Introduction
Back to the Bible is a Christian company that utilizes different media (radio, internet, television) to engage the public in reading the Bible. It is an international company with the headquarters in Lincoln, NE. One part of Back to the Bible is a new television show that has just finished its pilot, called “Footnote”. Here is an excerpt from my orientation packet about Footnote:
It’s hard to explain just what Footnote is without sounding like we’re exaggerating. It’s more than a new television show. It’s more than a new brand of Christian entertainment. No, Footnote is a long overdue revolution – the next level in media production. It’s a fusion of Bible-based research, social networking, and cutting-edge television to create an immersive experience. The Bible is yanked from the shelves and thrust into the grit and mess and pull of the new decade via Footnote’s progressive exploration of modern issues through a biblical lens. Each episode’s topic will be based on the research of the Center for Bible Engagement, and each topic will be explored from different perspectives throughout the episode. These perspectives might be shown through a mini-documentary, a comedy, an expert interview, a man-on-the street segment, or an art piece. By the end of each program, these elements will merge together to reveal a compelling, honest outlook that is specifically targeted to have daily impact on viewers’ lives. Imagine a blending of the multiple stories on a theme similar to This American Life, mix that with the humor of VH1′s I Love the 80’s and have the talk about everything approach of Fox’s Red Eye. We want to talk about the things in the church that no one is talking about, and yet always have an underlying theme that the Bible matters to you and your walk.
As the graphic design and video editor intern, a lot of my work will be centered around Footnote but I’ll be doing work for Back to the Bible’s other projects such as newsletters and websites. Either MTV/MTV2 or ABC Family will be the eventual home of Footnote and will be premiere in fall of 2010. Here is a trailer for their first episode, which deals with pornography: http://vimeo.com/10348424
My weekly internship schedule will be 20 hours a week, Tuesday through Thursday.
Week 1
On my first day I worked with one of the editors, Jamie. My projects were fairly simple. My first project was to log several hours of a board meeting on Premiere Pro. Eventually, I will have to edit the footage so that those in the company who missed the meeting will be able to view it. Having never used Adobe Premiere Pro, I thought it was a good first project for me to become familiar with the basics of the program.
On days two and three, I primarily worked on business cards for Footnote staff. I was given several variations of the Footnote logo to work with and a color scheme (orange and white) that I had to adhere to. I was enthusiastic about the project at first, but it was surprisingly difficult to make something I like.
Week 2
Tuesday I was given the day off because my supervisor was home with a sick child. On Wednesday, I was given my first assignment that directly related to the Footnote program. The second episode that is currently in production will be about Death and Evil. I had to look through the video library at Back to the Bible and look for B-roll for the episode. They gave me a list of specific things scenes they were looking for (i.e., elderly people, cosmetic surgery, leaves falling). The amount of footage that I had was huge and it was probably the least exciting thing I’ve done with the internship to date. Nevertheless, I was excited that I would be able to have some sort of contribution in Footnote.
On Thursday, I did some editing with Final Cut Pro. Earlier on the week, the film crew went down to Kansas City to interview a man with terminal cancer that was told he’d have a few months left. My main job was to edit the raw footage and make DVDs for his family. There was about 2 hours of footage and I was able to get it down to about 1 and a half. The fact that this would be given to the man’s family gave me extra motivation to do as best of a job I can to edit.
