Christian Filmmakers Forums

There’s a story in there… somewhere.

2010-01-01T16:47:57Z

What would a Christian film made from this look like…?

http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20091231.php

.
Damen is a different story. The street of that name was so called in honor of Father Arnold Damen (1815-1890), a Dutch Jesuit priest and Chicago legend. Father Damen founded Holy Family Church in 1860 and what was originally called Saint Ignatius College next door in 1870. (The college half of the school eventually split off and became Loyola University, while the high school part remained on Roosevelt Road as Saint Ignatius College Prep.)

The Holy Family/Saint Ignatius site had two drawbacks. First, when the church was founded, it was in the middle of nowhere. That didn’t bother Father Damen, who correctly foresaw that the church would draw people from all over and become the center of a thriving neighborhood. The second drawback was that it was roughly three-quarters of a mile from 137 (now 558) DeKoven Street, known to posterity as the location of Mrs. O’Leary’s barn. I won’t say the fire that started there on the morning of October 8, 1871, didn’t bother Father Damen, but he had it covered, and therein lies our tale.

When the Great Fire began, the wind was blowing out of the southeast. Holy Family and Saint Ignatius were directly west, and arguably would have escaped the flames had conditions remained unchanged, but Father Damen was taking no chances. In the version of the story I initially heard, he stood on the front porch of Saint Ignatius and prayed to the Almighty to spare his life’s work. This was embroidery. In reality his prayer was offered up in Brooklyn, where he was preaching at the time. No matter; the Lord could hear him there just as well. Father Damen vowed that if his prayers were answered, he would keep seven vigil lights burning before an image of the Virgin.

The wind shifted. Formerly it had been driving the fire toward the outskirts of town; now it began to blow out of the southwest, pushing the fire northeast. You see the implications of this. The church and school were saved. Instead, the conflagration burned down the rest of Chicago.

This story was proudly told by Saint Ignatius supporters for many years as an illustration of divine providence and Father Damen’s clout. Eventually some realized it also indicated a rather narrow sense of priorities, and I notice the Ignatius website, while confirming the essence of the tale, discusses the matter in restrained terms. The City Council, for its part, held no grudges and happily renamed the street after this formidable cleric, no doubt recognizing that you can’t fault a man for putting his arms around the things closest to his heart.

Ã¢â‚¬â€ Cecil Adams

Subplots & B-story

2010-09-01T16:33:17Z

What is the difference between a subplot and the B-story?

Do I have to introduce all subplots in act 1 or can I spread them out as I please?

Why is the B-story so much more important than my subplots? Or is it just hte strongest subplot?

Save the Cat! didn’t say a whole lot about this…

Thanks!

(Can’t let RP have all the screenwriting topics around here. )

Christmas: A Twitter Reenactment

2010-06-18T20:34:08Z

WHEN: Thursday, Dec.16th 2010

Producer: Rachel Petersen
Director: Caleb Allen
Head Writer: Dave Low
Facebook Page: Shalayne Lammiman
Graphic Designer: Victor Noordhoek

easter.christianfilmmakers.org
twitter.com/cf_narrator
twitter.com/cf_narrator/catr

****************************************
This has been on my mind lately, so I thought it was time to get the discussion underway. The more time we have to plan, the better - for EaTR we only had 3 months!

As most of you know, in April a group of members from CF organized Easter: A Twitter Reenactment (EaTR). If you aren’t familiar with our production, you can read details here: www.easter.christianfilmmakers.org

Now the question has arisen… should we do it again?

The general consensus was: yes, but let’s do a Christmas reenactment!

As Calix generously stressed on the original EaTR thread: Nothing happens if people don’t seize the opportunity and work at it. If we want to do Christmas, let’s get started now.

So I ask… who is interested in participating? If so, what might you like to do? (Act, direct, write, etc.) We don’t need formal commitments right now - let’s just get a general idea of what we have to work with.

Let’s get the discussion rolling. Do you have any suggestions, questions, or concerns about a Christmas reenactment? Any feedback from EaTR that you want to apply to this go-round?

