Open CallOpen Call: Rough Cuts
Faith and Circumstance (2:48)
Becky Beamer + Jeremy Zipple
The Pitch:
The separation of church and state is a corner stone value of the United States of America, but completely separating church and state is almost impossible. Each citizen has his or her own personal beliefs--including every presidential candidate. Their morals and religious affiliations are offered to the public as a basis for electability.
Hillary Clinton says, “You know, I have, ever since I’ve been a little girl, felt the presence of God in my life…”
Barack Obama claims, “My faith teaches me that I can sit in church and pray all I want, but I won't be fulfilling God's will unless I go out and do the Lord's work.”
John McCain says, "I pray regularly, and I don't have to be getting ready for bed, to be getting up in the morning. I seize opportunities throughout the day."
The media tells us that these statements are the building blocks for the next President of the United States.
This 3-minute experimental and high-energy short combines influential leaders of the past and future in an examination of faith. This piece intercuts iconic visuals of the United States with media coverage from the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Fast paced beats, famous speeches and clips tell the story of this year’s presidential candidates.
While each leader is unique in their religious differences; their voices echo a similar message: Faith is a powerful thing. But when the media gets involved everything gets a little messy.
8 Comments [Add a comment]
The opinions expressed in the Comments Section of this website are those of the writers/ contributors and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the WGBH Educational Foundation.
- Login or register to post comments
Comments
Notes
The treatment of the news clips is distracting and fractured. Be careful not to confuse high energy with frenetic energy. The most compelling moments are when real people are contrasted with the sound bytes of the news and the campaigns. They need a second or two more space around them which may be achieved by dropping some of the news footage that appears over their comments.
mixed signals
This piece raises the very sensitive and important issue of the separation of state and church in US politics. The emphasis seems to revolve around the various presidential candidates' personal faith and whether it plays a role in voters' choices. However, I think the more significant and controversial question that your film shyly touches upon is whether it is appropriate for religious-based political agendas to play a role in a secular public sphere. I think you should delve deeper into this question. I also received mixed signals from the
war memorial shot, was it designed to raise a question? It needs to be explained if it was designed to solicit commentary on US foreign policy.
As far as the composition and editing style goes, I think its engaging, clever and interesting. Great job!
Camille, POV
where are you going??
.. I think you need something in this video to help define what the goal is. When I read your pitch, I know what the goal is.. but as a stand alone, you might want to think about adding in a device or two to help define the mission.. maybe more title cards?? --
Chris Hastings
WGBH Lab, Supervisor
Loved it !
Nancy Bolton
Nice start,would love to see final cut.
Interesting but Missing Something?
I think there's a great deal of style here and it's obviously very well constructed.
I would agree with David, however, that there needs to be a bit more here -- at the very least I think it might help to offer an opposing viewpoint, someone who feels that the candidates' faith is a merit rather than just pandering. Then the piece might take on more of the feeling of a discussion, (albeit a stylized one) and I think that might be more compelling. There's an important issue here, but what does it really mean in terms of this election?
I do want to say again that I was impressed by the construction and rhythmic flow of the whole thing!
feedback
always difficult to assess a 2-3 minute piece -- i know it never fully captures all the footage... all of the connections, themes and potential structure of the film. having said that, a trailer or rough cut must reach out and grab you right away. i think the subject matter, especially in context of rev. wright and obama -- timely. still, it reads as a one liner: the blurred line between religion and politics. ok... then what? what makes your approach to this age old issue (see u.s. constitution) unique? i'm sure you have the footage, but that's not conveyed in the 2-3 minute rough cut. the one piece that comes close to giving the topic some dimension is the dated analysis clip. consider some analysis vs. talking heads. i also want to see more verite, if you have it -- a day in the life of [fill in the blank]. it needs to be more raw. how does this issue deeply affect people -- either candidate or constituent.
hope that's helpful.
chico
c. david colvard
www.c-linefilms.com
I really like it. It can go
I really like it. It can go in so many different directions from here, in case it's expanded. The pacing, music, and other neat editing things make for an interesting and engaging piece; however, I will agree with Dave and say that I don't really know where it's going. Is it a rundown of the candidates positions and people-on-the-street's reactions? It seems, as of now, this pieces entertains and answers some "what" questions, but doesn't really get at the "why" questions. All my criticism means that I like it and think that it's a very worthwhile project.
Faith and Circumstance
Nice start. At about 45 seconds into the piece I started to wonder, Where is this going? I never found out what the message is. The images are good but they also do not have a clear connection to what is being talked about that I could discern.
Good Luck, Keep going
Dave