It’s coming…
i get the honor to VJ for travis once again, and this time it’s going to recorded live to CD & DVD!
if you’re in the area, join us for this awesome night of worship!
Entries Tagged as 'WORSHIP'
NTMfilms :: the making of…
Today marks the last in the series of blog posts about the NTMfilms trip to Indonesia.
This last video is more or less "the making of" of our film. You’ll see glimpses of the scenery, culture and the people that we filmed.
The Making Of… [ NTMfilms : Moi Tribe ] from stephen proctor on Vimeo.
There’s definitely going to be a few more posts in the future about our trip (and future trips) with New Tribes Mission , and when the short film is ready, you can be sure that there will be a blog post about it!
So in the near future, we’ll get back to the regular conversations on visual worship, but thanks for going on a tangent with me and letting me take you on a journey into the Moi Tribe! after all, i believe missional living is the best "visual worship" that we could ever offer to God.
The End of a Journey
a view from our porch where we shot a ton of timelapse footage!
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hey guys-
well, our 11 days in the Moi Tribe of Indonesia is coming to an end. It’s hard to believe i’ve been here, literally in the middle of nowhere, and it’s over!
the experiences I’ve had here are…truly indescribable. It’s truly too much to blog about. i wouldn’t even know where to start.
thank goodness we had tons of cameras! when i get back next week, i’ll be posting a few videos online that will give you a glimpse of the journey we’ve been on. and in a few months, we’ll have a really cool short film to show the world…telling the story of God’s saving grace in the Moi Tribe & the incredible work that New Tribes Mission does here and all over the world!
it’s incredible that the missionaries got their satellite internet working JUST BEFORE we arrived. So this is the first time anyone has been able to get online consistently. That’s allowed Macon Hare (NTM Exec Producer) and me to Twitter , and for all of us to check and update Facebook. We’ve also been able to update our NTMfilms blog , which has a lot of pictures and stories from the past few days.
one thing that’s been really exciting is sharing some of my experiences with a few friends. Via the power of iChat & Skype, I’ve allowed a few friends to talk to my new Moi friends LIVE! the Moi people really get a kick out of it, and enjoy singing for my friends. One friend, Biscuet , was inspired to blog about his experience . Then Vicky Beeching was so moved by his story, that she wrote on her blog about it!
i can’t wait to post the "behind the scenes" videos. but until then, here are some pictures!
flying into our small hamlet in "Moi Land".
reflection of Ben Smallbone in the cockpit.
my first interaction with the Moi…handing them my camera and letting them experience film-making!
sitting on the porch with some Moi guys, iChatting with Biscuet .
Ben Smallbone : cinematographer extraordinaire. We don’t go anywhere without him!
prepping the HeliMission chopper pilot what shots we want to get.
Nate & i getting ready for our chopper shoot. both doors were taken off, and we hung halfway out during flight to get the shots we needed. it was a rush!
Hello from “Moi Land”
hey everyone. Just blogging from the middle of nowhere, literally.
Things we have done in Indonesia so far: hiking (and I’m not talking a walk in the State Park), flying in bush planes, eating amazing foods, hanging out w/ tribal believers, filming scenes for our film, hanging outside of a helicopter while filming a waterfall (just like in "Planet Earth"), and keeping the camera from being knocked by the men’s gordes.
Things we have yet to do: kill off all the chickens and sacrifice a pig (that’s in the morning), tribal feast and dance, filming from a bush plane, reinacting the crucifixion of Jesus (for filming purposes), and much much more!
We’ve been posting various stories on the NTMfilms blog @ ntmfilms.wordpress.com - Here’s a story I just posted:
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"Streams In the Valley"
Saturday was the most physically challenging day since we’ve arrived, for me at least. We hiked a grueling hour down steep, muddy slopes to arrive at a beautiful waterfall and a turbulent river. It was definitely worth the pain my right thigh endured as i slipped and fell multiple times, catching myself with my right leg and grabbing at the roots sticking out of the ground. The reward i had hoped for was there; a few hours of filming the shots we needed, then jumping in the river and swimming with the local tribesman. It was a blast.
