the final product). Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying it's all his fault. In fact, it's more my problem than his. He did make the usual number of mistakes on lines and general bloopers, but a number of the re-shoots had do to technical problems with the footage of some kind. And now I'm not satisfied with what we have because I have changed my mind about the stylistic direction I want to go (my original idea for the shot just didn't flow well with the rest of the video). So rather than try to cram in another shoot later today, I will use the footage I have now in a rough edit of the project and then re-shoot the necessary parts in Bangkok late this summer (the project deadline is December). Re-shoots can drive you crazy!

On the other hand, re-shoots allow you to get exactly what you want. Wouldn't it be nice if life were that way? I think of time when I was younger and I would get in arguments with my older brother. It seemed like he would generally get the better of me, either because he was older and knew a bit more or because he was bigger and could pound me if I got him too angry. But usually, a few hours later, I would come up with the perfect reply or one liner or argument. Of course by then it was too late. There was no re-shoot for the argument. One take was all you got. Life is "Live!" with no rehearsals. But boy were than times when it would have been great to get a second chance on some of those arguments!

And as a follower of Jesus Christ I find that same predicament at work in my life today. Not that I get in arguments with people and I'm afraid they will pound me, but there are MANY times I wish a could get a second take on some part of my day. Maybe it is the time I could have ministered to someone's need, but I was to caught up in my own schedule and issues to notice. Maybe it was the time when my son wanted me to play legos with him but I was too tired and kept putting him off. Maybe it was the time I could have been more of a help to my wife, who is just as busy as I am, but I didn't want to put out the effort. Maybe it was the time when I should have spent more time with God, but I was too busy working for Him.

Sadly, in real life there are no re-shoots. What we do and say is what we do and say. That's why we need good direction.

If I had been better at my direction with the young man I've been shooting the last two days things probably would have gone quicker, but I just let it run.

Thankfully, in life, God has given us FANTASTIC direction! He started by giving us a great script, the Bible, then he adds to that a great director, the Holy Spirit, who prompts and leads us to get it right the first time. The trick is making sure we know the script and listen to the director.

posted by Troy In Cambodia @ 5:45 AM