A collection of one second long films with the theme of "beauty."
Enjoy.
Seconds Of Beauty - 1st round compilation from The Beauty Of A Second on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Pangs of Moralizing
As one who has his feet in both the world of writing and the
world of the church, I am often asked to create a piece of writing (play,
screenplay, story) for faith based organizations.
I like doing so, as it gives me a chance to blatantly blend
two important areas of my life – faith and art. (These two areas are blended in
everything I do, just not always so blatantly.)
But there are times when my producers try to push me to lean
away from story and focus solely on getting a message across – less art, more
propaganda.
It is tricky to try and explain why that is
counterproductive. Coming from a world where sermons can lead audiences in
droves to the altar, the people from the church business can’t help but to
think of story as just another way to preach.
But story is a lousy preaching platform; and if you get
those same folk to honestly talk about the stories that impacted their lives,
you’ll likely find them sermon-free.
Preaching just isn’t a strength of the medium.
A story works emotionally first; if there is a message, it
comes through the experience, not by stating a moral.
My pastor last week talked about the difference between exposing
people to truth, and experiencing truth. Unless someone experiences truth, it
doesn’t quite stick.
Storytelling is a way to get people to experience; at least
that is what it does best.
Take a look at Jesus’ parables – while there may be
preaching and teaching around the stories, there isn’t much within the stories.
Even stories that contain great speeches – think On the Waterfront,
or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, or Some More Recent Movie That I
Just Can’t Think of Right Now, the monologues are earned by the speaker through
experience, and are almost commentaries on the story rather than sermons.
So what does one do when they want to tackle a big issue
within a story? The
Bitter Script Reader has a nice write up on the topic, examining a Buffy
the Vampire Slayer episode written by Jane Espenson.
 |
| A captive audience... |
Well worth the look, as an experienced script reader digs
into a work by one of the better writers in television.
The summary: serve the story first, and give all sides
their due.
Favorite line from the
blog post:
“Even if Jane Espenson had a point she wanted to make, she
seems to be smart enough to know that simply preaching an idea that goes
unchallenged isn't the way to win converts to your side.”
So, if you want to hire me to write a piece that includes a
message, expect me to fight for the story first – only because I really care
about the message.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Kids Rolling in the Deep
The singer is ten; the drummer thirteen; all other instruments played by their fifteen year old brother.
Don't want to brag or nothin', but when I was her age I could play "Drink to Me with Thine Eyes" on the accordion.
Both hands.
Enjoy.
Don't want to brag or nothin', but when I was her age I could play "Drink to Me with Thine Eyes" on the accordion.
Both hands.
Enjoy.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Monday, November 07, 2011
Critical Positives
From the desk of "people smarter than me" comes an artist's look at critique.
"5 Positive Things Critiques Can Do For You" is a good read for anyone who puts their work into the world. Take a gander.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
"5 Positive Things Critiques Can Do For You" is a good read for anyone who puts their work into the world. Take a gander.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Black Panther
What I’m Watching:
I’ve been using my new Netflix streaming to catch up on
things I missed. Like “The Black Panther” – the BET
produced series based on one of my favorite Marvel superheroes.
Each episode runs ten minutes – feeling like television quality
webisodes. But the perfect bite-size chunks for viewing while grabbing lunch or
for a writing break.
What Worked
I really enjoyed this series, it hit the comic book geek in
me just right. As I stated above, T’Challa – sorry, Black Panther, as I do not
know the king well enough to refer to him by his first name – has been a fav of
mine since I first found him successfully breaking into the Avengers mansion
many, many years ago.
A king/superhero/warrior, the Panther has always been about
integrity of character, of being the right kind of man, leader and hero. His struggles aren’t
just about how to whomp the latest villain, although he does that quite well.
And the fact that he can go toe to toe with the Avengers
assembled is pretty cool too.
With good action and a storyline that builds in intensity,
the series is fun and satisfying.
The show also strikes the right tone for me – serious actions
(invasion of a nation, no shortage of death from war) while keeping a light
tongue (sibling banter and well placed gags).
What Didn’t Work
The bashing of a previous administration is so heavy handed,
it take the viewer out of the story. The US National Security Advisor is named
Dondi Reece – yes the topic is handled with that level of subtlety.
Thankfully not enough time is spent here to sabotage the
series.
The Skinny
A very fun, compelling adaptation of a graphic novel series.
