ComeWhatMayTheMovie.com is now active! The film will be released by Provident Films on March 17th, 2009. If you didn’t know already, the trailer to Come What May was featured on the Fireproof DVD that came out only days ago. Be sure to check out the website, watch the trailer, and sign up for the updates. It will keep you up to date as things progress.
Read about how independant Christian Films got started. From the 40s all the way to the 80s where things took off and landed us where we are now. There are a lot more pieces to the puzzle than you might expect.
We just reviewed the new Fireproof DVD due out tomorrow, Jan 27th. Read why we gave this DVD release 5 out of 5!
Also, if you haven’t purchased the film online yet, buy it through us by using the link in the beginning of the review.
Dave Christiano’s directorial debut “Me & You, Us, Forever” has been recently reviewed. You can find the review here.
Visit ChristianFilms.com.
We recently reviewed Hidden Secrets, a film from Pure|Flix Entertainment (The Wager, The Cross and the Towers). If you want to start conversations after a film, this one will be the one you want! Lots of diverse topics in society are dealt with, and amongst Christians there could really be some intense discussion.
John Moore Interview: The Widow’s Might
We interview John Moore Writer/Director of The Widow’s Might, and ask him all sorts of questions about the film, his company, winning at the 2009 SAICFF, what he learned, where Heumoore is going, and much more!
Buy the Festival Edition DVD & Soundtrack
Download the film on Behemoth.com
Visit Heumoore.com
Visit The Widow’s Might Official Website
Visit John’s Blog, “Life, by John”
Become a Fan of The Widow’s Might!
You can read the interview here.
ChristianCinema.com syndicated our recent article on the Kendrick Brothers found here. This is truly exciting! Praise God for this awesome opportunity. Hopefully this article is the first of many :]
http://www.christiancinema.com/catalog/newsdesk_info.php?newsdesk_id=916
By: Kyle Prohaska | Jan. 20, 2009
When I met Stephen Kendrick (Producer/Co-Writer on Facing the Giants & Fireproof), talked with him, and watched him talk to others, something was different about him. No matter what he said, his words were always of love and encouragement. He was always staring right into the eyes of the person who wanted his attention. Not only that, he was the last one to leave the room. This was at the 2009 SAICFF where there were hundreds of interested people and families that had seen his films. You can imagine the constant flow of questions and people. But he spoke with anyone who wanted his attention, something I admire. The man was a powerhouse of faith, gushing passion and oozing with excitement and joy for others. It was a true inspiration.
The greatest thing that stood out, he never talked about himself. The unholy trilogy “me, myself, and I,” never came out of his mouth. He talked about what God did, how God worked through others, how the volunteers helped create their movies, how the church came together and grew as a result. It was never about him, always about the Lord or someone else. We can all learn something from that. What we do, why we’re here, it all centers around Christ. Your here to Glorify Him, Honor Him, raise Him up! I loved seeing that in action. Not that I don’t see it in other places but seeing that everyday over the course of a week was amazing.
If this man encompasses the kind of heart that his brother Alex has, his pastor, his church staff, and the other members at Sherwood Baptist, then we all should have our eye on this congregation (not that we don’t already). If only I could somehow describe in that moment what it felt like to shake his hand. It was electrifying. Here the person who helped create the very thing that God used to set me on the path I’m currently on. Right there in front of me, and having a conversation! I didn’t have the time to truly thank him until later that day. I must have seemed awkward but I just wanted to make sure he understood how much it meant to me what he, his brother, and his church are doing. They are reaching the world from Albany, GA! It excites me to see such enthusiasm and big goals coming from a church. The worst part about that is it shouldn’t surprise me. Why isn’t this attitude common amongst all our churches? We are falling behind folks. I’m not just talking about your churches either, but your families, your outlook on life, your goals and who sets them and where your standards come from. We need to make sure we have our eye on the ball in every area of our lives. However, we do fail from time to time.
