Synopsis
What it is:
Short animated film/video to be shown at youth oriented Christian
outreach services.
Target Audience:
Non-believer teens to twenty-somethings. Those that may be resistant to traditional Christian doctrine. The audience perspective is assumed to be
that of ones who perceive themselves as having been adversely “affected”
by their parents, authority, society etc. leading to a self centered victimhood.
Goal:
The Gospel and its traditional parables was written to an agrarian culture.
We will tell the parable of the seeds in a different way. The hope is that the target audience will be somewhat receptive to an abstraction that
provokes thought.
The film will be an animated modern metaphor of the sower
from Matthew 13.
Through an abstract analogy, we will show them how dire their
current course is. How it leads inevitably to death and an empty eternity.
So, when they encounter the name of Jesus, as they will when they view this film, how will they react? We want to make them aware that accepting the name of Jesus will change their lives in this world and the next.
After we get them to identify with situations and characters depicting the
types of soil from the parables, we want to leave the viewer with the question: “What kind of soil am I in today’s world? And who is this Jesus that changes?”
The film does not directly elucidate Christian doctrine in the traditional way
(explaining the saving grace of the Blood of the Cross, or who Jesus is in history, or why atonement is needed). Using some obvious but strong metaphors, it presents the fact that in an increasingly distracting world,
Jesus will change your fate in it and for eternity.
The greater purpose of the presentation is to spur curiosity and investigation into Christ’s saving message, not to explain what the message is
or even whom the person of Christ is.
Vehicle:
An animated CGI short (estimated 8-10 minute) depicting common human experiences in an abstract way. We want to create a “think piece” that will stir the mind and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
Explanation will be the responsibility of the follow up ministry (yet to be outlined) to drive home the Scriptural message. Many opportunities for discussion will naturally proceed.
Plot Outline:
The audience sees through the eyes of an “alien” explorer piloting
some sort of craft through a strange world. We watch from his craft and through his 2 drones as they follow the experiences of multiple characters on their journey flying though life. It will become obvious that the wold he is exploring is our human existence.
The characters we follow are based on the Biblical soils in both humorous
and tragic ways that mirror a modern non-believer’s experience.
The world is a grey place, in fact the entire setting is in shades of
black and white.
Color is used only to accent our Spirit. The human characters start in color
and gradually turn grey as they fly through the world. The only dialog
between characters consists of variations and inflections of “blah, blah, blah” and the spoken Word “Jesus”. The contrast of gibberish to the spoken name
of “Jesus” will be stark for impact. The Word, “Jesus” brings color back into grey characters and changes their direction.
As the human characters experience transformation, so does the alien transition from that of a safely detached observer to one being physically affected by what he observes. This interaction causes the explorer to have to make life changing decisions to survive. The viewing audience, as casual observer, identifying itself from the point of view of the alien, will in turn be drawn into the decision making process.
Personal Introduction
My name is James Bukowiec.
I am a 66 year old journeyman, entrepreneur, and artist.
I spent much of my life squandering my God-given talent. I got sober at 41. In my early sobriety, before I accepted the Lord, I would often struggle with how to explain why/how God’s miracle of Salvation works. An analogy which crystalized my understanding and pointed me to His Word came to me one morning. I loosely storyboarded it all out over an 8 hour stretch that next day. This has been my part time obsession since.
My passion has prompted me to write a script, a rough storyboard, the start of an animatic (an animated storyboard) and the plans to take it further. I envision this short film (Working title “Blah, Blah, Blah”) as an entertaining discussion starter for youth groups and new Christian “Alpha Group” outreaches with an accompanying study guide.
Over the last 13 years, in all my stolen moments I have continued to refine the idea, explore the market and make plans to realize the project, to God’s Glory.
In our script we present a vision of the world where human characters perceive themselves as flying. But are they really?
Halfway into fleshing the characters out and wanting to have a Biblical tie-in, I realized that the character arcs could be drawn from the Parable of the Seeds in Matthew 13. Jesus tells a parable to his followers (a largely agrarian society) about how seeds react to the different soil in which they’re sown. (If you are not familiar, please read Matthew 13 first.) After some research and study I wrote the characters to fit the types of soil that the seeds land on and how these soil types could be translated to today’s society. The central question posed to the audience: “What do YOU do when you encounter God’s revelation?” How do you receive The Word?
When I first read this parable, in early sobriety, it made me ponder the question “What kind of soil was I?” When a person has their eyes opened to the type of soil they are, they are faced with a choice. Do they want to continue as they are, potentially killing what can grow in their lives or do they allow God to till their soil and become fertile ground for God’s growing plan?
I made a correlation between the different types of infertile soil, unaware of their hostile nature to the seed, to the thought that we are unconsciously flying through life enjoying the breeze. But are we really flying? The Blah, Blah, Blah intends to challenge that perception. What do we do when we awaken to the fact that our flying is actually falling… to our death. We want the audience to decide: are they flying or falling? You will find as you read further that Blah, Blah, Blah is essentially an illustrated mixed metaphor of our fallen condition and God’s Saving mechanism.
As I envision it, I realize that Blah, Blah, Blah is an immense undertaking. The further I go into it the more I understand that it is indeed beyond my abilities to accomplish alone.
But, I also know that “All things are possible through He who strengthens me.”
This is why I have created this website. It is a marker or a place holder around which to garner support from those that are led to it. If you are interested, please feel free to wander through the site. I look forward to hearing your feedback!