WHY VIDEO HAS A PLACE IN THIS WORLD | Rob Thomas
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Anyone ever seen a picture of Michael W. Smith in a sleeveless shirt and vest? I didn’t think so...here you go.
This picture is from the music video ‘Secret Ambition’, a pretty decent song from the 80s. Michael gives the camera a lot of love in the video with long stares and cheesy moves. |
If that were all the video contained, it might go down as one of the worst music videos ever. But Smitty was only in about 30% of the video (you can call him Smitty if you are a good friend, or own more than 6 of his CDs... that’s me). The rest of the video had a major impact on me. The video was cut back and forth between Michael’s amazing stares and shots of the life of Jesus. It had all the big events in his life including the last supper, being beaten, and hanging on the cross.
I was 16 years old when I first saw it. I was at a camp in Colorado surrounded by about 400 kids from all over the country. I had never in my life seen the life of Jesus portrayed visually (this doesn’t include flannelgraph). Back then we didn’t have ‘The Passion of the Christ’. The Jesus movies we did have seemed very outdated, not anything I was interested in seeing. But this video really captured the story of Jesus like I had never seen before. His story came alive for me. I cried during it. I cried after it was over. I was deeply impacted. Here’s the kicker: it was a 4-minute video! That’s it. No need to watch a full-length movie, I found out how effective just 4 minutes could be.
I think this experience is a big part of why I do what I do (I create short videos for a living now!). I realized early the power of visual and the power of video. It’s powerful for several reasons:
1. It’s an experience. Today it’s all about the experience. I go to movie theaters for the experience. I go get coffee at Starbucks for the experience. If it had nothing to do with the experience, I would make coffee at home and save 3 bucks while watching movies on TMC. Adding a powerful video to your program or service can be very well received.
2. It’s universal. My son is two year’s old. He has no clue what is cool or popular. He doesn’t know what Modernism, Post-Modernism, Emergent, or Traditional is. He doesn’t care. But he loves video. He can’t get enough of it. He becomes a different person when it’s on... totally focused. Don’t worry, my wife and I realize we have to control his watching habits and he watches a lot less than he would like. It doesn’t matter what age you are or even what country you’re from. The use of media and video is huge.
3. It’s Biblical. I know, I know, the word ‘video’ is nowhere in the Bible. All I mean is this: Jesus told stories. He told parables because he knew the power of a story, the power of giving a visual illustration. To me, that’s why we use video. It’s our way of telling parables. It’s our way of communicating God’s truth to others.
Looking at the ‘Secret Ambition’ video now, I realize how dated it looks. In fact, I think the actor playing Jesus might have had a permed mullet. Many people today have very sophisticated taste in video and media. They know what works and what looks good. If you show a video that is cheesy, they will reject it and it would have been better if you hadn’t used it. But if you use a video that speaks Truth, tells a great story, and is visually stunning, then get ready. I believe you’ll see some impacted lives.
Rob Thomas is president of Igniter Media Group and WorshipHouse Media.
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