my films are a hybrid of
TEXT,
VISUAL ARTS,
SOUNDSCAPE
and ...
CONVERSATION
TEXT,
VISUAL ARTS,
SOUNDSCAPE
and ...
CONVERSATION
"Good Friday Contemplative"
Contemplate what Jesus’ Passion has to do with the world here and now. This non-verbal, short art film offers photos, drawings, music and sound effects associating the gospel accounts of Jesus’ victimization with our own troubles today.
"Ash Wednesday Contemplative"
Here is help to pause with nature and reconnect with Life beyond our stresses. Contemplative music accompanying photos we have collected in nature offer eleven minutes of retreat. Many people remember this discipline at this time of year when Lent begins with Ash Wednesday.
The Rev. Rick Malec requested this contemplative film to play in the sanctuary of United Methodist Church of Temecula, California, on Ash Wednesday when people come to devote a little time remembering we are all made of the same elements, and to receive the sign of the cross in ashes on their foreheads. So begins the season of Lent which culminates in the Passion of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Contemplating the natural world has been called “creatio divina” for centuries and we hope this film will encourage you to get out into the real trees, rocks, ocean, flowers, stars and sky to remember we are members together with all of these.
Contemplating the natural world has been called “creatio divina” for centuries and we hope this film will encourage you to get out into the real trees, rocks, ocean, flowers, stars and sky to remember we are members together with all of these.
"Going Into Bethlehem"
This film blends music, sound effects, spoken word and motion graphics to evoke the experience of the few who found Joseph, Mary and their newborn in the animal enclosure. Their philosophical quandaries guide us in the wonder at the ancient root of today’s popular celebration.
The film’s text and seven works of art are taken from Mark R. Turner’s book Verse & Visions from Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. You can purchase the book of 13 works of art and poetry in large format
hard cover – https://horizongate.org/VrsVsnsHdCvr
paperback – https://horizongate.org/VrsVsnsPprb
and
ebook – https://bit.ly/VrsVsnsE
hard cover – https://horizongate.org/VrsVsnsHdCvr
paperback – https://horizongate.org/VrsVsnsPprb
and
ebook – https://bit.ly/VrsVsnsE
Read the blog post “Preparing for the Season” October 2023 about the making of the film.
For those who are interested, see a list of all the equipment, software, assets and considerations used in making the film HERE.
"World of Particles"
images and chants from parts to the whole
images and chants from parts to the whole
This short art film is just a mythical sketch about what has been happening since the Big Bang until now. Just a sketch full of rough edges from my thinking that God is making more than we realize, but that we have over the last few millennia begun to observe the process.
Six months in the making, the film started with the original painting from thoughts about being individual parts of a greater whole. This inspired a blog post from which I selected 10 phrases to make non-traditional choral expressions about truths we are endeavoring to learn. You will hear the words of these phrases assemble in the film.
Six months in the making, the film started with the original painting from thoughts about being individual parts of a greater whole. This inspired a blog post from which I selected 10 phrases to make non-traditional choral expressions about truths we are endeavoring to learn. You will hear the words of these phrases assemble in the film.
"Break Our Chains"
Contemplating America’s circumstances in July 2020, I drew a cartoon and composed music to help review our common bondage and find liberation.
"Formation Observed"
This animation was started 50 years ago. Wanting to practice on my new graphics tablet and explore Photoshop’s animation features, I used a photo of a six foot painting I did in my youth as a template to draw progressively, frame by frame, a new version of the painting. As I drew them again I could not help but contemplate the days when I first painted this collage of faces. . . .
"On Creation"
This is an animated memo, accompanied by woodwind trio and vibes, of thoughts from my journal resulting from contemplation about our origins, the dynamic growth of the material universe, why there is something rather than nothing, the great amount that humanity has learned which increases the mysteries of our existence . . . see full description
"Here Am I Listening"
a film of spontaneous sketches and contemplative music derived from Igor Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat”
and Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St. John Passion”
and Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St. John Passion”
"We Deep Under Ocean"
slowly travel up a long, mixed media work of pencil drawing, charcoal markings, photos of found objects, and digital painting, exploring the embedded poem to a musical variation of Claude Debussy's "La Mer"
"A Prayer for Beauty"
a poem visualized by photography and drawings over a period of about seven years with music drawn from masters such as Maurice Ravel, Gustav Holst, Bela Bartok and Samuel Barber, combining instruments, choral singing and verse choir with sounds from nature
"Comforting Hovers"
As the camera moves over this oil painting, spoken poetic phrases and contemplative music
mixed with environmental sounds lead through impressions of an ancient story.
mixed with environmental sounds lead through impressions of an ancient story.