Archive - March, 2010

Commercial Making Dynasty #4

March 31, 2010 in Humor, Videos with 0 Comments

It’s time for another Commercial Making Dynasty. This week’s collection comes from our friends at Apple.

Considering I use Apple computers for work and have used them my entire life (yep, even through the 90′s), it is no surprise that they will make my list. However, one of my good friends, who is a big Mac-Hater, once said, “Apple is basically just a really good advertising company that happens to make computers.”

So, without much further ado, I give you some Apple Commercials.

This group of videos really made PC’s look lame and Mac’s look awesome. The campaign worked really well and Windows keeps trying to make counter-attack commercials that have only made them look lamer. Here are 15 all put together in one video, so you can watch them to your heart’s content.

The iPod is a huge part of the reason Apple has returned to the limelight. Their iPod commercials haven’t changed much, and people still love the silhouette people with stylish headphones (Steve Jobs says the reason the iPod was so successful was the style statement of the headphones). Here is an example from 4 years ago:

And last, but not least, we see the iPhone app commercials. Some may call them smug, I say they make iPhone’s look like the coolest thing ever created.

How do you feel about Apple’s Commercials?

Back to the Basics

March 29, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

I just started reading God’s Pursuit of Man by A.W. Tozer, and I am loving it. I think I could underline every sentence in that book, because they are all that good.

Tozer. The Greatest Theological Mind with a Mustache.

In the first couple pages, he talks about the most basic truths, saying they can lose their value when we hear them so often. God has really been putting this idea on my mind lately, and it is so true!

How many times do we here someone say, “God is love” or “All you need is Love” or “God is eternal” without really considering what it means? The fact that God loves each of us may be the most earth-shattering truth ever spoken, but it has been spoken and misspoken so many times it can seem like a silly cliche bereft of meaning.

The other day, I was listening to a student give his testimony. He talked about how he heard a pastor read John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” I have to confess, my first gut reaction was to think, “what kind of pastor uses John 3:16? Everyone has heard it a million times.”

For the student, however, it had a tremendous impact on his life and gave him the desire to become a Christian. When I think about it, those words in that verse I disregarded are insane! God loved the world so much that He gave his son to die. We could ponder that for our entire lives, and still not grasp the depths of God’s love for us.

So remember, as you go through life, don’t brush off truth because you have heard it too many times. Truth is an amazing thing, and sometimes the most important and foundational truths can seem like errors to us, but they are not. They should the basis for everything we do, for every story we tell, and even for every breath we breathe.

Resources

March 28, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

As someone with little formal training in the creative arts, resources have proven to be vital to any success that I ever have in creativity.
I am hoping this blog works as a resource for you, but most likely you will not learn everything you need to know here. I will be adding resources to this page on occasion and would love it if you would be willing to share anything you might find out there in the world.

Cool links:

Collide Magazine- This is a great website/magazine that is all about being creative and using digital tools to create media. It has fascinating articles and can give you a lot of direction for your projects and ministry.

ChurchCrunch.com is another great resource for media in the MInistry world. I found their blogging section (Click here) particularly helpful.

Trey Boden- Trey is a friend of mine who does a lot of video and knows his stuff.

Tyler Stanton- Tyler has one of the funniest blogs on the internet. Seriously. You’re humor capacity will increase if you look at his blog.

Media Resources (Software, hardware, how-to’s, etc)

Final Cut- When I edit I use Final Cut. It is incredible. Even the guy who directed The Godfather uses Final Cut now. The only downsides are you need a Mac, and if you want the full package it is expensive (but cheaper than you would think considering the Director of the Godfather uses it). However, Final Cut Express will give you all the basic tools you need to edit video and is much cheaper. Or you could use iMovie…But Final Cut is better if you can afford it.

Pinnacle- So you want to edit movies and you don’t own a Mac. I recommend this program. It even has a really cool feature where it will take all of your clips, splice them, and make a music video out of them in minutes. A highlight film of your youth retreat was never easier.

