700K Lite-Brite Pegs Light Up Vevo for David Crowder Band

David Crowder*Band’s “SMS (Shine)” Music Video Debuts Today Using An Unprecedented 700,000 LITE-BRITE® Pegs

The Band’s Latest Original Video Creation Debuts on VEVO with “Artists We Love” Placement

David Crowder*Band’s self-made new music video for their latest single “SMS (Shine)” debuts today using an unrivaled 700,000 LITE-BRITE® pegs. The video also features dancing monkeys, jumping frogs and of course an appearance from the David Crowder*Band themselves.

The video portraying a love story made completely of LITE-BRITE® pegs was done solely by hand. Even details such as the piano playing in the background and the monkeys beating a drum in perfect time was done free of digital affects and computer animation. It took 2,150 man hours, 1,200 LITE-BRITE® images, 83 friends and 148 pizzas to complete the video.

John Woo: When Doves Cry

Many Christians have problems with violent action movies, so it's ironic that one of the most successful directors in the genre is a christian.  John Woo insists that his movies bolster his own strong family values. His heroes are “always reaching out a helping hand,” he points out, “even sometimes sacrific[ing] himself for the others.”

Characters in his movies have both good and bad qualities – everyone does horrible things and makes mistakes. They're equally fallen and in need of redemption. Characters face moral dilemmas and their own sins throughout .Woo doesn't resolve dilemmas in simple ways – he leaves them hanging, much like in real life.

The symbolism, the framing, the way everything looks is intentional. As he says in an interview with Premiere Magazine:

I love doves. I am a Christian. Doves represent the purity of love, beauty. They’re spiritual. Also the dove is a messenger between people and God. When I was in high school and I used to draw posters for the church, I would draw a picture of a dove. When I shot The Killer... In the church scene, I wanted to bring them together. I wanted to use a metaphor of the heart. I came up with doves-they’re white. When the men die, I cut to the dove flying-it’s the soul, rescued and safe, and also pure of heart. So the dove became one of my habits: I used it in Hard-boiled, Face/Off, and in [M:I-2], at the end of the movie.

Surprisingly, he even wanted to be a minister at some point:

When I was a kid growing up in Hong Kong, our family was so poor, and an American family sent money to the Lutheran church and supported me going to school for six years, and also my brother and sister. And I was grateful to the church because, without their help, I might have become a different person. I had great parents, but at that time I was so scared, and so lonely, and I had to fight so hard, because I had to deal with gangs almost every day. So you can see how rough it was — I felt like I was living in hell, and the church became my shelter. I felt safe and happy and comfortable in the church. When I was 16, I really wanted to be a minister, to pay back the people who gave me help, and help other people.

So what does Woo truly believe, anyway? In his interview with Woo that closes Between the Bullets: The Spiritual Cinema of John Woo, author Michael Bliss leads us to an answer:

- Do you think that the traditional values that you cherish -- such as honor, devotion, religion, family -- aren’t very popular anymore?
- “Yes. It seems that many people have lost them. I think it is my duty to bring all of these things back, these things that people have lost.”
- With that in mind, would it be fair to say that more than anything else, you’re a religious director?
- “Yes. I’d agree with that.”

Updated: great article on Theology Gaming

Tomlin is Golden

With a platinum and two gold albums to his credit, Chris Tomlin is among the best-selling and influential artists in contemporary Christian music. On November 16th, on the heels of celebrating the RIAA Gold Status of 2008s HELLO LOVE, Tomlin will deliver his seventh recording, "AND IF OUR GOD IS FOR US... ".

GRITS Says Ooh Ahh 500,000 Times

GRITS song “Ooh Ahh (My Life Be Like)” recently scanned over 500,000 downloads, adding their name to a small and select group of Christian artists who have achieved such sales success.

After being used as part of the theme song last year, “Ooh Ahh (My Life Be Like)” is again the theme song for the second season of MTV’s The Buried Life. The season, which premiered last week, features four guys who are attempting a series of adventures.

The song has a long list of film and TV credits since it’s release on GRITS 2002 release “The Art of Translation”. “Ooh Ahh”’s has been used in films such as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Big Momma’s House 2, and on shows such as My Super Sweet Sixteen and The Buried Life. On YouTube there have been 37 million views of fan-generated videos for “Ooh Ahh.”

A Journey Home. A Faith Restored.

New film, RUST, explores crisis of faith and the importance of perseverance.
Filmed in Kipling, Saskatchewan, RUST stars Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law, Psych), who also wrote and directed this personal film. The real-life citizens of Kipling were cast in supporting roles.

The film becomes available on October 5 and when you watch the opening credits for RUST, one element will jump out more than the rest: the dedication, For Father. Writer/director/star Corbin Bernsen wanted everyone to know that this film was different than any other project he has worked on; it was created in memory of his dad.

The creative idea process of RUST began as Corbin was examining his life in the aftermath of Harry Bernsen's death in 2008. Part of his exploration was to look at the role of faith in his life. As Corbin said in a recent interview: "It's really put me on this interesting road and very educational, I might add, road back to understanding the role of faith in God and Christ in my life."

Michael W. Smith Talks Faith on Fox News

It may be providential that one of the best-known Christian music artists, Michael W. Smith, released his new album this week, and it includes a song ("Leave") about abuse in the church. Apt timing, since accusations against mega-church pastor Bishop Eddie Long are rocking the Christian community.

In a wide-ranging interview, Smith says he understands that whether you're in church or any house of worship, you're not immune to human nature's faults and failings. The real challenge, he says, not letting your ego do the talking ... or the walking ... or the thinking.

He also addresses the difficulties of Christian artists crossing over, particularly in the early days.

They premiere the video for his new single.