I couldn't think of anything. I listened to lots of different types of songs from all different albums, and my mind just couldn't do it. I was trying to think about something I could film (though that's not exactly a strength of mine), something I could form in After Effects. Maybe a combination of the two. But there were no bright ideas or brilliant concepts, not even a single image to build one from.
And it's not like these songs were uninspiring either. These are songs I've enjoyed, been moved by, inspired by, sung along to and meant from the bottom of my heart. But there was no instinct, nothing I could start from. It did however get me thinking, specifically about what I was trying to do. I was trying to sum God up with an idea. Dangerous move. God is above all. He is beyond our understanding therefore we will never truly understand Him. We can get a glimpse, but even trying to sum that up with a concept...well that's a task and a half.
Trying to sum up God with words, images, music or anything else our creative minds wander towards is impossible. We won't ever get a handle on God and His greatness. We can however, just start to paint a picture of elements of it. In many ways, we have to. Analogies, concepts, lyrics all help us to worship Him, follow Him, walk towards Him. I'm sure every Christian will tell you about a moment where they were listening to a song, watching a video, looking at a painting, or reading a reflection and were simply been moved by it. Sometimes we know what it is about it that hits us so deeply but often we don't. What we can say is, that in that moment we've just started to get a slippery grasp on something of God, who He is, what He did for us. And felt a whole lot closer to Him.
Someone will have made that video, written that song, painted that picture, written that story. God does want us to use our creativity to praise him, to express our feelings about our faith and try and explain it. Why else would He give us imagination? It may seem like I've contradicted myself here, suggesting we can't sum God up, then that we should. But these two ideas do sit with each other. We will never fully understand who God is, so we certainly can't portray it - but we should express what we do understand, using whatever tools and talents God has given us. As humans, something about us is affected by creative things. It is an amazing, beautiful, powerful tool given to us by God, and also highly dangerous when used the wrong way.
All this, is why I want to make videos and act out stories. I want to make stuff that allows people to see, feel and understand more of Jesus. But I must always remember this one thing. The only ideas that will achieve this will come from God. Even though God gave us our own minds and we should use them, I also believe that there will be a fundamental concept, image, idea, or some initial foundation that comes from God. He gives us something to build on. That to me, is a stunning gift to be given. Knowing I even had a hand in creating something that inspired others or made them think is one of the best feelings ever.
At Christmas I made a typography video (below) that told a story. A very old story. But if the feedback I got was anything to go by, it touched people. I would love to take credit for that. But there are two fundamental things I must remember. The first is that the initial idea came from God. I had an idea come to me during a church service, and the way it came about, well it didn't come from me. The second is that it wasn't my filmmaking that made the video work. God used it. That's why it worked, pure and simple. That doesn't mean we should skimp on trying to be the best at what we do. It says something about us when we make something that represents the most important thing in our lives, and do a shoddy job of it. So much of my reason for my studying Post Production is that I want to be able to make Christian content that is of some sort of quality. However, it doesn't matter how many pieces of software I know, snazzy effects I learn, or even how much I know about timecode or codecs. If I start leaving God out, my videos aren't going to be doing very much. They may look pretty, even help me earn a living, but I'll be missing out on doing what I want to do. Using something I love, to proclaim someone I love even more.
