Inspirational Video: God's Galaxy

Every video editor needs some inspiration at times. For me, there is no better way to be inspired than by watching God's creation presented in a beautiful, breath-taking way.

In this video called "Temporal Distortion" it shows several smooth flowing shots of different scenes of our galaxy and beyond. When I watch videos like this, I often marvel at how great our God is and ho small and insignificant we may seem. Although, we are not insignificant to God. We are his greatest creation.


As far as editing in this video, the creator used a very unique technique to give the image a smooth look. This technique involves a camera slide and a computer to control that slider's speed. For an example of this slider, check out this link: Stage Zero Ultimate Slider Bundle.

The technique that should be noticed in this video is that even though the video is sped up super fast of the stars, the camera sliding is still slow paced. That is because of the slider and computer that they used. The computer is used to pace the camera sliding very slowly so it does not go fast like the video.

Very great technique and very amazing video of God's creation. Be inspired.

Temporal Distortion from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

Biblical Interview: Luke Mielke

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Luke Mielke. Luke is a videographer for the college I attend and has several years of experience in working with videos and editing. Luke and I share similar passions as we both love to produce short Christian videos to promote our Savior. Here is the interview that I conducted with Luke and his responses.

1. How do you use video to spread the Gospel?
                I use video to spread the Gospel in several different ways.  The first one is recording of conferences.  I enable others to spread their sermons of the Gospel to larger audiences.  The second and my preferred way is through shorts.  The first of many videos explaining the Bible for young to middle aged adults through modern scenarios is almost complete.  This series consist of Bible analogies and narratives explained in terms that connect with people from the 21^st century.  These will be given to churches, Christian schools, and home schools.  These videos can be complete in themselves or be used to spring board discussions.

2. How can videos help to advance the Gospel versus traditional methods?

Traditional methods (handing out tracts and door-to-door) is often impersonal.  People will often feel as if they are confronted too causing them to through up defenses. Video is more personal than a tract and less confronting than door-to-door.  People will let down their walls to a video because they do not have to act tough or keep an appearance.  Video can also be spread very easily.  People are more likely to accept a DVD and keep it rather than a tract.  Online videos are easy to spread as well.  Adding a QR code to a DVD or tract can be scanned and watched on a phone.  When a video is done well, people will usually want to watch it through to the end if it is relatively short.

3. What advice could you give aspiring Christian video creators to help them?

                Lots of info in a long video is not nearly as effective as a concentrated short message.  Making a plan and sticking to it is a must.  Going out shotgun style with lots of videos with no real direction is going to end up with more people hurt or offended than fewer high quality videos with an organized message and campaign.

4. Can you think of any specific examples of how God has blessed other with your videos?

I’m guess that “other” in the line above is supposed to be “others” so I will continue as such.  In my first example of how I have used video to spread the Gospel, I received many emails thanking me for the production of the DVDs.  Many of the people that emailed about the DVDs do not have Bible based churches in their areas, and the DVDs are their only “church” for the year.  Research on the second example for everyone involved impacts their lives.  Studying the Bible in depth will always prick the heart and open one’s eyes.

5. What has had the biggest Christian video impact on your life and why?

                I’m not sure what you are asking here.  I’ll take a shot at it, and see if I answer what you are looking for.  Please let me know if it’s not.  Facing the Giants probably had the biggest Christian video in my life.  Not necessarily because of the message, but because it gave hope that I could make a Christian film with impact.  Most Christian films to that point were second rate and not taken seriously.  Facing the Giants proved that Christian films could be made to a higher standard.

I would like to thank Luke Mielke for allowing me to interview him and for giving all of this useful information to us. What do you do with this information? You use it. . .You create something, you impact someone. Do not let this valuable information be ignored. Take action.

Is acting crucial to your edits?

Is acting in films very key to a good edit of a movie? Some people would argue that it is not as important as editing and that editing is the most important. I would argue that acting is equally as important as editing. Many people will tell you that editing is where you make your subjects look good. This is very true, to a certain extent but you can truly only make someone look as good as they truly are.

This video just gives a few pointers on how to be or find good actor/actress for your videos. The acting, many times will make or break a great film. Then the editing will be the icing on the cake to make the video that much better.



Acting: 101 from Vimeo Video School on Vimeo.

One main point that I took away from this video is right in the middle of the video. In video production, time is very crucial, so if you do not know the answer to something, ask questions. Do NOT make something up. That could wind you up in a heap of trouble.

Video Editing Effect: Film Burns (God > I)

I am at it again. I made another video for my class and also my own pleasure.

 This video is based off the passage in scripture, John 4:4 which says, "...Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world." and uses a new effect that I learned about recently


God > i from Caleb Godsey on Vimeo.

One thing that I tried to accomplish in this video was a new effect using something called film burns. Notice on many of the clips there seems to be a transparent swirling light that keeps persisting throughout the clips and also a flash of light was used in the translation of many clips. These are called film burns.

Recently, in my Intro to Communications class, we had a special skype speaker named Laura Kenedy speak for class. Laura Kenedy is the Media Coordinator for The Galkin Evangelistic Team. Some of Laura's responsibilities as the Media Coordinator are making videos, taking pictures, keeping up the website and much more. You can visit her blog, Modernly Nomadic, here: Laura Kenedy's Blog

 During the class with her, she talked about her new video, Justification, coming out in a few weeks and the effects she used in that video. One of the major effects she used was called film burns. I decided for my video that I very much enjoyed this effect and wanted to use it and that is exactly what I did.

If you would like to download some film burn effects for yourself, a great resource for them are the following sites:

• Digital Cinema Foundry
• Cineblur.com 

 I hope you enjoy this video and are blessed Spiritually as a result of it, which is ultimately my highest goal in making these videos.

"You gotta' have footage to edit..."

As important as video editing is for videos, you can't do much unless you have footage. A digital SLR camera is what I use to film my videos and I think this well done video by Vimeo Video School does a great job going over the basics of Digital SLR cameras. In the end, they reach the same conclusion that I would also come to and that is. . .well, you can just watch the video to find out.
Introduction to DSLR Cameras with Philip Bloom from Vimeo Video School on Vimeo.

The Process of Making a Video

In this Prezi, I give a little information on the process and steps that go into making a video. Whether a short 30 second video or full feature length film, all of these steps can apply to your project. This is not an exhaustive list but it will get you thinking about all the work that can be required for even a short video. If you execute these steps well and use your creativity, you will have great looking videos in no time!

The Process of Video Making on Prezi

God Knows. Personal Project

This is a video about God knowing everything better than we do. The description best says what this video is about and where the idea came from. "This is a video about God's knowledge about our future based off the verse Jeremiah 29:11. You may not know what tomorrow will bring, or if your sick relative will make it through the night or even what the next step in life is but God does and He has your best in mind. It is only logical for us as humans who know hardly anything to trust the God who made us to direct our steps and guide our future. I hope this video was a blessing to you an helped illustrate the need for total dependence on God for the future. "

During this video you can pay attention to all the different cuts that were used. Every scene in a video is filmed for a purpose, to communicate a message.  As a video maker, I am responsible for communicating my thoughts to a variety of different audiences. One main tip I can give to other video makers is to make sure you communicate your thoughts in video form as clearly as possible. Also, look for the simplicity in the video. Often times, beginning video makers can tend to be "effects happy" which makes for a very messy or confusing video. This does not communicate your message well and inhibits the effects of the video. Simplicity in this video comes in many forms, from the text that was used, all the way down to the shots that were filmed. Pay attention to these two things specifically as you watch the video.

 Click the picture to enjoy the video!