Well worth the time.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Halt Before the Trees
In a life filled with tension and aggravations and those little notions that just pick pick pick at my psyche, I find it a necessary thing to get a regular injection of beauty.
Seriously, it is good for the soul to look away every now and again from the latest trending news or work related irritant and instead gaze on something that fills rather than empties.
I've found for me, a daily refreshment has been the photographs of Bryan Ballinger.
I subscribe to his site, so every now and then one of his new photos pops into my blogroll. If I'm wise, I take a few moments to enlarge the pic and soak it in. They are just of an ordinary environment; from an ineffably extraordinary eye.
And they are a coolant to my spirit. (Although I must admit that sometimes "Small Thoughts" can be a little freaky!)
Please enjoy.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Money and Goofy Religion Part 5
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Want to experience true financial freedom?
Forget chasing after the get rich quick schemes, and instead focus on these four general principles from that dude from Nazareth:
1) Don’t let money rule you.
Jesus says you’ll go schizo trying to serve money and G-d (Matthew 6:19-24).
Anytime you find that money is your primary motive in a decision (or the amount of money, or the prospect of money), you may want to re-evaluate.
Try this: next time a pushy salesman says that line that always hooks ‘em, “How would you like to save money?” answer with:
“Eh. That’s not a top priority in my life.”
The look on his face as he sputters and attempts to regain his powers of speech will be worth every penny you didn’t save by switching insurance carriers.
You can do this on an organizational level as well.
I was once told of a church where the pastor instructed the youth group to stop pushing for free pizzas from the local pizzeria. The pastor’s argument was that the church could afford to pay for the pizzas, and it was more important to support the local community than to stockpile some cash.
Here’s where a bunch of y’all have already misunderstood me -- thinking that I am negating the notion of being good stewards. Nope.
I believe it is important to handle our money wisely - just not at the cost of messing up our priorities.
Just like in that blog that started this whole ramble -- Tim Smith suggesting that if a song writer getting a fee prevents a church from worshipping, maybe the writer should consider forgoing the fee. (He said “maybe” - he’s just saying to think about it. Priorities.)
The obverse is true as well -- if a church has the resources, it may want to support its local artists and shell out the money to pay a writer, or a singer, or a painter.
One church I attended had a full time position available for an artist. A composer filled the position while I was there. She was obligated to give half her time in service to the church, and the other half to create however she felt led.
It was the church’s way of making a statement about its priorities.
Now one might say, “Hey, wait a minute Sean. Couldn’t that money have been spent on more Christiany things - like funding missions, or helping out the soup kitchen, or somesuch?”
Sure. Absolutely. Can’t argue with you there.
But I would advise you to be careful. That argument is only used once in the Gospels, and it didn’t go down well for the argument maker.
General principle number 2 - next time.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
Want to experience true financial freedom?
Forget chasing after the get rich quick schemes, and instead focus on these four general principles from that dude from Nazareth:
1) Don’t let money rule you.
Jesus says you’ll go schizo trying to serve money and G-d (Matthew 6:19-24).
Anytime you find that money is your primary motive in a decision (or the amount of money, or the prospect of money), you may want to re-evaluate.
Try this: next time a pushy salesman says that line that always hooks ‘em, “How would you like to save money?” answer with:
“Eh. That’s not a top priority in my life.”
The look on his face as he sputters and attempts to regain his powers of speech will be worth every penny you didn’t save by switching insurance carriers.
You can do this on an organizational level as well.
I was once told of a church where the pastor instructed the youth group to stop pushing for free pizzas from the local pizzeria. The pastor’s argument was that the church could afford to pay for the pizzas, and it was more important to support the local community than to stockpile some cash.
Here’s where a bunch of y’all have already misunderstood me -- thinking that I am negating the notion of being good stewards. Nope.
I believe it is important to handle our money wisely - just not at the cost of messing up our priorities.
Just like in that blog that started this whole ramble -- Tim Smith suggesting that if a song writer getting a fee prevents a church from worshipping, maybe the writer should consider forgoing the fee. (He said “maybe” - he’s just saying to think about it. Priorities.)
The obverse is true as well -- if a church has the resources, it may want to support its local artists and shell out the money to pay a writer, or a singer, or a painter.
One church I attended had a full time position available for an artist. A composer filled the position while I was there. She was obligated to give half her time in service to the church, and the other half to create however she felt led.
