Dirk/ idog dance off

Having a little fun at the airstream on Christmas morning.

- Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Christmas Sunset

Christmas Sunset from James Lane on Vimeo.
I am working with the PMW-EX1, on some time laps stuff for the Christmas show. This is one of the shots that came out pretty cool. I stuck some coldplay in so it would have audio. I wont leave the coldplay in for the show:)

Take your time... Olafur Eliasson

I had the pleasure of seeing this exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. I have been to several installations and exhibits but this one was one of the greatest I have ever experienced. If you live at all close to the DMA you should go see this exhibit. I will link an online version from the MOMA here. Enjoy!

Payday Someday R.G. Lee

Check this sermon out and take the time to listen to the whole thing. I remember my Dad reading this sermon to us when we were kids but I did not know how truly great it was until I recently heard it again on YouTube.

Merry Christmas Take 2

Marking audio on the christmas set. Getting ready to shoot a promo.

artist inspiration

Tonight I watched an interview with Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, about Gordon's latest work, "Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle." In short it is a film about football star Zinedine Zidane. Gordon and Parreno Shot an entire soccer match with 17 cameras trained on Zidane for the entire 90min.

It was interesting to see where the artists got there inspiration for the film and the process of making this portrait.

When  asked for a storyboard Gordon said that they just took the crew to Museo Del Prado in Madrid to view portraits by Velasquez and Goya. Gordon Said he would ask the crew "how many frames would it take to shoot this portrait."
On the film side of things the artists were influenced by many art films and documentary films Including screen tests by Andy Warhol.

One of the most interesting things that the artists had to deal with was what to do during half time. Since the film was shot in real time the artists had to be creative to fill in the gap.

 I just thought it was cool to see how a great artist gets from point a to point b. It was also great to see the portrait adapted to a modern media. It will be interesting to see if it will inspire in 200 years like Velasquez and Goya.

Sorry if this post bored you to tears.:)

one minute west texas sunset

Today I took the new Sony pmw-ex1 to the country. The soundtrack is "Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin" You can go here to see it in full HD

It's Here!

If you have been following me on twitter than you know I just recently ordered the Sony PMW-EX1. Today it came! So after the battery charges I will go out and get some test footage in 1080p so we can see what this baby can do.

Coming To Jesus

I think about how we come to Jesus, recognizing our sinful condition, seeking God's rescue from it. We have lived according to our most basic instincts and are tired of our lives being out of control. We have consumed our fill of the world's rational, wile our hunger for lasting wisdom, is so thick in the pit of our stomach, that we can no longer stand to be without it. We are in need of mercy. Our physical environment has left marks on us that need a divine and permanent eraser. We just want to feel clean. We no longer want to be objects of wrath and long to be at peace with our Creator. We want to be righteous no matter what it costs. Friends, family, reputation, even our physical well being are no longer as important as our relationship with God.

Imagine walking, with all of these thoughts going through your head. You hear the faint sound of Jesus in the distance, you hear Him begin to teach:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:3-12 (ESV)

Jesus The Bread of Life

This is one of those scriptures that convicted me as soon as I read it. I read it when I was with the youth last week and immediately thought of the young people that we are working with. We are constantly dealing with a certain group of youth that come to Citychurch who are not interested in the spiritual aspect of God, but only what we can do for them as an agency. As usual it is easer to pin a convicting verse on someone other than myself. After reading this verse several more times I realized that it had tremendous application in the the way I, like many Christians, treat the works of God in my day to day life.

In this verse we find a group of followers tracking down Jesus the day after He had fed the multitude. Jesus pointed out that they were not seeking Him for spiritual reasons but the physical hunger that He had relieved the day before had returned. When I read this part of the verse I can hear Jesus' frustration. Just one day earlier he had taken a very small amount of food and miraculously provided a meal for the large crowd. He was also preforming, miracle after miracle, and all that this group was focused on was the food that He had provided the day before. I feel like Jesus is saying to us “look you just don't get it.” Each day we see Gods direction; we see His provision. Each day he shows me something miraculous and I choose to stop at the the physical aspect of the act. As Christians He has given us The Gospel Of Jesus Christ and pointed to it in Romans as “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” But as soon as we accept that gift we as Christians tend to shelve what The Gospel can do for us beyond our initial salvation and start looking deeper into scripture for something with “more meat.”

At Citychurch we see God's provision for our daily physical welfare. We can easily make lists of these acts and focus on the physical aspect of the miracle, looking again the next day for His provisions. We can see His Gospel work in the life of a child or young person and focus only on the changes in his or her lifestyle. But when I read the end of this verse I realize that focusing on those things causes our vision, of the work that Jesus is doing, to be blurred.