That is something else that I loved seeing at the festival, admitting failure. The consensus at the festival when all the finalists were asked to share something with everyone that they did “wrong,” the response was always count the cost. Stephen Kendrick almost broke into tears a few times while talking about promoting Fireproof. Getting off his 50th airplane last year he realized that his wife was there, his kids were waiting, and he was home. They still supported him and he was so incredibly thankful that they stuck by him and put up with him being gone for so long. On the other hand he can’t get those few months back, that time back with his kids or his wife. Count the cost and consider the toll that creating a film takes on you, especially if you have your eyes on the big prize (theatrical, wide release, etc.) Step back and evaluate what your really doing, and stay in prayer. Even Godly men like Stephen Kendrick makes mistakes, so does his brother, so does their pastor and mine, I make mistakes and lots of them.
Hearing that people we admire and look up to making mistakes shouldn’t be a depressing thing, it should be an uplift. A wise man, a truly wise man knows how to evaluate himself. A truly wise man knows how to recognize his sin and compare his life to the Word of God. Oh that we would be like this man. Thank you so much for your encouragement. Your presence alone radiated a Love for God. May God Bless all of you down there in Albany, GA. This company and our first film Standing Firm would not exist without your example. I am eternally grateful, God Bless You!
Kyle Prohaska
CEO, Praise Pictures
http://www.praisepictures.com
So you want to use a 35mm adapter? You’ve heard of these incredible pieces of equipment that give you that shallow DOF everyone raves about. You want to look professional, you want to have high production values, you want someone to watch your film and go “ok…who made that.” Hold the phone, there is much that needs to be known before you venture into the complicated and EXPENSIVE world of 35mm Adapters…What Do 35mm Adapters Give Me? (that I want) - If you didn’t know that, I’m not sure you would be reading this, but it seems relevant to answer it anyways. 35mm Adapters allow you to place lenses that aren’t standard to your video camera, on that camera. The DOF is just the result of that, but the main idea is to use lenses that your camera wouldn’t normally be able to use. This allows you to get a “look” and DOF that your camera on its own could never give you. Something positive about GG’s in adapters (Ground Glass is explained in the next section) that I should mention is that they add a certain texture to the image. It’s extremely subtle but some people are very good at spotting what footage was shot with what adapter, they often have a flavor of their own. I personaly like the texture my adapter gives me, it gives the footage a film texture without that texture coming from the result of digital noise or digital grain.
Don’t forget about your lenses as well. Lenses don’t just get you closer or farther away from the target subject, they give you different looks between each of them. The relationship between what is far away and what is close, is altered with each different lens you use. Even if its a slight shift, the difference can be seen. Keep that in mind when you go and buy lenses, what are you looking to achieve?
So…you get:
- Shallow DOF
- Different Lens Options
What Do 35mm Adapters Give Me? (that I don’t really want) - You’ll find the disadvantages of an adapter are in greater abundance than the advantages. Along with the advantages of using an adapter, ie. the “look,” comes the wonderful world of Ground Glass (or GG). It’s a fine glass that resides inside the Adapters housing. There are different kinds of 35mm Adapters that use the glass in different ways. The GG is visible to your camera, something you obviously don’t want. So each Adapter has its own way of “hiding” that. Some spin the GG, some vibrate.
Along with having a GG comes light loss, some adapters losing more light than others. Keep that in mind when you purchase, as each kinds of Adapters lose different amounts of light. The Letus Extreme is what we used on our film (Standing Firm) and it looses the least light of any adapter currently on the market, 0.5 stops. HOWEVER, put it on the camera, and you have to zoom in on the ground glass to the proper position. That means I gotta take the F1.6 20x Lens on my Canon XHA1 and zoom into the proper place causing my lens to stop down to about 2.8-3.2. Your already at 1.5 stops…but no that’s not all. You haven’t added a lense yet. Add the lens and pick the widest setting it has and your probably adding another stop if not 2 easily. That means bare minimum…2.5 stops of light loss, in most cases with the lenses you’ll use you’ll be at 2.8 or more so that means even more light lost. This is why the GG in an adapter is so important, the manufacturing of the GG itself is extremely important to the adapters eventual image and how easy or hard it is to get the image to where you want.
