Creation Sabbath 2018 Film Contest FAQ

2018 Creation Sabbath Film Competition Frequently Asked Questions
  1. I’m pretty sure I’m going to win, so hey Bro’, can I have some money up front to make my film?
    • Quick Answer – Nope.
    • Answer – Dude! Are you kidding? We’re strapped for cash too, so you’ll have to borrow some cash from your parents. I’m sure they have faith in your genius and will see it as a great investment.
  1. I want people to think I’m part of the bright crowd, but they don’t believe in the Bible or creation, so I’m kind-a unsure. Can I still enter a film in this competition?
    • Quick Answer – Sure.
    • Answer – Not everyone is a clear-headed independent thinker, so we are not prejudiced against you just because you want to be part of the self-identified clever crowd. Make a brilliant film and we will be happy to get it and judge it on its merits. Maybe going through the exercise of thinking hard about the biblical creation will make you genuinely smart and, who knows, maybe people will actually think you’re a genius if you win.
  1. What if I don’t want to make some boring film with pretty video of dolphins, bunnies and cheerful people relaxing to Sabbath music?
    • Quick Answer – Good.
    • Answer – If you start off quoting Genesis 1:1, you will not win this competition. We want originality, a new perspective on something startling and beautiful about the creation. It has to be a film that grabs viewers by the throat and shakes them by making them think about the creation in a new and fresh way that leaves them wanting to watch it again—after sharing it with their friends. This film needs to be the spicy Thai curry of films. Think of it this way, we’ve all seen the Josh Groban version of Creation Sabbath films; they’re nice, but we want the Avenged Sevenfold version. (Yes, we chose Avenged Sevenfold because their name is a reference to Genesis 4. If you are going out of your mind because of this, sorry.)
  1. I have been making films for years and no one has complained. Can I submit a compilation of sunsets, tropical bird shots and video of a ewe with her lamb, all backed by our academy choir singing “All Things Bright and Beautiful”?
    • Quick Answer – Please don’t.
    • Answer – No really, please don’t send us some half-baked travelogue of your trip to Belize with a bible verse at the end. That isn’t what we are after and it will waste your time and ours. We’d much rather get a rough version of something original and brilliant than a very polished film that no one is interested in seeing except the parents of the kids singing in the choir.
  1. I’m 13 years old, love God and have a passion for making films. Can I enter this competition?
    • Quick Answer – Yes!
    • Answer – If you are some 13-year-old protégé, go for it, just don’t break your Dad’s camera.
  1. I don’t approve of this; how can I stop it?
    • Quick Answer – You can’t.
    • Answer – Your tithe and offerings are not being squandered on spreading the gospel in this way. This competition is grant funded by people who want to see Jesus come and the new creation with no more tears, no more death and happiness for all creation. Sadly for you, and happily for us, tiresome negativism will go the way of death and suffering in heaven. You can’t stop Jesus coming and you can’t stop us doing our best to let the world know about our Creator and Redeemer.
  1. We work at a media center with a gazillion dollars of equipment which we use all the time to make videos of leaders leading leadership things in leaderly ways. You can’t seriously expect we will stop this vital all-consuming work, even though no sane person is watching, can you?
    • Quick Answer – Hey, we’re sane, of course we can.
    • Answer – The huge investment made in church media was made to spread the Gospel. Videos of councils of counselors counseling about consultations do nothing to spread the Gospel. Put the time and equipment to use getting the Gospel out. The Church has one mission, it isn’t to let the world know about every bloviating word spoken in some meeting somewhere. It is to spread the everlasting gospel. Fire yourself and your boss if you are blowing time, tithes and offerings on anything else. Better yet, let’s see what the media professionals in the church are actually capable of, other than giving leaders facetime so that they look like they are doing something and their probability of getting reelected improves. We know you have an inner creativity that yearns to express itself. The world doesn't need blow by blow coverage of some new church policy debate. Jesus is coming, let’s unleash your inner creative beast to let the world know!
  1. Hey, if this is legit, how come my pastor doesn’t know about it?
    • Quick Answer – Pastors are busy with stuff, they don’t know everything.
    • Answer – Sometimes pastors need to see a great film before they realize what is going on. That is why we are doing this Creation Sabbath film competition. Hey, if you can create a creation film good enough to communicate a few vital facts about the creation to pastors, you will know you have hit the jackpot.
  1. I’m not a scientist, theologian or film maker, but I do have a brain, can I submit a film?
    • Quick Answer – Of course you can.
    • Answer – Despite what you may think from watching TV, the first and most important thing you need when making a film is a great idea. If you have a brain, you are more than halfway there! It doesn’t matter whether your training is in music, history, English, education, French, Spanish, horticulture, audiology, aviation or any other area, what matters is whether or not you have something profound that can be made into a film. Trust us, every one of those areas and just about any other area, especially economics and political science, has a fascinating connection to our belief about origins and thus multiple potentially fascinating ideas about the creation that can be brought the screen. We want everyone to be thinking of and letting others know about how their discipline is informed by and informs our understanding of creation. One word of advice though, it would be really smart to team up with someone who actually knows something about how to make a film. If you can provide the idea and the filmmaker can provide the expertise, you may have a chance at making something great.
  1. I don’t have an expensive camera; how can you expect me to make a great film?
    • Quick Answer – If you have a smartphone, you have a camera far better than the camera most of the great films were made with.
    • o Answer – What else is there to say? Technology really isn’t the limitation now days, it is the idea, not the equipment that is limiting. Yes, it is great to have some of the more expensive modern equipment, but cell phones do have remarkable built in cameras, many even shoot 4k footage that isn’t bad, although it’s usually smarter to stick with 1080p resolution. We’d be just as excited—maybe more exited—to see a brilliant film made and edited on a smart phone as we would one made using $ 10,000 lenses on a $ 118,000 Phantom HD Gold high speed cinema camera.