The other week, I tried to do a post involving the video. But since starting a draft of that post, then retyping it about five times before giving up, the video has been replaying in my head (I’ve also replayed it multiple times on my Mac and iPad). The process, thoughts and ideas that came together to put together such a mammoth project have been filling my thoughts for the last few weeks. So, just like many DVDs and every Blu-rays have thoughts and behind the scenes material and commentary by the directors... here is my commentary on Legacy.
It hard to pinpoint where to start. Just like any project of mine, it doesn’t begin with one clear idea. Instead, it is a culmination of a ideas that some how come together into a coherent project. It may not seem clear in the beginning, but somewhere in the process, the pieces started to become one unified project. This was the same with Legacy. Now, I don’t want to make this like a choose your own adventure. But just like my mind, this will not stay on a clear train of thought. Instead, think of it like a roller coaster of thoughts. Hopefully you can follow.
Caught your interest?
...check the rest after the jump.
...check the rest after the jump.
In 2005, I was introduced to Victory Bible Camps & Conference Center. Now, for me it was a weird experience. Going from directing an area at a Boy Scout camp, then dropping down to a counselor working with 2nd-6th graders at a camp in Alaska was a little different. But that summer forever impacted me. Working with those campers, and seeing the changes in their lives that summer drew me back for another summer. But instead of counseling, I was asked to join a new team that was being starting. This was the AV team. It had never been done before at Victory, and it was something I had never personally done myself. Through the AV team I learned new skill in photography, videography and editing. With working behind the scenes, I was able to see all the campers, including those I counseled the previous summer. As the years elapsed, it has been an amazing experience to get to see these campers grow up. The feelings behind the impact my serving did in 2005 and being able to see campers now working beside me is almost indescribable. For the staff just starting out at Victory, I wanted to some how tell them how much of an impact they made through their service, even if it was just one summer.
Some time near the end of each summer camp season, the program directors and full-time staff want to show their appreciation to those that gave of there summer to serve at Victory. This is conveniently called “The Staff Appreciation Dinner”. In the past, a theme would be picked for the evening, the camps would pick a theme and dress in costumes, and the evening would be full of skits, a great dinner and a time of thanks. When the AV team came into existence, their were asked to take on the task of making a video to thank the summer staff. It started out simple at first. Just a video recapping the summer with some music to stir the emotions. As the years went on, the video tok on different forms. There was the year that it was dubbed an “acid trip” by the fellow AV team members. Then there were the heart warming “thank you” videos from the campers. There was even a year that it didn’t get done. The only uniformed thing with these videos, was the person creating them... me. I had lost my passion and vision in creating these.
The 2010 off-season was a time for rethinking this. I had quit video work and wanted to quit ministry work... but God wanted me back in it. It was a simple invitation to return in 2011 that changed me.
Upon returning to camp, I starting just candidly shooting footage. As I met with the counselors, my passion for what I had done at Victory was starting to come back. It makes you feel old when a fellow counselor shows you a picture of yourself as a counselor during your first summers at camp. It also shows the impact you made when taking a summer to serve as a counselor. Then the ideas started to come together. I wanted to express these thoughts to the counselors that were serving. The venue would be the staff appreciation dinner, and it would be through a video. I had the theme. Now to create a video. But how to do it.
There wasn’t one moment that I said “AH HAH! EURIKA I’VE GOT IT!” Instead, as mentioned in the beginning, it was a culmination of ideas that came together. The first thought was the main body. Simple. Film candid material and put it together to create a video. Ok, what next. Surprisingly, it was the ending that was next. And it came from an unlikely source.
As Pablo Picasso might have uttered... “Good artist borrow. Great artists steal.” Well, I borrowed. So that must make me a good artist. I’m fine with that. The ending came from a movie. And it wasn’t even the movies ending. In Wes Anderson The Darjeeling Limited, three brothers are trying to mend their relationship with each other. (Bear with me... its a semi-complicated movie) In the process of this mending, the three brothers confront their mother about the split within their family. After a time of not solving anything, they decide to express themselves without saying a word. On their faces you can see hurt, distrust, love, loneliness, confusion, etc. The time is ended with the mother sharing how in the morning they will start fresh. She lays out a plan, then goes to a set of double doors leading into the room, turns off the lights, says “To be continued”... then shuts them. I won’t share the rest of the movie. But this scene stuck with me. There was so much depth to that simple action of closing the doors and saying “to be continued.” And it wasn’t even the end of the movie. This scene stuck for years. Ok, now hold the thought like I did. We’ll get back to it.
The intro for the film came after three days of praying over the project. I didn’t want it to be “my” project. I wanted God to lay it out. The dead line for the video was getting close, and I had about a week or so to get it done. One day while talking with God in the camp chapel, an idea popped into my head. Each night, the campers come rushing through the doors and into the chapel. For seven years I saw this. Imagine all the campers that passed through not just those doors, but others around the camp. Imagine the history that could be shared if the doors could tell us of all that they have seen as campers passed through them. And it doesn’t stop. It continues on. The history. The stories. The legacy. It continues on. I broke down crying. This was it. This was the video I had to create.
Still holding that thought about the scene from The Darjeeling Limited? Good. Now you see how it comes to an end. As you see in the video, the chapel doors are used to connect the intro and the main body of the video together. How fitting it is to close with those doors, and to state that the legacy being passed on at camp continues.
The video took about three days to complete. I did the editing myself. No one saw the video in it entirety. I showed bits and pieces to see if it flowed well. But when I hit “export” and showed it to our camp program director, it was the emotion Aaron Meeuwsen that sealed the deal. The emotion at the staff appreciation dinner after the video was played showed that the video made the impact that it was supposed to.
If there is one thing that I have to say about Legacy, it’s that it is not a completed project. A behind the scenes interview with the directors of the documentary Dale put it in the best words. When asked about the finished film and if they accomplished something, their response is something that I relate to. Director Mike Viney says to broadcaster Steve Byrnes, “I don’t know if you ever really finish a film; you just run out of time.” So true. When I finally clicked “export” and sat back in a dimly lit office, I knew I did the best I could at that time. The video needed to be done for staff appreciation, so progress in creating the film had to stop for that time. There was more footage that was found as I cleaned up my computer’s hard drive and my back-up drives. Even to this day I am finding lost footage that would have been amazing to add to the project. Whatever state the video is in, I know that God directed me to do this project and that it got across the message He wanted to share with the staff.
I have been one of the ones that God has blessed to see the legacy passed on. I’ve been able to work beside counselors that were once my campers. I’ve been able to watch campers grow up. I have seen Victory grow. I have seen the fruit of my labor. It is a blessing that I thank God for as I serve with Victory. Hopefully others who have served at Victory will have the chance to have the same experience, either here on earth, or meeting up with past campers/staff in the presence of our Savior.
Hope you've enjoyed this little look into Legacy.
- Daryl J. Howard
No comments:
Post a Comment