Stuff I Can Use- This is an AWESOME resource. There are tons of graphics, videos, and more that you can get for free to use! These guys are awesome, check it out.

Ecost- Ecost has a lot of electronics for pretty cheap. If you’re church, like most church’s, operate on a budget, than this is a good place to look.

Crowd Control Games- This website has some really fun games for large groups.

Animoto- Have you ever wanted to make a photo slideshow the easy way? This website does it for you.

Top 5 Sport Upsets of All Time

March 23, 2010 in Humor with 0 Comments

This year’s March Madness has been out of control. There have been way too many upsets for anyone’s comfort. Fortunately, my pick to win (Kentucky) is still in, but who know what will happen next.

In honor of the crazy tournament, I have decided to give you the top 5 upsets in sports. Am I a professional sports writer? No. Do I like sports? Yes. Do I like them and know enough about them to make a credible list? No. But you can offer suggestions in the comments section if you want to see some changes…

5) The 2004 ALCS: The Red Sox, still living under the 84 year old curse of the Bambino, became the first team in Baseball History to win a 7 game series after losing the first 3 games. The Red Sox would later go on to sweep the World Series.

Trademarking the Plate Jump Finish

4) The 2008 Super Bowl- The New England Patriots entered the Super Bowl with an 18-0 record, ready to become the first 19 win team in NFL history. But the 11th seed Giants had other plans, and then had one of the most insane drives in football history (that included this incredible catch) to win the game.

Not sure how he held on to this

3) Appalachian State over Michigan in 2007- This game marked the beginning of one of the craziest college football seasons in history. Appalachian State, a Division I-AA football team, defeated the number 5 team in the country 34-32 by blocking two field goals at the end of the game. The 110,000 Michigan fans who were at the game are still in shock.

Unbelievable.

2) 1980 Miracle on Ice- The country cheered as one louder than ever before when the USA Hockey team took down the then giant Soviet Union. They even made a movie about it!

USA! All the Way!!!

1) The Looney Tunes over the Monstars- The Monstars had stolen all of the premier talent from the NBA and were poised to destroy Bugs, Daffy, and even Tweety. But there were two things they didn’t have: Michael Jordan, and that water bottle with Michael’s secret stuff in it.

Bugs is an inspiration to us all

Fictitious Truths #3

March 21, 2010 in Cultural Connection with 0 Comments

One of my favorite movies ever is The Lion King. Is it animated? Yes. Am I a grown man? Yes. Do I care? No. That movie is incredible and anyone who argues (be they 5 or 85) is lying to themselves.

In this scene, we see Simba as he is visited by his father. Simba rand away from his true calling and is afraid to return. He blames himself for his father’s death, but fortunately Rafiki shows him the way…

So often we forget who we are. We are sons and daughters of the King of all Kings. When Christ has redeemed us and we are brought into relationship with Him, we are His. Nothing we do can change that fact, it is our identity.

So often we look to other things, trying to figure out who we are. We seek identity in popularity, sports, the arts, academics, anywhere! When we fail in these areas we feel we lose our value, but the truth is we have infinite value that cannot be lost in Jesus.

Simba’s mistake was thinking his past would ruin who he was. But he was wrong. He was still Mufasa’s son, and that meant something for him.

It does not matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter what you think you’ve done. It doesn’t matter what you do, you cannot earn it. Nothing can separate us from God’s love or our identity as a son or daughter of the God most high. When you believe that and live that, you will be freed up to live out your true calling. Belonging to God carries meaning, what does it mean for you and your life?

Here is an awesome verse on the topic:
Romans 8:37-39 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Commercial Making Dynasties #3

March 18, 2010 in Humor, Videos with 0 Comments

It is time for some more great commercials. Remember, to be a commercial making dynasty, you need to consistently make good commercials over a span of several years. Click the following links to find out who Number 1 and Number 2 are.