The physical act, that might or might not take place, is a side effect of what we should seek to know about God. Instead of trying to figure out how to manifest more provision we should seek out the Provider. We should not marvel at what we can hold in our hands, but in the fact that we can know the ONE who it all belongs to. Like those who finally received the message that day, I say "Sir, give us this bread always."

SSLYBY and Dr. Dog

I found these cool videos of two of my favorite bands "Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin" and "Dr. Dog". Enjoy!

ministry in the philippines part 2

If you only get a chance to watch one of these episodes on The Philippines watch this one.

a short video on our mission trip to the philippines

This is some of the footage I shot in Davao City on my recent mission trip. It was put together in a piece that aired after a two part special on our trip. Since I did not post the whole T.V. special I put in some subtitles so that you can follow what is going on. The music is by my friend Jay Taylor for more info on his music check out: myspace.com/jaytaylormusic

ministry in the philippines part 1

I recently got back for The Philippines. This is one of two shows I produced and shot. It will give you a good idea of what we did wile we were away. ENJOY!

10-5-08 Citychurch "For The Heart Of The City" from incity Studio on Vimeo.

encouraging letter from viewer

Recently I produced an episode of our weekly show Citychurch "For The Heart Of The City". The show was about taking our  youth to Glorieta, NM. Since the show aired we have had a lot of response and today we received a sweet letter from one of our viewers. This type of response is a great encouragement to us at Citychurch and it is humbling that God is allowing me to use my gifts to touch people who watch the show each week. I have posted the letter below along with the episode. 
8-24-08 Citychurch For The Heart Of The City from incity Studio on Vimeo.

I've Been Tagged

Casey at caseycease.blogspot.com tagged me so here it goes.

The tagging rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag

1. I  have never had an alcoholic beverage of any kind. The earliest reason for my abstinence was that my parents told me that beer was horse pee:). It kind of made since, with all the horses and flowing rivers in the commercials. Later in life I learned the truth about beer. I continued not to drink in my adult life for better reasons.

2. At one time I weighed 346 lbs. I have always been a big guy but after I got out of college I gained a lot of weight. When my son was born I decided I did not want to set a bad example so I went on what feels like a life long diet. I lost about 70 lbs started riding a bicycle and got in shape. I still struggle with eating right I guess I always will but I will NEVER weigh 346 agian.

3. I am color blind. This can sometimes be hard because about 50% of my job is graphic design. I have learned to use color profiles and people are usually happy to help if I ask. What I am wearing rarely matches.

4. I am a collector of hobbies. I think it bugs jennifer sometimes because if I get into something I really get into it. I usually think of something I want to do, then I will try it, The next thing you know I am walking around a pro shop like a crack addict trying to find a way to get better at it. I can't just say "oh thats cool" I have to try it. 

5. My biggest dream right now is to ride my bicycle down the Baha Peninsula in Mexico. I have been on several long rides including a 4 day ride from Amarillo to Dallas (318 miles) but I have dreamed of disapearing for about 3 weeks and just riding and camping roadside. I will do this.

6. I have never had the hick ups.

So there it is my 6 things. Thanks Casey for the tag. Hopefully someday I can return the favor:).

I am not going to tag anyone just to break the rules.

 

Post it

Post it is kind of my system. I don't keep a detailed calender or spend a lot of time syncing my contacts. I do however write a whole lot of post it notes. They are not real clear in this format but if you are nosy maybe you can pull a few juicy tid bits from this weeks worth of post its, from my desk. Oh, and please don't call any of the phone numbers.:)

thriller at the airstream

thriller at the airstream from James Lane on Vimeo.
Last night we went out to the airstream to camp out with the kids. We listened to some records and when we put the thriller album on andrew came up with some interesting dances. He calls it the "robot dog." Enjoy...

Kids in the ministry

This week I am at our student leadership retreat in Glorieta NM. This year my family got to come with me. It has been so great having them here. 

Growing up in the ministry I remember several instances where I had to, loan my parents out to a group of students or singles, or watch my dad go to lead a camp or revival. I did not realize it at the time but I was very much in the ministry. It is so great to have my family and kids sacrifice and serve along with me in the ministry. Hopefully I can inspire them them to serve like my parents inspired  me and God will call them to future mission fields.