Adapters also make noise, some more than others. They all involve motors, and they all make some sort of noise. They don’t sound like a power drill, but they aren’t necessarily silent. Some being released now are, but I’m just stating it so your not surprised if you can hear yours. Odds are any well manufactured one is no louder than the tape drive in your camera (assuming that’s what your using, not Hard Drives or P2 Cards).
Don’t forget about weight, adding an adapter…adds weight to the camera setup. “Well duh Kyle! I’m not an idiot! Of course adding any mass to anything means more mass! I’m as buff as Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime, I can handle it.” Take it easy killer, let me explain. Using an adapter means you need to support the adapter. Adapters are DELICATE, expensive machines, and should be treated as such. If you have a decked out Adapter setup with all the thing you really should have (in my opinion) your talking about a big monstrosity. Some people have really figured out ways to mainstream the setups but no matter what, it ain’t no homemovie camera your gonna be swinging around during the family party, or sneaking onto your favorite roller coaster (although…eh nevermind). Just be aware that you need much more than an adapter to use one, and overall useability becomes more difficult. NOT IMPOSSIBLE! If you want the advantages of using an adapter, you better get used to the disadvantages.
Don’t forget what else using adapters gives you, a shrinking bank account. These things are expensive. What expensive means is different to many but as I said, using an adapter doesn’t just warrent an adapter purchase, but purchasing of other things as well by default. (I’ll talk about that later)
So…you get:
- Light Loss (The power must be out, I can’t see)
- Noise (Minimal)
- Weight (Oh! My Back!)
- A Lower Account Balence (yippie)
Something I will say…DO NOT LET THE DISADVANTAGES DISCOURAGE YOU! With the proper preparation and tools, 35mm Adapters will give you something incredible. The hills to climb to use them properly (and the money spent), are well worth it in the end.
Kyle Prohaska
CEO, Praise Pictures
http://www.praisepictures.com
Source: http://www.praisepictures.com/twm_review.php
The Widows Might, a family film with tremendous heart.When the lights went down at The San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, it was a packed house. It was the last major showing of the festival, and The Widows Might was due to play in the big theater projected in HD. Tech geeks (like myself) were very excited to see a feature shot on the RED camera projected in all its glory with a 1080HD signal pumping through, and man did it deliver. The film looked fantastic on the screen. That isn’t the only place the film delivered, it knocked the audience out of their chair and got them to stand up more than 3 times after the film was over. I have NEVER seen such a response from an audience, the noise was ear busting. The film fit like a glove to the intended audience, it was perfect.
Now lets move on to the film itself. The film is at heart a family film, made for people of any age. Kids will no doubt eat up the film, all the elements in it are tailor made to appeal to children, especially the western sequences. The music in the film
is excellent, probably one of my favorite parts of the film. I’m not sure anything of this sort has been done in a “Christian” film before, and if it has, I doubt it has been done to this quality level. The acting is decent and sometimes very good, but the quirkiness of the entire project itself makes a lot of the acting in my opinion fit just right, regardless of whatever mistakes might be there. The story itself is crafted very well and has enough going on to keep you interested, you care about what is going on, and cheer when the good guys win and when the bad guys lose. The comedic moments are definitely the most well crafted parts of the story. Everything worked perfect with the audience, including the homeschool jokes which caused clapping throughout the viewers. Timing is everything in comedy, as are the cuts in the edit to create the beats, all of which was done very well. The look of the film is excellent, although not my cup of tea. None the less the film 
looks great, not even like 35mm but like something else entirely. It’s its own look, and has a very Disney like quality to it. The colors are saturated and pop very easily, and the camera work during the musical sequences is especially well done. James Burgess has done a fine job throughout, I look forward to what he does in the future.
Overall this film was wonderful, and the audience it played to and will be sold to absolutely loved it. John Moore has done something really special here, let this be a lesson to all of you. If you create a good story idea, make sure you can sell it, and make sure you know WHO you are selling it to. All your decisions should revolve around that, this film is only one of many that prove that point. Know your audience, and know them well. This film doesn’t include the gospel, but it wasn’t made for the non-Christian. This film was made to be clean, family viewable entertainment for the Christian household. It fits the bill, and fits it well.
Kyle Prohaska
CEO, Praise Pictures
http://www.praisepictures.com
