Abram (Faith)

My Favorite Sermon Video Yet...

(Music by, who else? the great Mr. Joel Clarkson.)

Links

Gabe; you should see this:

http://www.theanimationblog.com/2008/11/17/guillermo-del-toro-working-on-stop-motion-pinocchio-movie/

Hension and Del Torro together? With this material? I'm there.

And Alice news. Some people have weird, can't be explained or hard to explain loves (obsessions?). My cousin collects nutcracker dolls. I collect Alice In Wonderland stuff. Well, not really stuff. Just different copies of the book. (The full title, by the way, of Carroll's book [Disney aside] is: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I say this only because I'm embarrassed that I reverted the Disney title first. I want you to at least know there is a difference.)

I also like (though I don't nearly as much about as I'd like to) animation related things. So you can imagine that I was at least intrigued by the description of this book:

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2008/09/17/walt-disney-s-alice-in-wonderland-showcases-mary-blair-s-concept-art.aspx

Look who's adapting the book!

Christopher should watch these:

http://www.theanimationblog.com/2008/11/12/a-look-at-coraline-a-new-stop-motion-animated-movie/#more-1387

Misc. Thoughts Late at Night

Friends,

I don't want to make positive messages. I don't want to teach kid's positive messages about interacting with each other and teach people how to be moral.

I want to engage the truth. I want put my hands in the messiness of living and of reality and see what I end up holding.

I am not passing along a message. I do not want to make better citizens of the boys and girls who watch my movies. I want to engage with reality. The messiness of being human. I want to live and, through me, for my films to have life. I want to name. (and be named.) I want to live in the white, harsh light of reality and babble henceforth (as that experience dictates).

I want to live. And to love and to tell the truth. I want to know and allow myself to be know. I want to live.

Eden and Animals and Wallpaper and The Fall of Man

This picture was the background on my computer for a while (tiled). It's not any more (a poster for "Ordet" is serving that post now).

It's a depiction of the animals in the Garden of Eden. It's pretty, isn't it? I love the colors in it. And the shapes are so pleasing.



And sad too. It was a long time before I caught this, but do you see what's going on in the background? This is a good example of what Christian art can do. Create (or point to the already existing) longing for the beauty that was or could be or is supposed to be. This painting encapsulates that well I think.

Monday thoughts from a coffee shop

Yesterday, at about 5:45 pm, we (Jeremy Imig and I [and our little tag-along and helper Lye-Lye]), finished filming for our most recent Kid's Club series Wanted!. Right now I feel so grateful and relieved. I'm so glad to be beyond that monster. I loved writing and directing the series, but it consumed my time and life, especially toward the end of the shoot.

My friend Jeremy is diligently editing right now. God created him as some kind of monster. With the ability work without tiring until the job is done. I asked him (indirectly) if he wanted my help in the editing room and he (more directly) said no. I knew he would. I make things take longer when I get involved.

In my defense, Walt Disney did the same thing. I learned on the commentary track to Dumbo that the film was made in an unusually short amount of time for a Disney film and that many joked that this was because Disney was less involved than normal in the making of the movie. I think this is very funny. And I take comfort in two things here: Knowing that this master slowed things down when he was involved, and also in knowing that in his absence, a good movie, Dumbo, still came out of the process.

Kind of covers me, peace of mind-wise, on both ends of the spectrum I think.

Happy Moon-Day!