Christmas is only about 6 months away… God helped us through the most amazing Easter ever. If He wills, we can do it again.

Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

MEMBER SHORT: Disconnected (Sneak Peak)

2010-08-31T12:03:28Z

Hey guys, this is one of the most ambitious project to date. It cost us $20 dollars to make and a lot of networking and favors for it to work out. Anyways here is the intro.

YouTube - Disconnected (2010) - A MUST SEE SNEAK PEAK
APPROX 4min

We hope you enjoy all and please post your thoughts!

-Fred

Everybody Relax!

2010-07-13T11:37:37Z

I found this insightful. Our strengths are often our weaknesses. Balance is good.

http://prolost.com/blog/2010/7/8/seven-fetishists-and-why-they-should-relax.html

Entrusted With Arrows (Formerly: My Upcoming Documentary)

2009-08-18T00:23:26Z

You may have seen a thread in the General forum a short wile back about a documentary we are planing on filming this fall: http://www.christianfilmmakers.org/forums/viewthread/4592/

This fall our family of 8 (of which I am the eldest child) will be embarking on a long dreamed of adventure of my fathers, a family tour across the content the southern states and back shooting a documentary as we go! If nothing else the stories we will have to share as we travel should be worth your attention! We even have some ChristianFilmmakers.org-ers lined up to be filmed! It should be a lot of fun!

I hope to post updates here in this thread, but we will also have updates on out blog:
http://DadsAndFamilies.blogspot.com/
And on FaceBook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Upcoming-MovieMakers-Documentary-work-in-progress/118011648369

We are trying to get some grassroots marketing going with this one so if you know anyone who might be interested don’t hesitate to let them know!

Feature Filmmaking with a DSLR

2010-07-23T19:16:02Z

Is it possible? I know it’s been done, most famously with the SXSW “Best Narrative Feature”-winning Tiny Furniture (which, from the trailer, seems like it really didn’t even use the 7D to its full potential), but… is it possible?

A friend and I were discussing this, and I was wondering if anyone here had thoughts on the subject.

What are the chances of making a fairly low-end comedic drama on:

- Rebel T2i

- 7D

- 5D Mark II

If you were the DP on such a feature, what would you ask for, as far as lenses, mounts & support systems and other gear go?

Aside from rolling shutter, are there any serious issues with the T2i/7D/5D Mark II?

Interactive Music Video by Google

2010-09-02T11:53:24Z

I watched it the other day and thought that it was pretty cool.

Here is google’s blog post about it: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/arcade-fire-meets-html5.html

Here is the video:
http://www.chromeexperiments.com/arcadefire/

David

Star Trek TOS

2010-09-01T22:22:09Z

This is my grand mission to increase my cultural knowledge by watching as much star trek as I can get my hands on. So I’m going to watch all the episodes of the original series and comment on them here. Since I like to make random comments and no one likes to listen to them I figure I can’t rant this way and no one is being forced to hear it. :D Meanwhile, I might also be able to remember individual episodes without watching them ten times like most geeks. It will also prove I’ve watched them.

Season One: Episode One: The Man Trap
I grew up on this. I didn’t even know it was Star Trek. but at intervals my mom would become “The Saltsucker” and attack my dad who would throw up his hands and yell in despair as the rest of us looked on and laughed.

Shapeshifters! Shapeshifters are always cool. I can only imagine how much fun this must have been to film. But once again, the shapeshifters are always the villains. Strange that.

I think I managed to skip the pilot episodes… I’ll have to hunt them down. Hulu doesn’t make sorting easy.

MEMBER SHORT: Dear Daddy

2010-08-01T23:13:19Z

Here is the HD version of the movie we created for the Great American Video Contest. Unfortunately, we did not place in the top four but we had an AWESOME time making this movie and want to share it with everyone. This is the one minute contest version. I will be sharing the directors cut version in the next day or so.

http://www.vimeo.com/13815708