FEATURE: Rise of the Beast-the new feature from STARS Pictures

I couldn't agree more with your post j1clark. Because I've decided not to make your typical Halmark Christian film, I've taken a lot of flack, but I'm kinda tired of all the same stories where someone dies but the family ends up better because they all found Jesus in the process. It's too cookie cutter. My goal was to throw a curve ball and make people think. As you stated, the Bible is full of violence and such, and I think Christian filmmakers need not be afraid of touching certain subject matter. Leap: Revelation (two years away from shooting) deals with the seven last plauges-water turning to blood, peoples skin falling off, and world wide catastrophe. Christian-yes. Hallmark-no.
 
El Director said:
I couldn't agree more with your post j1clark. Because I've decided not to make your typical Halmark Christian film, I've taken a lot of flack, but I'm kinda tired of all the same stories where someone dies but the family ends up better because they all found Jesus in the process. It's too cookie cutter. My goal was to throw a curve ball and make people think. As you stated, the Bible is full of violence and such, and I think Christian filmmakers need not be afraid of touching certain subject matter. Leap: Revelation (two years away from shooting) deals with the seven last plauges-water turning to blood, peoples skin falling off, and world wide catastrophe. Christian-yes. Hallmark-no.
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I think the current revolution in filmmaking equipment, and the 'democratization' of filmmaking, will allow many more 'voices' to be seen... perhaps many more 'imagings' to be seen, than before. At least that's my hope in all this...
 
El Directorio, I notice you focus not on Christ with your description above, and what he did in the Bible, but to revelations and as much gore and violence as you can find.

I guess for those trying to make an action movie you probably find it easier to focus on that aspect of the Bible, but haven't you ever wondered if you could do more good in the world and bring more people to Christ if you switched sides, so to speak, and found a compelling story that was universal yet wasn't about hate and death and destruction and focused more on love and helping people?

I realize American's love revenge and violence, but they've also gladly embraced movies with Christian themes that didn't have rivers of flowing blood in them.

Just throwing it out there. I'm not judging you. I'm just asking a question.
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
I realize American's love revenge and violence, but they've also gladly embraced movies with Christian themes that didn't have rivers of flowing blood in them.

Just throwing it out there. I'm not judging you. I'm just asking a question.
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Not being a Christian, it would be difficult for me to make a 'Christian film'. But I would comment on this. There have been any number of 'christian love' films, until the 60's, because of the "Hays Code", almost all representations of the Christian Religion were 'sanitized', and the only occasion were a 'priest' or 'minister' found to be Evil, is if the film strongly, or explicitly, suggested that the man was not really a preacher of the Gospel at all.

In those days there were any number of major stars who acted, and in many cases probably 'believed' in the Christian message. For example, there was Ingrid Bergman, "Inn of the 6th Happiness"(1958), with a plot that is more in keeping with your 'love and helping people'. The plot synopsis is: the Bergman character is denied being sent out as a missionary, but finds means to travel to China anyway, taking rather dangerous routes in the process, being confronted with draconian rule in the chinese town, civil war, and foreign invasion. The film then focuses on her leading a group of orphans out of a war zone, to 'safety'.

But I'd say that even that film, if remade today, would have more bloodshed, explosions, etc. than in those 'happy' days of the 50's where on the one hand, the good 'christians' of the US were presented with such clean, sanitary films, yet, in politics and many pulpits, cries for 'nuking' the godless commies into bio stew were to be heard.

Again as a non-christian, I've thought about adapting a biblical story to film... "Hosea", wherein the god commanded the prophet to take a whore for a wife. Unfortunately, once I saw "Requiem for a Dream"(2000), people would probably chastise me for plagiarism, or at the very least stylistic ripoff...

But then my film would not be a 'christian' film but a critique of Christianity as it is practiced in my view by many.
 
