There and Back Again...

It's been a long time since I...

jay — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 12:30:18 -0800

Posted anything here. And today I actually deleted a couple of posts. Not that there was anything wrong with them, but they're being published on theooze.com this month and next. So, head over there on January 26th to read my article on the church reaching out to the marginalized, and on February 22nd you can read my article on true fasting.

I'll be back later for an update on my video projects. Five words for you: My hard drive is full.

testing testing 1 2 3

jay — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 08:58:40 -0700

having some blog issues here, just testing. btw, this post is for you guys, matt and luke.

Video Clip II

jay — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 02:03:59 -0700

This is a piece I did for our church a couple of weeks ago; we conducted some basic interviews in Mission Beach and downtown and asked the questions you'll see in the video here. The video was played right before the sermon, just to show the congregation what some of the people of San Diego had to say in response to our questions. Most of the people we approached on the street about participating in these surveys weren't interested in doing so, but those who did participate were great sports about it. One thing I was concerned with was that they not feel like they were the target of a video ambush, or that we were looking for a particular answer, but rather, that they understand they all we were after was their answer, whatever that might have been. I think we were successful in that.

Technical note: this is the first real project, other than some test clips I've done by for myself, shot with the Panasonic DVX-100B that the church purchased for use in our documentary projects. All I can say is, I love this camera. Many indebted thanks go out to Jesse for the boom operating, and Paula and Jeannette for asking the questions. Great job, guys!

Launch in external player

Video Clip

jay — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 01:32:41 -0700

Here's a little clip of some stuff I shot at our family reunion in Oregon back in March. I should ...

India Documentary Project

jay — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 00:23:25 -0700

    Some of you may have heard, and many of you probably haven't, but I'll be heading to India for two weeks this summer (July 19 - August 1) as part of a missions trip that my church, Kaleo Fellowship, is taking. Our team, along with a group from Providence Community Church in Plano, Texas, will be teaching at a pastor's conference and helping out with vacation Bible school for some kids at an orphanage run by Vision Nationals. My job will be to film a short documentary on some of the widows and orphans that Vision Nationals is helping. The documentary is part of a longer-term vision at Kaleo, which I have started working out in the vision statement for the film side of Kaleo's mission:

    "Film has become the most influential artistic medium, where the values
of our society are demonstrated and wrestled with. In a film, we are
being asked to imagine "what if," and try on a different worldview for
a couple of hours. Depending on how well a film has been made, this
new suit of ideas may fit like a glove, or it may chafe and constrict.

    Kaleo's clarion call is that it exists to delight in God above all
else, and to spread His glory to all people. Because we believe that
no area of our lives escapes the grasp of God's influence and control,
and that we are called to be heralds of God's good news into every
area of life, the film world is one such area that desperately needs
to be engaged by Christians. The film ministry at Kaleo will seek to
engage this world by critiquing and contributing to film's ongoing
marketplace of worldviews.

There are two main ways we will do this:

1. Film & theology nights- At a typical film & theology night, we
will head out to the theater to watch a currently showing film, then
move to a public place such as a restaurant or coffeehouse to discuss
the merits of the film manifested in its story, acting and production
values; consider the filmmaker's intent and the worldview he or she is
presenting, and discuss possible Christian responses to the worldview
presented.

2. Film production- Following Francis Schaeffer, we believe that
excellence in art adds strength and credibility to whatever worldview
that art may be communicating. Therefore, through the making of short
fiction and non-fiction/documentary films, we will seek to present the
hope of the gospel and the integrity of our worldview in a manner that
is both technically proficient and aesthetically pleasing. When
someone enters into the art worlds we create, our hope is that they
would see the reality of our fallen world, as well as the hope of
redemption that we have in Christ, and the internal consistency, the fit,
if you will, of our worldview."

The aim of the documentary will be to profile the lives of 2-4 subjects,
whether widows or orphans, to show the lives they used to lead and where
they have come from, contrasted with the hope they have now. Towards
this end Kaleo has (with the help of some generous donors) purchased most
of the gear necessary to start such a project, including a camera, tripod,
microphone, boom pole, filters, editing software, etc. Before we head out
for India, there are some remaining items and expenses that we would
definitely need prayer and/or help with, some of which are for the team in
general, myself and Pastor David, and some camera gear in particular.

1. India Costs:

Final Payment to Providence: $2,100.00

Travel costs while there (David): $500.00

Travel costs while there (Jay): $500.00

Airfare to Dallas for David: $461.00

Remaining Video Equipment Needed: $2,701.76

- Camera Price Difference (before rebate) $1,787.01

- Batteries (2) $239.90

- Warrenty $149.95

- Rain Cover $84.95

- Light $239.95

- Backpack $200.00

Total Needed: $6,262.76

    As I mentioned, the camera has already been purchased, but due
to some mix-ups and nearly getting ripped off, the camera ended up
costing significantly more than we had originally budgeted for. As a
result, the difference had to be made up out of a combination of
credit cards and personal savings.

