The final day of the Academy was relatively short compared to the previous day. It primarily focussed upon reviewing the past five years of Independent Christian Filmmaking and praising God for the work He has done. Yet, it also consisted of a focussed look at the future for the industry. Amongst other things, this included the setting of goals for the next five years and encouragement from filmmakers who have been involved in the work and desired to share personal stories of God's providence. Unfortunately, my notes are somewhat jumbled up between my notebook and my computer, so the exact order of some of these sessions might not be completely accurate. So, please forgive me if I make an error in recording the chronology of events that day.
The first session was entitled “Anniversary Overview of Christian Filmmaking in the United States,” by Mr. Geoff Botkin. In the time allotted, Mr. Botkin specifically addressed what we mustn't do as filmmakers, and as individuals in the industry. Before giving way to Mr. Phillips, Mr. Botkin stressed the importance of such things as personal character, integrity, and humility for all those preparing to enter this field. It is vitally important that the filmmaker seek to protect such qualities, as the typical characterization of a filmmaker usually consists of pride, selfish ambition, and personal aggrandizement etc. We were also firmly cautioned against impure motives and false teaching, a grave danger to Christian filmmakers. However, perhaps most fascinating, but at the same time disturbing, was his detailed analysis of the Contemporary Christian Music Industry. Mr. Botkin's purpose being: to identify its shortcomings and flaws in an attempt to communicate to us that the Independent Christian Film Industry is not striving to replicate the deteriorating CCM industry. When speaking about this, Mr. Botkin stated, “The fruit of the music is that audiences are neither edified nor strengthened in faith. We must not make the mistakes of the CCM crowd!”
Mr. Phillips followed Mr. Botkin's session by sharing some of the exciting news of the first five years. This included: improvement in production values, growth in worldview, vocabulary, and theology, families working together successfully, entrepreneurial success, and real efforts to tackle meaningful themes that advance the kingdom of God and touch hearts.
Directly following Mr. Phillips' session, Mr. Collin Gunn, writer, producer, and director of several documentaries including his most recent project IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America, took the stage. Mr. Gunn has quite the reputation for tackling controversial topics through the medium of film: his first film focused on defending marriage between a man and a woman; his second, on demolishing feminism. IndoctriNation is sure to follow suit tackling another controversial yet important topic. During this session, Mr. Gunn shared very helpful lessons learned both from previous projects and from IndoctriNation. He spoke about the process of guerilla documentary filmmaking. He told us how he conducts interviews on the street and that it oftentimes entails getting kicked out of certain locations, but it's a risk the filmmaker has to be willing to take in order to get the content he needs. He told us to always be respectful of the people we interview, taking great pains to ensure that all thoughts and views expressed are placed in context and accurately represented. Additionally, he shared about his work with Mr. Phillips in the European Faith and Freedom Tour; what he learned and how that has helped him in his latest production.
After a short break we came back together and heard from David Cook, author of Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia and co-author of the screenplay for his upcoming 7 million dollar feature film, Seven Days in Utopia. Mr. Cook presented a trailer for his project and related to us the remarkable circumstances which lead him to adapting his book to screen.
The next session was a panel discussion in which we heard from filmmakers involved in key projects of 2010-2011. The panel included some of the makers from Agenda, The Penny, The Runner From Ravenshead, Divided, Ace Wonder, and others. Each member of the panel talked about their respective experience in film, particularly with regard to their most recent productions, recounting the providence of God and the lessons learned by mistakes.
I have to be honest with you, I didn't learn much in the next session. And it wasn't because the instructors weren't good, it was because the content is beyond my current capacity to fully understand. The session was by David and Steven Bowman (those of you who know this brother pair probably already understand my previous statement). David and Steven Bowman are two of the most highly talented visual effects artists in the Christian film industry, and their work only continues to improve. Both of these brothers are self-taught, but truly exceptional in their work. Visual effects is something often overlooked by those in the Christian film industry, primarily because in the past we've lacked the means to create stunning VFX, but also because it is an intricate, complex field of study that requires meticulous, dedicated, hard work. Thanks to the availability of ground-breaking technology to the average individual, this field is quickly becoming an area mastered by people such as the Bowman brothers. In their session, the Bowman brothers took VFX shots from several projects including The Mysterious Islands, European Faith and Freedom Tour, and Ace Wonder, dissecting each layer of their work in an attempt to teach us some of the techniques they use in creating various VFX shots. Additionally, they screened a video, highly anticipated by the students, which had been constructed over the past 48 hours. And rather than explain it to you, I'll let you see it.
Hollywood Timelapse from Effects Forge on Vimeo.