It was the church’s way of making a statement about its priorities.
Now one might say, “Hey, wait a minute Sean. Couldn’t that money have been spent on more Christiany things - like funding missions, or helping out the soup kitchen, or somesuch?”
Sure. Absolutely. Can’t argue with you there.
But I would advise you to be careful. That argument is only used once in the Gospels, and it didn’t go down well for the argument maker.
General principle number 2 - next time.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
Friday, January 21, 2011
Money and Goofy Religion Part 2
For Part One, go here.
But even the guys that aren’t in love with money get goofy – like this guy.
So goofy, that his main point is one that he doesn’t believe to be true. (Or at least I don’t think he does…)
For those that don’t like to read links: Tim Smith’s church doesn’t pay writers for the material they use in church services; and he wants stuff his church develops to be free for others to use in their churches.
But then again, if his pastor writes a book, he wants his pastor to get paid for it.
So they’ve got a system – if it is used in worship, they don’t get paid; if it ends up in a book or cd, they do get paid.
Cool by me; pretty nifty, in fact. There's a lot of really good stuff in that blog entry.
Where Tim gets goofy is when he tries to reverse engineer a theology to codify this method.
To do this, he puts creative endeavors into two categories. First, things created for G-d’s glory: “When we write songs for gathered worship, our primary purpose should be to glorify God and build his church.” Those things should be free.
The rest of the stuff, like making music cd’s or writing books, by default should be stuff we primarily intend NOT to bring glory to G-d, and that stuff we should charge for.
I should point out that Tim gets paid to work at his church, and therefore acknowledges that nothing he does all day long builds Christ’s church. And his pastor does write books, but since those books intentionally do not glorify the Lord, it’s cool that he gets paid to write them.
Of course I’m having a bit of fun at Tim’s expense: I don’t know for sure, but it seems from all I do know of him and his church, they wouldn’t dream of advising that 1 Peter 4:11 or 1 Corinthians 10:31 be ignored – especially when making a studio recording of praise songs or writing about, say, the New Testament.**
And there are a number of artists out there that don’t fit into Tim’s paradigm.
Like my friend Chuck, who writes material for the church (and performs it for churches); he does this full time. If he didn’t get paid for it, he would not be able to feed his wife and children. So he often charges for the services he provides.
I think Tim would be fine with that; Tim might even encourage Chuck with a quote from Timothy or Nehemiah.
On the other hand, my friend Cory also writes for the church. He doesn’t charge a tuppence; but then again he also has a full time job elsewhere. I think Tim would also be fine with Cory, and might use words like “tentmaker” or cite from Thessalonians to encourage Cory.
Here’s the thing: both write to bring Glory to God, and both deliver material meant to build up the church.
So, this whole split in “make some things for G-d’s glory, and other things not so much” is not what Tim means, it’s just what he says. So why get discombobulated and say such a thing?
Money and the need for legalism. More on that later...
Just my thoughts,
Sean
**Let me reiterate that I don’t know this – maybe Tim does believe that anything that doesn’t happen on Sunday between 9 am and 11 am should be intentionally anti-glorious. I’m just assuming not.
But even the guys that aren’t in love with money get goofy – like this guy.
So goofy, that his main point is one that he doesn’t believe to be true. (Or at least I don’t think he does…)
For those that don’t like to read links: Tim Smith’s church doesn’t pay writers for the material they use in church services; and he wants stuff his church develops to be free for others to use in their churches.
But then again, if his pastor writes a book, he wants his pastor to get paid for it.
So they’ve got a system – if it is used in worship, they don’t get paid; if it ends up in a book or cd, they do get paid.
Cool by me; pretty nifty, in fact. There's a lot of really good stuff in that blog entry.
Where Tim gets goofy is when he tries to reverse engineer a theology to codify this method.
To do this, he puts creative endeavors into two categories. First, things created for G-d’s glory: “When we write songs for gathered worship, our primary purpose should be to glorify God and build his church.” Those things should be free.
The rest of the stuff, like making music cd’s or writing books, by default should be stuff we primarily intend NOT to bring glory to G-d, and that stuff we should charge for.
I should point out that Tim gets paid to work at his church, and therefore acknowledges that nothing he does all day long builds Christ’s church. And his pastor does write books, but since those books intentionally do not glorify the Lord, it’s cool that he gets paid to write them.