But God had another surprise for me. You see, I had befriended one of the young believers, named "Tipaye" (pronounced "Se-pah-yay"), and when I was sharing my powerbar with the others, he didn’t seem interested. He was off by himself, completely lost in what he was doing: listening to an MP3 player with white headphones!! (congrats, Steve Jobs, you’ve managed to extend the digital music culture you created to the ends of the earth!) I took an interest in what he was doing, as he seems to do things differently than the others. His mind seemed elsewhere.
Tipaye pulled the earbuds off and put them up to my ears. I had no idea what he might be listening to. Indonesian hip-hop? Island reggae beats? PNG’s pidgin rap artist "O-Shen"??? No. It was Robin Mark singing "Lion of Judah". Celtic worship music filled with rich doctrine! I was floored.Now I know he probably doesn’t really understand what all is being sung…but he sure seemed into it!
It brought me back to a service i’ll never forget. Back in july, nate & I were with Beth Moore in Minneapolis for Living Proof Live. We stayed an extra day so that we could visit John Piper’s church. "Lion of Judah" was the main song that ushered in our corporate time of worship, and the whole service seemed to bleed with a missional heartbeat. For some reason, it was a really powerful Sunday that I will never forget. It made me think of New Tribes Mission and the work being done in some of the remote places in the world where there are no churches and other believers to reach the unreached.
As I look back, it’s encouraging to see that when God leads me on crazy journey down a deep valley, there He is. With a refreshing stream to relax and play in, and with a brother who’s got more in common with me than I ever expected.
Tipaye in the back, leaning against the post.
Everywhere I go, people always gather to watch videos on my Mac
NTMfilms
I can’t believe I get to do what I do…for a living. I mean, I actually get paid to do what I love!!! And I try to not take that for granted.
as soon as i think my “job” can’t get any cooler, God surprises me again. as you can imagine, i can get pretty fired up over VJ-ing and making the worship space a visually inspiring and engaging place. but honestly, i can’t let it stop there. my passion cannot exceed my purpose. worshiping God AND making His Name known throughout all the earth must be my purpose. if my life doesn’t count for that, then all i’ve done is slapped a bunch of “make-up” on “worship”.
so for the next few weeks, i will be gone. and i’ll be using my passion for engaging the Church through the visual medium to serve my purpose…THE PURPOSE. i will be traveling with an incredible team to the Moi Tribe of Indonesia. That team will consist of Nate Griffin (my business partner @ gi*inc ), Ben Smallbone (of Radiate Films ), and three other people from New Tribes Mission .
When we return, I’ll be able to share in more detail what exactly we’re doing, and know that there will be some incredible stories to share through film.
NTM has setup a blog for us to update along the journey, so please check it out , follow us into the most remote place on earth, and PRAY FOR US!
Here are some random facts about the tribe we are visiting:
- They “have absolutely no concept of a world outside the green walls of the jungle,” wrote a missionary.
- The Moi had never seen a wheel prior to missionaries coming. They only had minimal tools.
- They believed spirits lived in the ground. As the airstrip was being dug out, they thought that spirits were being released. Women were told not to walk across it b/c they would become barren.
- Almost every man has killed…either another man (for their wife), or their own wife (if she refused to obey after so many times).
- There is a thriving New Testament church now, and some pretty incredible stories that we plan to capture and share!
Almost two years ago, i went to Papua New Guinea to immerse myself in tribal missions and to learn all i could. While there, i caught a vision of using film to tell the powerful stories i kept hearing. so in the summer of July ‘07, i returned with Nate & Ben to film our first short film for NTM, featuring the INTERFACE program . And this video is what started it all!
environmental projection
This week @ seminars4worship (in Bradenton, FL), we tried out environmental projection for the first time ever. Not only was this my first time to VJ using this creative yet simple technique, but it was also my first time to see it first hand. i’ve seen lots of pictures…i’ve even taught on the concept. But experiencing it live and hearing the feedback from those with me, i’m still blown away.
