Been so busy... I'm almost ashamed I haven't blogged.
I've finally, finally started a project I've been wanting to do since the summer of 2012. Some of y'all may remember when I was going around with cardboard signs telling people their their stories matter and that their lives have purpose. One time I met a traveler and sat down to listen to her story, and got the idea of collecting and compiling people's stories into one larger story, to show how our lives are all connected and are part of a larger narrative, and ultimately to get them thinking about how God might rewrite their story. Well, I had no way of doing it then and didn't know how I could feasibly go about it, so I put the idea aside and dismissed it as "too great a dream."
Then I got a GoPro and started using it to do video announcements for my school. I was just using it to make announcements for open mic events and other campus happenings. Then I made a single vlog, and thought, "Wait a second..." The idea from two years ago came back into my mind and I realized I had found a feasible means of recording people's stories. So I asked around the staff at my school to find a place where I could set up a video studio, and the librarian said I could set one up in a vacant office in the library. I bought a couple black bedsheets and put them up on the walls, set up tripods and some hitherto unused lights I found in the lighting closet, and set up my cameras. I wanted a third camera to use, and received permission from the school to use one of their camcorders until I can buy an (actual) video camera of my own (which, unless I receive some sort of large donation, won't be happening). Right now I have two GoPros (Hero3 White Edition and Hero3+ Black Edition) and a Samson GoMic portable USB condenser microphone. I'm borrowing a Panasonic HDC-HS300 camcorder from the school as my main frontal camera.
I've recorded six stories. Five happened here on campus. This last weekend I carpooled to Wisconsin for fall break, took cameras equipment with me, and recorded the story of a guy at my church. My goal for the (academic) year is to record 150 stories, which can be done. I have three more booked to record tomorrow night, and may get one or two tonight. I'm hoping that I can get all 150 recorded by May, so that I can begin to work through them over the summer and hopefully be almost finished by next fall. One thing I find interesting is that this is following a similar thread that I was on in 2012 and 2013 with the cardboard signs and last summer when I was hoping to travel the country and play music on the streets. But I think videoing people's stories seems to be a more practical application of the general idea, and one that I can take with me anywhere.
I'm so grateful to be working in the I.T. department at my school because my work Mac has full Adobe Creative Cloud on it, which allows me access to Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition and Speedgrade for free. And I'm allowed to work in the office on personal projects as much as I want when I'm off the clock. I'm grateful to have gone through the worship arts program at my school because it means I'm allowed access to things like lights and camera and am trusted with these things. I'm grateful for volunteers who are brave enough to sit down behind hot lights for 45 minutes to tell their story into a camera. I'm grateful for the skills and knowledge that I've acquired over time that allows me to be able to do something like this.
I'm beyond thankful for the way this is all coming together, and I'm grateful to the God who can rewrite any story.
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