Of course I’m having a bit of fun at Tim’s expense: I don’t know for sure, but it seems from all I do know of him and his church, they wouldn’t dream of advising that 1 Peter 4:11 or 1 Corinthians 10:31 be ignored – especially when making a studio recording of praise songs or writing about, say, the New Testament.**
And there are a number of artists out there that don’t fit into Tim’s paradigm.
Like my friend Chuck, who writes material for the church (and performs it for churches); he does this full time. If he didn’t get paid for it, he would not be able to feed his wife and children. So he often charges for the services he provides.
I think Tim would be fine with that; Tim might even encourage Chuck with a quote from Timothy or Nehemiah.
On the other hand, my friend Cory also writes for the church. He doesn’t charge a tuppence; but then again he also has a full time job elsewhere. I think Tim would also be fine with Cory, and might use words like “tentmaker” or cite from Thessalonians to encourage Cory.
Here’s the thing: both write to bring Glory to God, and both deliver material meant to build up the church.
So, this whole split in “make some things for G-d’s glory, and other things not so much” is not what Tim means, it’s just what he says. So why get discombobulated and say such a thing?
Money and the need for legalism. More on that later...
Just my thoughts,
Sean
**Let me reiterate that I don’t know this – maybe Tim does believe that anything that doesn’t happen on Sunday between 9 am and 11 am should be intentionally anti-glorious. I’m just assuming not.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Money and Goofy Religion
Money makes people goofy – especially when money butts up against religion.
Which should come as no surprise, as love of the stuff is the root of all kinds of evil.
I remember listening to a radio interview with a prosperity gospel preacher, as he was making the argument that Jesus was independently wealthy.
After all, the Lord wandered around without a job for three years. Explain that if the good shepherd wasn't loaded?
You see, in this guy’s world, Jesus would have responsibly invested the gold, frankincense and myrhh that he got for his zeroeth birthday (you agree that Jesus would be responsible, right?).
And he used that wealth to fund his travels with the disciples (you agree that Jesus wouldn’t want to be a burden, right?).
The water into wine and the fishes and loaves – not miracles so much as Jesus buying food and drink for friends. He had enough cash to throw down a party for a multitude!
Oh, and the whole perfume on his feet thing – another sign that Jesus wants us to be wealthy. He was telling Judas to stop bugging him about appreciating those extravagances in life to which Jesus had grown accustomed.
(Just like the speaker’s car and jewelry – you wouldn’t do a Judas on him about those things, would you?)
Sheesh. The lengths one goes to in justifying a love for money.
But even the guys that aren’t in love with money get goofy – but I'll get into that next time.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
Which should come as no surprise, as love of the stuff is the root of all kinds of evil.
I remember listening to a radio interview with a prosperity gospel preacher, as he was making the argument that Jesus was independently wealthy.
After all, the Lord wandered around without a job for three years. Explain that if the good shepherd wasn't loaded?
You see, in this guy’s world, Jesus would have responsibly invested the gold, frankincense and myrhh that he got for his zeroeth birthday (you agree that Jesus would be responsible, right?).
And he used that wealth to fund his travels with the disciples (you agree that Jesus wouldn’t want to be a burden, right?).
The water into wine and the fishes and loaves – not miracles so much as Jesus buying food and drink for friends. He had enough cash to throw down a party for a multitude!
Oh, and the whole perfume on his feet thing – another sign that Jesus wants us to be wealthy. He was telling Judas to stop bugging him about appreciating those extravagances in life to which Jesus had grown accustomed.
(Just like the speaker’s car and jewelry – you wouldn’t do a Judas on him about those things, would you?)
Sheesh. The lengths one goes to in justifying a love for money.
But even the guys that aren’t in love with money get goofy – but I'll get into that next time.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Beautiful Conspiracy
Over at Letters of Note, you can see Kurt Vonnegut's witty and insightful response to a theater company's request for support.
Favorite bit is his wrap up: "Guard yourself at all times. A lot of people believe that beauty is some kind of conspiracy -- along with friendly laughter and peace."
Head on over and check it out.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
Favorite bit is his wrap up: "Guard yourself at all times. A lot of people believe that beauty is some kind of conspiracy -- along with friendly laughter and peace."
Head on over and check it out.
Just my thoughts,
Sean
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
3 Year Old Symphony Conductor
He's not bad for a kid, although that whole losing your baton and falling to the floor giggling - total Dudamel ripoff.
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