For this week, we move into the fast food industry: Burger King. Their commercials are certainly quirky, but they are also hilarious. I have a feeling some people may not appreciate their sense of humor, but I love it.

Here is the first commercial. It is all about chicken fries…

And who could forget the Burger King Man? The most awkward individual to grace commercial land in history. You never know when he will show up to offer you his new favorite sandwich.

Here we see the legendary Burger King Man using some incredible moves for 6 points:

And the most recent, their tiny hands campaign. I am convinced that tiny hands makes everything funnier.

So what do you think? Do you love or hate Burger King’s commercials? And who else do you think should be mentioned next week?

The latest projects

March 16, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

I have been working at Grace for a few months now and they decided to let me help make their weekly announcement videos called “The Five Before.” It’s a pretty fun thing because I get to work with some very funny people who know what their doing in videos. Anyway, here are the last two videos we have made and I think they are both a strong start and pretty funny.

In the most recent, Tyler Stanton has an “exclusive” interview with Aaron Keyes where we took old footage of Aaron and had Tyler ask him random questions that fit what Aaron said to some pretty humorous results.

Two weeks ago, Tyler was sick and we needed to make an announcement about summer camps for students so we brought in a high schooler named Jeanette to help Tim make the announcements and I thought it turned out really funny.

Goats: The New Dog

March 14, 2010 in Humor with 0 Comments

It’s Monday, and you need something to talk about around the water cooler. Time for another crazy news story!

Tired of having a pet animal that you can’t milk and won’t eat your old cans? Look no further than the latest craze that is sweeping the nation: mini-goats.

Apparently, mini-goats are pretty smart and make great pets. You can walk them on a leash, they answer by name, and they produce delicious cheese. While some narrow minds think the goat is just another piece of livestock, others are pleading the cause of the pet goat.

Sure, they may smell and be a little loud, but they look so cute with that big bell on.

So what do you think? Would you want to have a couple of goats of your own (you should have at least two, they are herd animals and like company after all)? Or would you complain about your neighbors when they get their own pet goats? If you want more info, you can click the above picture to be taken to the original story.

A New Look!

March 11, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

Hey everyone,
I decided to take a gamble and try out a new theme for the blog. But, if everyone hates it I will take it down before you can say rickity six. So I would love to hear some feedback on the new look, please comment!

There are a couple of cool new features. Just look and see what happens when you highlight a group of words, like Lord of the Rings! Also, check out what happens when you drag a picture.

You can share this ridiculously big pizza with the world!

Also, just out of curiosity, what would you say is your favorite blog posts on the site?

Commercial Making Dynasty #2

March 10, 2010 in Cultural Connection with 0 Comments

It’s Wednesday, which means it is time for a commercial making dynasty!

Thanks to a comment from AJ Passman (who has a stellar blog himself) I decided to go with Geico today.

Geico has certainly had some hilarious ad campaigns over the last few years. They have also had some annoying ones that were kind of weird and a little too drawn out. I think that makes them like the funny kid who tells every joke that comes into his mind, even though only 70% of them are funny. Everyone still likes the kid, but we just raise our eyebrow at him/her every once and a while.

If there is one thing Geico has taught us, it is that simplicity wins! There is one basic joke that they use over and over again, but they are funny because they change a little bit. As you make your own videos, think about how you can simplify them.

There most recent group of ads is very simple, but pretty funny. Here are 2 examples:

This weird money eye ball thing always threw me off a little bit. The song was cool, but they went a little overboard. It’s still better than that obnoxious talking pothole commercial.

The Caveman series is, of course, brilliant:

And of course, there is the Geico Gecko. The concept was kind of lame back in the day, “Everyone keeps calling me to ask about Geico, but I am a Gecko! But the idea has stuck. Mostly because of the accent I think. So, if you ever want to make a video better, just throw in some kind of accent and you are destined for success.

So, do you love Geico’s ads? Or hate them? And, do you feel offended at their treatment of Cavemen? What other commercial dynasties do you enjoy?

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