Is not about finding as much gore as possible, it's about not being afraid of the stories that need to be told. My "message" for ROTB involved the Sabbath and the Vatican. And action film seemed the best way to present the material. My next film called "Derek" (taking a break from the Leap trilogy) deals with ouija boards and spiritualism. It's based on the testimony of a woman from my old church where her mother becomes involved with the occult and a young girl has to exercise the demons from her mother. In telling this story, I get to bring to the screen the most powerful conversion scene I have ever heard of in a film. And it really happened. Due to this message, a thriller/horror is the way to go. But it's different than the world's horror, as the focus is wholly on Christ. So again, it's not about the blood and gore, but not being afraid of it if the story calls for it.
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
El Directorio, I notice you focus not on Christ with your description above, and what he did in the Bible, but to revelations and as much gore and violence as you can find.
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Aside from fight scenes, Chris's films are about the cleanest you can find. I don't know if you've ever seen "Leap" (I'll assume you haven't), it's an Endtimes movies based around Pakour. I mean really a lot of vengeance and bloodshed involved with people jumping over tables. The only people who actually try to kill anyone are the badguys. Not to be an a-hole, but I hear this all this time and it's really a myth. Where are all these hyper violent Christian films? Is there a Christian version of "Equilibrium" somewhere that I'm missing? I'd like to see it if it's any good. Buck from "Left Behind" simply doesn't do Gun Katas.

As one whose has seen and know about decent amount of Christians films, the reason I don't watch them is because...well, they suck. Okay, they don't suck, but they are boring. I don't watch a lot of "Lifetime" dramas and therefore I don't watch a lot of Christian films. Most Christian films are Lifetime drama + Christian message and maybe and explosion thrown in if it's supposed to be action. I guarantee most known Christian films could fall right in there with no problem. (An yes, that includes "Left Behind").

The other Christian films labeled action are as much action films as "Bangkok Dangerous" (the original) was "in the tradition of John Woo". (I hated "Bangkok Dangerous" if you can't tell). It's a myth that these films are so violent. Most of the time badguys use violence and the good guys try to outsmart them in a non-violent manner. Then one of the good guys (there's always one, usually Mr. T or some other tough black guy) who feels they need to use violence. It doesn't work and in some way God saves the day in the end. That's a Christian action film in a nutshell. People usually don't like these films because, they're aren't that great and because of the reversal theory (TM Nathyn Masters) which is a very recent thing where the victim is badguy. Meaning a lot of people seem to take the attitude "how dare you Christians not let someone harm you! I want to harm you and you're suppose to let me!" And then it's twisted to seem as if Christians are being violent by defending themselves, which in many of these films that's the extent of the "good guy" violence.

Snazzy Flapper said:
I guess for those trying to make an action movie you probably find it easier to focus on that aspect of the Bible, but haven't you ever wondered if you could do more good in the world and bring more people to Christ if you switched sides, so to speak, and found a compelling story that was universal yet wasn't about hate and death and destruction and focused more on love and helping people?
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Another myth. Show me all these Christian films focused on hate and death? Maybe you can find a few (I bet they're all Endtimes films, more on that later), but most are focused on love. Others are Endtimes films and not about hate, but about letting people know they should get right with God, before the end. Because this message is preached the Christians are persecuted (persecution is universal or am I wrong) and it's about over coming that persecution. People now days say this plot is "hate" and it's simply not. Christianity is not politically correct and everyone simply doesn't go to Heaven in the belief. Sorry.

Snazzy Flapper said:
I realize American's love revenge and violence, but they've also gladly embraced movies with Christian themes that didn't have rivers of flowing blood in them.
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Not to argue, but the most embraced Christian film was not "Left Behind" not "Leap" not "Fireproof", but "Passion of the Christ". Passion of the Christ was almost Rated NC-17 for the violence. I'm just saying. And after seeing the film, many people started going back to Church. Let's look at horror, still considered the scariest film, "The Excorcist" again, people starting going back to Church.

Snazzy Flapper said:
Just throwing it out there. I'm not judging you. I'm just asking a question.
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There's your answer. People go to movies to be entertained. You want to hear a sermon there's millions of Churches for that. There's also millions of stories you can tell from romance, to horror to action using Christian principals and concepts. Most focus on the romance and dramas. Chris, myself and maybe Brandon are the only ones really doing Christian based action with high impact action and my films aren't even Christian, but definitely are based on Christianity and even the violence in those is muted to an extent. One time a reported called from England (think about that) to question me about my first film "The 4th Beast". She thought she had me when she asked about how can I make a Christian film that was a violent action film. I gave her a basic, honest and well thought out answer, basically like I've given here. She was supposed to call me back...never did. Gotta recognize BS when it's BS and you gotta be able to speak knowledgeably about what you do when you do anything involving a positive spin on Christianity. People will come for you.