For those of you wondering, i’ll break down the technology a bit:
- MacBook Pro running ProVideoPlayer (for all image playback)…
- …which outputs into a Matrox TripleHead2Go…
- …which is tied directly into three 5K projectors set up on a ledge in the back of the room.
- MacBook Pro running ProPresenter…
- …tied directly into the house video system, where white on black lyrics were run (hitting the house screens which were splashed with the environmental projection)
- lighting by ProGear Warehouse (Elation LED fixtures), LD was Greg Moore, one of the best worship lighting guys i’ve ever worked with.
In no way do i take full credit….we had an AMAZING production team & volunteers help in the set-up. I also have to give credit where credit is due, as i learned from the master.
If you are thinking about doing this in your church, tread cautiously. B/c if you don’t have the right content & VJ it tastefully, you can create the biggest distraction ever. i’ll blog more about that later.
It’s really exciting to do something that is really so simple and relatively cheap, which can transform a stark-white, boring room into a place of inspiration and creativity that hopefully draws people in and points them to Jesus.
Before.
After.
Colt Sammons, bravig the ledge.
p.s. sorry for the bad quality photos, my iPhone is cool but not that cool. the Canon 50D is being ordered this week!
no words…
… can describe His all-powerful, awe-inspiring creativity.
Thanks, Brandon for showing me this the other day.
The Art of VJ-ing [ INTRO ]
Today I thought I’d start a series of postings on the art of VJ-ing and the various components that go along with the territory. Most of these postings will be taken from a few articles that I’ve written back in the day for Worship Leader Magazine and EDIROL’s ENGAGE newsletter, but slightly updated and refreshed. Today’s posting will serve as the intro section. Enjoy!
The term “VJ” stands for “video jockey” or “visual jockey”, and sometimes has been known as “video DJ”.
The idea behind the worship VJ is not so emerging, if you think about it. You’ve seen this in forms of visual artists in the Church. But in the context of digital media & newer technologies, the role of the VJ is relatively new. It has emerged from the position of the “powerpoint guy”; you know, the volunteer running the slides on Sunday mornings.
It’s the guy we all turn around and look at when there’s a misspelled word on the screen, or when the slides are behind, or when the video doesn’t start on time, or when…i’m getting depressed.
Being a worship VJ means taking that role to the next level…intentionally & artistically. It shifts from being a spot on the tech team to someone engaging with the worship band. You aren’t just hitting an arrow button and “doing your job”; you are now carrying the mantle of “visual worship leader”. Because whether you like it or not, anything visual during corporate worship is going to affect the Body. It could be meaningless and wasted space, not to mention boring and misrepresenting the glory of God, or worse…distracting; or it could be inspiring, convicting, and truly engaging…leading and pushing the Body to worship the Living God. It’s given that we are affected by what we see, so why not take great care and responsibility with that knowledge?
Many have started to integrate visuals into our gatherings, usually in the form of lyric backgrounds. Video Staging has become the next logical step in the evolution of visual media. And any and every type of visual image (and format) are at our fingertips b/c of the internet. It seems that life for the VJ is better than ever now! But the battle to keep the focus in the right place is stronger than ever. It’s so easy (at least for me) to lose balance and make the “experience” about the technology/creativity. I heard Louie Giglio confess his own struggle with this at one of the Passion conferences; it was very convicting for me.
So have we reached the summit in our climb to overcome the obstacles of doing media well? Can we as VJs do anything else that might enhance our worship and keep the focus on Jesus? Where do you think the journey is going from here?
All for now…. - proctor
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(the above image is from packaging of Highway Video’s “Elements” - a great resource for the worship VJ.)
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