Cinematography 101

T.S. Green Cinematography Reel from T.S. Green on Vimeo.

A Calling - Part 2

How do we get started in discovering God’s will for our lives? Am I called to be a media missionary? Should I go to Hollywood or make independent Christian movies? I believe the question we should be asking ourselves is what is God’s will and where is He at work? If we are going to know God’s will, we must have a relationship with him that is authentic and personal. Unless you spend time with him, you cannot know his character, his motives, or his purposes. Just like in dating, you spend time with a person to get to know him/her. God is no different. By reading the Word, spending time in prayer and meditation, and spending time with fellow Christians who have a committed relationship with Christ, we start to understand who God is.

You cannot accept Christ as your Savior, walk away, and expect to understand your calling. By developing a personal relationship with God, you will come to know what you believe and why you believe it. In doing this, you will realize that God’s first plan for your life is to turn total control over to him. For most of us, this is a difficult concept to accept. We will resist and fight this. We will try to make a deal with God. We will turn over some parts of our lives in order to get what we want. In other words, we try to bargain by saying, if you let me go to Hollywood and make movies, I will give up this or that.

As time goes on we either do one thing or the other. We give up more control of our lives or hold on to our control. But if we are willing to allow God to control more of our lives and the decisions we make, he will invite us to join him in his work. We will reach a point where we really want to know what God’s will is. God will begin to speak to us through the Holy Spirit, through his Word, prayer, circumstances and the Body of Christ to reveal his purposes and his ways.

God will do whatever is necessary to get our attention. We will have to decide if we are willing to make the adjustments in our lives to do what he is doing instead of what we want to do. Some people call this a crisis of faith. I believe that it is when we totally surrender to the will of God that are willing to give up our passion and our dreams in order to do and accomplish the will of God. For some of us, that might mean accepting the fact that we are not called to go to Hollywood and make movies. It’s at this point that we truly experience God by obeying him. He then accomplishes his work through us. In the end, you might very well be called to be a media missionary to go to Hollywood and make movies and TV shows. The question is, are you willing to give it up to serve God. That’s the central issue that surrounds the crisis of faith.

Discovering God’s calling and plan for your life is always a process. It will take time and sacrifices, but, in the end, you will ultimately have to readjust your life and join him in his work and not yours.

Another thing to consider in discovering your calling is the intersection of your passion, your dreams, and your strengths. When the three come together, this can help you understand what God’s plan is for your life. But looking only at your passion and not considering your dreams and strengths can be misleading. Passion speaks to the heart. For example, when I was in high school, I had a passion to be a ball player. In my heart I wanted to be a major league baseball player. I certainly had the passion, but I lacked the talent. It was not my strength. It was my dream because it is all I thought about. Dreams are a matter of the mind. But, again, I lacked the talent. Only when the three come together can we begin to see how God is working. You must look at the complete picture.

Finding God’s will is dependent on a life focused on God, his activity, and our decision to deny self. No one can tell you what God’s will is for your life. Only you can find that out by diligently seeking him and being purposeful in how you live your life.

A Calling - Part 1

When I became a Christian in 1976, people told me right from the start that God had a plan for my life. I was made for a purpose. There was a reason why I was alive. There was something that God wanted me to do. In other words, I had a destiny and a calling to fulfill. That made me special and unique in the sight of God. I soon learned that all of us are special and unique because we all have a calling that is tailor-made for each one of us. Over time, my views concerning a calling have not changed.

But finding your calling is by no means an easy process. It can be downright difficult. Why? Because we have to get ourselves and what we want to achieve in life out of the process of God using us to fulfill His purposes. It has taken me years to discover my calling and purpose. So what have I learned along the way?