    Additionally I think we're going to need to either buy or improvise a
reflector/diffuser system so that we can make the most of whatever
available light is at hand. This would basically consist of a collapsible
stand to which we could attach a fold-up reflector and diffuser (something
similar to the sunshade you would use in the windshield of your car).
Depending on the light sources, it may be necessary to bounce some
light onto a scene to soften a hard shadow, or to diffuse the light coming
from a harsh source. This is something that I think could be improvised,
or purchased used, but would really help take the lighting beyond the level
of fair to mediocre home movies toward something that looks genuinely
pleasing. Also, a set of closeup filters/lenses would be good for some
detailed close-ups, as well as a flourescent filter that would compensate
for the green look that you get when filming under flourescent lights. The
orphanage and Bible college there in Vishakapatnam are lit predominantly
with flourescent lights, so this is definitely something that we'll be encountering.

    So, the flourescent filters and the close-up lenses can be had for about $100
total, and the reflector/diffuser/stand system can be bought new for about $150,
or so I'm told, and possibly improvised for less. The key to all of this is that it has
to fit into a kit that I can carry on my back, pretty much by myself. I may have some
help operating the boom, but aside from that, this is pretty much a solo job.

    To those who have already helped us with this (and you know who you are), I
praise God for your generosity and care, and for those who are contemplating
some level of support, whatever it may be, I would say that this is a great opportunity
to be blessed, both in the act of giving and in the physical and spiritual return on
that giving. Pray and ask God that he would show you what he would have you do,
and pray also that as the trip gets closer and closer, my preparations would be
fruitful, and that we would have the grace of a smooth shoot. Thanks again!

Contact info:
    Me- jdawgreimer at sbcglobal dot net
    Kaleo- http://www.kaleochurch.com/contact.php

(By the way, hopefully soon I will have a short trailer of some of my Saudi Arabia footage
up so that you can check that out. I would have had it up sooner, but I had a better
idea, so I scrapped the old one and started over. It'll be worth the wait, though, I
promise.)

Tinkering

jay — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:33:11 -0700

I'll be tinkering around with the look and feel of the blog here in the next few days/weeks, including fixing, changing, deleting and adding some new links. Just glancing through them, some of them are broken, and some of them I either don't subscribe to anymore or just aren't relevant. Plus I've got my buddy Jon working on a new header graphic, so it should look pretty snazzy.

Working out the rust

jay — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:27:05 -0800

It's been a long, long, long time since I've done any proper blogging here, but I will be doing some soon, as well as retooling the blog a bit (it's a sad state of affairs when half of your posts are come-back posts.) I'm probably going to stash some of my posts on politics and current affairs in another sub-category, mainly because I don't think that stuff is as important as I used to. Kind of burned out on what people in office have been up to lately. Also, I recently wrote a couple of short articles that both deal with some of the fallout from the church's inconsistent practice of true biblical community, and I hope to be getting those published on some of the better Christian e-zines/blogs very soon. Each one takes a different approach, but the root problem is basically the same. So if I manage to get those up anywhere, I'll definitely be posting links to them. In other news, I'll be giving the lowdown on a missions trip I'm taking to India this summer, as far as what we're doing, what we need, all that good stuff. Part of my job on the trip will be filming a documentary on an orphanage we'll be working with down there. But more to come on this soon. Still working on the Saudi Arabia stuff, but time is a scarce commodity these days, as well as money. I'm going to need some if I'm going to get some of my super 8 film footage transferred to mini-DV tape so that I can use it in the video. I'm should have a trailer of some sort finished soon, and hopefully I can find a place to put that up on the web so that people can see it, and perhaps be moved to invest in the India project, or other film ideas in the works. So that's the short version. Keep checking for more!

...Like I Need A Hole in my Head

jay — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 17:31:47 -0700

For all three of you who have been reading my very occassional posts here, you may recall my post-election ...

"We will have to kill you now."

jay — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 00:12:31 -0700

"We will have to kill you now." For a brief instant, the tent is filled with the kind of ...

Let Go

jay — Sat, 20 Nov 2004 12:32:05 -0800

Last night I picked up an album called 'Let Go' by a band called Nada Surf. I've only listened to ...

Name That Blog Part II: This Time It's Personal

jay — Wed, 17 Nov 2004 12:18:33 -0800

Ok, so I still need some suggestions for a blog name. I'm eventually going to change things up a bit (like the actual address of the blog) so that my full name is not floating around for the malicious in this world to have fun with. So I suppose I'll have to come up with some sort of handle or nickname too, but that's where my loyal reader(s?) comes in. Fire away!

Russian Ark

jay — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 01:00:24 -0700

I rented this film mostly out of curiosity and to see what I might learn from it, as far ...

Hejaz Adventure Map

jay — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 23:44:23 -0700

This is a map made by Jeff, one of the guys that went with us on our Hejaz Railway ...

Photos

jay — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 01:49:27 -0700

Be sure to check out any photos I post, because a lot of them will have captions/commentary, etc.

second actual post

jay — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 00:35:08 -0700

So anyway, this is my blog. Nothing to say yet, just trying to figure out how this thing works. What can you expect to find here? At first, I'll probably just post some photos from my Saudi Arabia trip, and maybe some stories as well. When inspiration strikes, I may write on some important topic or other. Likely I will include updates on whatever creative projects I'm involved in, such as music, film, or what have you. Mostly, I just want this to be a place where friends and family that are scattered all over the world can use to keep in touch with me, wherever I might be. So check in from time to time, and I should have stuff up here for you to read/look at/mock/disparage, etc.

Name That Blog

jay — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 00:13:59 -0700

Ok, folks, I need some suggestions for a name for this blog. post away...