If you do actually read the Bible there's a lot violence and mayhem and sometimes it's a whopper. This is my blinder theory: Any bad thing that happens in the Bible is overlooked because it's in the Bible, things like people being beheaded and their heads thrown over cliffs, that in the Bible not a Christian film, what about chopping up a body to send to relatives to let them know something bad had happened, Bible not Christian films. The Crucifixion of Jesus: A ridiculous flogging, crowns of thorns slammed on a person's head, that same person is then nailed (not roped) to a cross. All because some people didn't want to lose power. That's Biblical violence and it's a lot of it in there. Your average Christian film doesn't even get near this. And to pretend it's all most Christian movies focus on makes me believe you haven't seen many Christian films, unless the younger filmmaker's do this and there's very little blood and gore (if any) in most of the mainstream Christian films unless I'm simply out of it.

El Director said:
Is not about finding as much gore as possible, it's about not being afraid of the stories that need to be told.
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And be told and a compelling and interesting way. These films are not to preach, they're done to put ideas out there and maybe get people interested in what happening right now. Each person has their own reason for what they do.


-Nate
 
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Hey guys, I understand we have christian filmmakers and I'm not here to slap any hands, just keep in mind user's policy on the religious topics when discussin'.

S'all!
 
So far we've kept it all about filmmaking and storytelling. No religious out burst yet.

-Nate
 
Kholi said:
Hey guys, I understand we have christian filmmakers and I'm not here to slap any hands, just keep in mind user's policy on the religious topics when discussin'.

S'all!
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This does sort of put things in a difficult situation... In the case of such books/films as "Lord of the Rings", and "The Chronicles of Narnia", it is well known that the 'behind the scenes motivations' of the 'why' of the story being selected, and the style of execution, was based on the respective author's religious beliefs, and specifically 'christian' beliefs.

If someone is not 'very' familiar with the Bible, and despite the popularity of Christianity, many people have never read the book, it is somewhat difficult to explain 'stories', and one's adaptation of such stories.

I would never be 'questioned' in this fashion if I were to talk about my 'version' of "Clash of the Titans", or "Cybele Comes to Rome", etc... even if I described in detail various rituals associated with ancient 'religious' beliefs of the Romans and the Greeks, because it is 'not' a 'religious discussion', in the sense of proselytizing, or condemning one over the other... (We don't see Cybele's Galli on streets banging drums and asking for donations... just to clarify: "A Gallus (pl. Galli) was a eunuch priest of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, whose worship was incorporated into the state religious practices of ancient Rome.")
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
I would never be 'questioned' in this fashion if I were to talk about my 'version' of "Clash of the Titans", or "Cybele Comes to Rome", etc... even if I described in detail various rituals associated with ancient 'religious' beliefs of the Romans and the Greeks, because it is 'not' a 'religious discussion', in the sense of proselytizing, or condemning one over the other... (We don't see Cybele's Galli on streets banging drums and asking for donations... just to clarify: "A Gallus (pl. Galli) was a eunuch priest of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, whose worship was incorporated into the state religious practices of ancient Rome.")
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Funny you bring up the Cybele thing, my next webseries will be about this kind of thing. But you are right. Religion is "real" to people. Meaning it's something in real life while movies typically showcase things that are fictional or believed to be fictional. People indeed watch a Christian film and feel picked on even if the film is not saying anything about them because of things they feel about the belief itself. If a Christian film is too lovey dovey, then it's "Hallmark", to much action then it's "violent". The deck is stacked against you so you have to change the game and just do it!

-Nate
 
That's kind of where I was trying to go with my question. El Director's films seem to only target an audience that he would probably called "believers" already. To me, power would come from being able to hook non-believers with a great story and only later have them realize there was a strong sense of your particular religion's spices in there. Evangelism in a way, not just teaching a Sunday school lesson to people who already show up to church.