Your view or opinion of a calling will depend on how you see God. Is he a personal God involved in our daily lives, active in the affairs of this world? Or is he a distant God who created the universe and turned it over to man? If God is a distant God, that means you really have no purpose other than to do what you think is right. And, frankly, that’s a recipe for disaster. As far as I can tell by studying the Bible, God is clearly involved in the affairs of man and desires a personal relationship with his creation. The Bible says that when we diligently seek Him we will find Him. If he is a distant God, he would be inaccessible.

Many Christians also believe that only some have been called, but that’s not true either. Galatians 1:15 says, “But God had special plans for me and set me apart for his work even before I was born.” NCV Isaiah 49:1 says, Before I was born, the Lord called me to serve him. The Lord named me while I was still in my mother’s womb.” NCV Sounds to me like we all have a calling; however, our view of a calling is rather narrow. It depends on how we view the world. For some of us, the world is divide into two parts, secular and sacred; therefore, a calling must be sacred, such as being called to the priesthood or becoming a pastor or a missionary in Africa. That would exclude a career in film or television or becoming an electrician or even a politician. But God has no division. Everything in life is sacred. That makes finding your calling even more complicated.

However the one thing that is not complicated, if you are a follower of Christ, you are called to spread the Word of God. The how part of spreading the Gospel takes into consideration your unique calling as well as the part that you will play in the Body of Christ. Therefore you can be a missionary working in Hollywood producing mainstream films as well as working as an engineer in NASA. We each have a specific, unique skill set to fulfill the mission of spreading the Word of God through our vocation.

Monday Part 2

Why You Need To Self-Distribute

By Jason Brubaker

Most indie filmmakers make their own movie in the hopes of becoming Hollywood’s next success story.

(Come on, admit it! Hollywood success would be awesome.)

And while I would never discourage indie filmmakers from seeking not-so-indie fame and fortune – with nearly 50,000 feature films flooding the market each year, simply getting your movie made is no longer enough to guarantee success.

For many filmmakers, the process goes like this:

1. I am going to make a movie, get into Sundance and sell it for a million dollars.
2. Mom and dad and family and girlfriend and random crowdfunding people, give me money!
3. Holly crap. I didn’t raise enough money – so I will need to cut my budget.
4. Who knew practical special effects and pick-up shots were so time consuming?
5. Dear friends and family and angry girlfriend, we spent your money and the movie is finished!
6. Oh man – we really can’t fix it in post!
7. Film festival submissions are expensive!
8. We just got rejected from Sundance – now what?
9. We just WON the Best Picture award at some regional film festival nobody ever heard of!
10. Wait, we have been on the festival circuit for a year and Hollywood has not called.
11. Holly crap – we just got a call from a sales agent! They want to put our movie on iTunes!
12. Wait, I just read the agreement and the distribution deal doesn’t pay.
13. Wait… I can get my own movie into iTunes. Without the middle-man?
14. Dear friends and family and ex-girlfriend and crowdfunders, we are in iTunes!
15. I really wish I would have budgeted to self-distribute and market my movie.

Obviously I am using humor to express a point. But if you have made a movie, you have probably experienced the roller-coaster ride of emotions that comes from being a filmmaker.

If you have not yet made your movie, I suggest that you plan a strategy to market and sell your movie from day one. Having this plan will allow you to first explore all traditional distribution options. And this way, if your distribution offer is not a deal, you can move forward.

Think about it. If the best offer is: “We will get you into iTunes” your response should be “so what! I can get myself into iTunes!”

Weekend Report: 'Texas Chainsaw' Slashes Into First

Texas Chainsaw 3D took first place this weekend with a better-than-expected $23 million, though Django Unchained wasn't all that far behind. The Top 12 earned an estimated $126.3 million over the first weekend of 2013, which is nearly identical to the same weekend last year.

Texas Chainsaw 3D's $23 million was directly between the 2003 remake ($28.1 million) and the 2006 prequel ($18.5 million), though attendance was about in line with the 2006 movie. Compared to past January horror movies, it was well below last year's The Devil Inside ($33.7 million) but was slightly up on past Lionsgate efforts My Bloody Valentine 3-D ($21.2 million) and Hostel ($19.6 million).