Today we took the students to Santa Fe to the Plaza downtown. I bought andrew a robot. Below is a video of what he did the rest of the time we were there. I think God for everyday for my kids. They are such an encouragement to me in the ministry.

andrew and the killer robot from James Lane on Vimeo.

road trip

road trip from James Lane on Vimeo.
Yesterday we drove the youth to Glorieta, NM. I shot some video of the changing landscapes that we passed on our way from Amarillo. Some of the shots are a little shaky because I was shooting and driving.:p I thought the edit looked good though. The soundtrack is "the breeze" by Dr. Dog. I love the new Dr. Dog album "Fate". You MUST go and buy it. 

the airstream

Airstream from James Lane on Vimeo.

Recently Jennifer and I bought a 1971 Airstram Tradewind. We are in the process of building a house in the country. We decided to get the Airstream to give us a place to get away out in the country until the house is built. I did a little bit of work on it but suppressing a lot of stuff on it worked. The kids call it the club house. I shot this video the other night when we were out there chilling. Some of the people on twitter asked for a look on the inside, so I shot a little bit of that.

replacing my macbook

Today I ordered a new Macbook Pro to replace my Macbook I use for web and studio stuff. I didn't need a new computer, in fact I just bought this one.  But in September I am taking a mission trip to The Philippines and one of the things I am doing there is  giving my Macbook away. The people that are missionaries there have a television station and about a month ago they came to Amarillo looking for Citychurch. YES, They came from The Philippines to Amarillo, TX looking for Citychurch. They had seen our show there in The Philippines on the GLC Network and have started to develop their ministry using some of the same methods of feeding and ministering in the villages. It was very humbling to hear how they watched our T.V. show, on feeding, and then went in to the villages, with carts full of rice bowls, to feed children.

When they came a month ago I gave them a dv camera from the studio. When they got back to the Philippines they started to shoot and broadcast their show with the camera. The broadcast rules there are very lax. From what I gathered anyone that can transmit can broadcast. They have a transmitter therefore they broadcast.:)

They have invited us to come in September to help them develop there television studio to be more effective in reaching the people watching. I'm taking the computer and some other equipment  to help them get started. That is what I love about the ministry at Citychurch, nothing is off limits. We can give everything away, including our computers if we have to, so we can reach more people with The Gospel and God is faithful to give it right back.

I will continue to update on the upcoming mission trip to The Philippines.

"help" in the studio

"help" in the studio from James Lane on Vimeo.

The summer is flying buy at the studio. Staying busy editing, and producing the show each week has caused a pile up in the studio. I looked across my desk the other day and there was a stack of tapes and avalanching on my keyboard. I was getting to the point were I was having to shove whole stacks of remotes, cases, water bottles, and everything else aside just to work. So Yesterday Andrew and I cleaned... well mostly I cleaned wile Andrew played with everything in the office that he could get his hands on. (see video above) But now it is clean and ready for the rest of the summer production. Below are some pics of the mess.

The video server is not a good place for drinks.

Last weeks tapes

Cameras charging

ALL CLEAN!

back from Houston

back from Houston from James Lane on Vimeo.

We are back from Houston. Jennifer shot this video in the car on our way back under my direction.:) Exciting!! We did have fun though, just chilling out and not thinking about editing video or computers or ballets (see finished with editing for now vlog). Below is a list of thank yous for the trip:

Thanks to:
1. M&Ms well the red,green,yellow,and brown ones.I always thought the blue ones were posers. 

2. All law enforcement for not pulling me over.

3. the VW Passat 32MPG!

4. A store in madison that finally had the good sunflower seeds.

5. Jennifer for letting me stop at about 15 stores to look for the good sunflower seeds.

6. Starbucks and all mater of caffeine drinks.

7. My blackberry 8820 for keeping me updated on all the twitter heads and my emails.

8. GPS! The greatest invention since the internet.

9. Jennifer's ipod 

10. God. For the safe trip.

at the beach

at the beach from James Lane on Vimeo.

Today we went to the beach down in galveston. Here are some random shots I put together. I like the end the best. Andrew found out what happens if you feed the birds.:) All of the audio sounded the same so I decided to use music that is NOT the norm for me. I almost always would rather have the original audio on the video. But I think the music turned out cool.

finished with the editing... for now. from James Lane on Vimeo.

I have been editing these ballets for a month. They were all shot with two cameras and were all over an hour. I shot and edited 6 of these. You know how it is, video editors have to do what it takes to keep the ca$h flowing. These were not the most fun projects but they paid well and that can be fun. Shout out to Jennifer for selling the dvds and going to the post office.:)