But I realize that's a different focus and probably not what you're shooting for.
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
That's kind of where I was trying to go with my question. El Director's films seem to only target an audience that he would probably called "believers" already. To me, power would come from being able to hook non-believers with a great story and only later have them realize there was a strong sense of your particular religion's spices in there. Evangelism in a way, not just teaching a Sunday school lesson to people who already show up to church.

But I realize that's a different focus and probably not what you're shooting for.
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The old adage "If you want to send a message, send a telegram", no longer is valid... Western Union exited the telegram business some time ago...

When I was young the only movies I saw were at church socials. One time, the movie "A Man for All Seasons"(1966)... that should date me... anyway... I recall one woman saying to another... "why did they choose a film about a Catholic?", her friend responded, with "I don't know... perhaps because of his faith and sticking to it, despite his losing his life"...

The Wife and I watched the Tudor Series, and their depiction of Sir Thomas More did not seem to give the same effect... perhaps because of the years, the 'style', whatever...
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
That's kind of where I was trying to go with my question. El Director's films seem to only target an audience that he would probably called "believers" already. To me, power would come from being able to hook non-believers with a great story and only later have them realize there was a strong sense of your particular religion's spices in there. Evangelism in a way, not just teaching a Sunday school lesson to people who already show up to church.

But I realize that's a different focus and probably not what you're shooting for.
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The old adage "If you want to send a message, send a telegram", no longer is valid... Western Union exited the telegram business some time ago...

When I was young the only movies I saw were at church socials. One time, the movie "A Man for All Seasons"(1966)... that should date me... anyway... was shown. I recall one woman saying to another... "why did they choose a film about a Catholic?", her friend responded, with "I don't know... perhaps because of his faith and sticking to it, despite his losing his life"...

The Wife and I watched the Tudor Series, and their depiction of Sir Thomas More did not seem to give the same effect... perhaps because of the years, the 'style', whatever...
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
That's kind of where I was trying to go with my question. El Director's films seem to only target an audience that he would probably called "believers" already. To me, power would come from being able to hook non-believers with a great story and only later have them realize there was a strong sense of your particular religion's spices in there. Evangelism in a way, not just teaching a Sunday school lesson to people who already show up to church.

But I realize that's a different focus and probably not what you're shooting for.
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You hit the nail on the head. I would call my audience the "spoon-fed believer". That come across as a bit brash, but it's the truth. Short tangent ahead-not to be off topic, but to explain why I make the films I do. As I'll get to, the reason we make films is an important part of the process.

Many Christians (I would say most, but let's go with many) are raised in their church from kids until their teenage years. At that point, they either leave or stay in their particular denomination. Now here's the scary part: If you were to ask them what they believe, they'll respond that they believe what their church believes. Ask them what that is and they'll tell you it's what they believe. Circular reasoning. They've been brought up being taught that their beliefs are true and that the Bible supports it. Then, when they study, they set out to prove their preconceived notions and most people (even nonChristians) would agree that's not a good thing, even if they themselves do it. We like to be comfortable, to feel that we're right. But what if we're not? My goal is to try and open people's eyes to the possibility that they may be wrong. And if they are wrong, there can be consequences. How will they know if it's right? By studying for themselves. I actually have more respect for people who have done the study themselves, rather than saying "it's what I've been taught". The "why" for a belief, to me, is important.

As filmmakers, we all have messages that we want to share. If we didn't have something to say, we probably wouldn't be investing all our time into this craft. And even if we did invest our time, without an opinion, we'd get lost in the fold. Part of what makes filmmaking so special is that anyone with a message can say it and share it with others. Like any other art form, its a way of saying "This is how I see the world".
 
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Nathyn said:
...change the game and just do it!

-Nate
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My operating manual...

do+it.jpg
 
It's been almost a week since the DVDs arrived and orders have been flying off the shelf. Between presales and new orders, we've sold over half the the DVDs. I have customers coast to coast and from Mexico to Canada. So far the reviews have been mostly positive. Occasionally there's a bad one, but that's to be expected. My actor is coming out this weekend to sign the preorders with me and we'll get those shipped out on Monday. Due to the mass shipping, I had one of those return address stamps made when I ordered my latest set of business cards. It'll help speed things up a bit.
 
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