More so than any other studio, Lionsgate has consistently been successful at making and marketing low-budget genre fare like Texas Chainsaw 3D. They execute cost-effective advertising that smartly hones in on the prospective audience while ignoring everyone else, and the results generally suggest that this is a worthwhile strategy. It doesn't hurt in this case that Texas Chainsaw is an established brand, and surely fans of the original made up a decent portion of the opening weekend audience.

The movie's grosses were front-loaded (Friday accounted for 44 percent of the weekend), and it received a weak "C+" CinemaScore; with any other genre, these would be bad signs, but they are both fairly standard in horror. As a result, a final total north of $50 million is definitely doable.

The audience was 52 percent female and 64 percent under 25 year-of-age. Lionsgate is reporting that one in three of those younger attendees stated that a primary reason for their attendance was singer Trey Songz's starring role.

Django Unchained eased 33 percent to an estimated $20.08 million this weekend. That brings its total to $106.4 million, which means it has already out-grossed last year's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ($102.5 million). It's also on pace to pass Inglourious Basterds ($120.5 million) by next weekend. All in, Django is a massive hit already, and with a few Academy Award nominations (definitely a possibility) the movie should wind up with well over $150 million.

In third place, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey fell 45 percent to an estimated $17.5 million. Surprisingly, that's better than the fourth weekend of any of the Lord of the Rings movies (Fellowship was tops with $16.2 million). The first of three prequels has so far earned $263.8 million, and $300 million appears to be in range.

Les Miserables added $16.1 million in its second weekend, which is off 41 percent. It passed $100 million on Sunday, which is the fastest pace ever for a musical, and its $103.6 million total is higher than the final tally for Dreamgirls ($103.4 million).

Parental Guidance dipped a very light 30 percent to an estimated $10.13 million this weekend. At $52.8 million total so far, the family comedy is on its way to being a nice little hit for 20th Century Fox.

After a middling performance in limited release, Promised Land expanded to 1,676 locations this weekend but could only muster $4.3 million (good for 10th place). While Matt Damon is obviously a star, audiences aren't going to show up for anything he does, especially when the marketing fails to present any semblance of an interesting story. With its "B" CinemaScore, and without any Academy Award nominations (that's an assumption based on its poor reviews and lack of any previous awards recognition), the movie should disappear quickly from theaters.

Expanding to 572 theaters (just shy of a nationwide berth), The Impossible earned an estimated $2.76 million. That's not good at all, but the big picture doesn't look so bad on this movie: it's already grossed $67.6 million overseas, and a likely Oscar nomination for Naomi Watts could help attract more attention at the domestic box office.

After playing for two weeks at just five locations, Zero Dark Thirty added 55 more venues (for a total of 60) and grossed $2.75 million. That translates in to a fantastic $45,833 per-theater average. In fact, that's the fourth-highest average ever for a movie in more than 50 theaters behind Paranormal Activity ($49,379 at 160 theaters), Fantasia 2000 (35 mm & IMAX) ($47,957 at 54 locations) and The Avengers ($47,698 at 4,359 theaters). Zero Dark Thirty is set to expand to around 2,400 theaters on Friday after presumably scoring a handful of Oscar nominations the day before.

With its expansion in to 565 theaters, Not Fade Away cemented its status as one of the biggest bombs of the season: the movie grossed just $280,000 for a per-theater average of just $496. While that's not on par with The Oogieloves ($206), it's pretty terrible for the feature-length directorial debut of Sopranos creator David Chase.

Forecast: Leatherface Battles Bilbo, Django This Weekend

Most audiences typically use the first weekend of January to catch up on December releases, so studios have taken to releasing genre titles as counterprogramming. This year is no exception: the only brand-new nationwide release this weekend is horror remake Texas Chainsaw 3D, which will reach 2,654 locations beginning at 10 p.m. on Thursday. It has a good chance of taking first place, though it's going to face tough competition from The Hobbit, Django Unchained and Les Miserables. Meanwhile, fracking drama Promised Land expands nationwide, and The Impossible and Not Fade Away will also each reach over 500 theaters.

In 1974, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre earned $30.9 million—the equivalent of $128 million adjusted for inflation—and introduced the world to iconic horror villain Leatherface. After a series of disappointing follow-ups, Michael Bay produced a 2003 remake that opened to $28.1 million on its way to a very good $80.6 million. Three years later, prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning earned just $39.5 million, suggesting audiences had once again tired of the concept.

Texas Chainsaw 3D technically takes place within the time frame of the original franchise, which is similar to the situation with The Thing (2011). Unfortunately, the marketing doesn't really communicate this, and instead the movie basically looks like a less-inspired remake of the 2003 remake. Without doing much to differentiate itself (aside from the 3D, which is an after-thought), it's unlikely to match the 2003 movie's $28.1 million debut.

Still, the marketing has done some solid outreach to the core horror movie fanbase, and these types of movies tend to perform very well in January: on this same weekend last year, The Devil Inside debuted to $33.7 million, and in January 2009 Lionsgate opened My Bloody Valentine 3-D to $21.2 million. Lionsgate is currently expecting around $15 million for Texas Chainsaw 3D, though don't be shocked if it winds up above $20 million.

Promised Land expands nationwide to 1,675 theaters following a disappointing opening weekend in limited release ($173,915 from 25 locations). While Matt Damon is a fairly big star, he's definitely capable of being involved in a dud if the movie itself doesn't have a clear hook, which seems to be the case with Promised Land. It's also unfortunate that this is a prestige movie that's lacking prestige—it has no awards nominations in sight, and is currently at a terrible 46 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A Top 10 finish is likely, though anything over $5 million would be a big surprise.

The Impossible and Not Fade Away are both making significant expansions in to 572 and 565 theaters, respectively (just shy of the 600 theaters necessary for nationwide classification). The Impossible has the most momentum: it saw its per-theater average jump from $9,588 to $12,172 from weekend one to two, which suggests word-of-mouth is good. Still, Summit seems to be saving any major marketing push for after a possible Academy Award nomination next week for Naomi Watts, and it won't make the Top 10 this weekend.

Not Fade Away, meanwhile, isn't going to do much business at all. The Sopranos creator David Chase's big-screen debut averaged just $2,884 at 19 locations last weekend, and if it miraculously holds that average it will wind up with less than $1.7 million. Instead, expect it to wind up well under $1 million.

Forecast (Jan. 4-6)
1. Django Unchained - $19.9 million (-34%)
2. Texas Chainsaw - $19.7 million
3. The Hobbit - $18.8 million (-41%)
4. Les Miserables - $17.2 million (-37%)

Bar for Success
If Texas Chainsaw 3D matches The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning's opening attendance levels it will wind up with over $22 million, which seems like a fair threshold

Christian Movie Connect Episode 54 – Jackie Carpenter

Georgia native, Jackie Carpenter, is a top inspirational writer. Although she never intended to become an author, Jackie has become a major resource for people facing a crisis in life. Jackie has miraculously taken the crisis in her own life and wove it into the dramatic and heart-wrenching story, “The Bridge: Between Cell Block A and A Miracle is Psalm 91.” She’s also written, “Georgia Justice: A Journey To Faith,” a remarkable guide on how to build faith when overcome by doubt, depression and tragic events. A sought after speaker, Jackie is a major part of the Speaker’s Bureau with Christian Women in Media Association.

In this interview, Carpenter talks with CMC host, Cheryl Ariaz Wicker, about her new movie, “A Cry for Justice,” based on her amazing true story depicted in her book, “Georgia Justice: A Journey To Faith.” Carpenter shares that the movie has been a divine vehicle for God to provide hope in the hearts of people when there seems to be no hope—a true story supernatural faith.