Case study
Greenville Presbyterian
Creating an Inspiring Narrative for the Next Generation
Comitted to Excellence
Every time that our friends at GPTS call us about a new project - we get really excited. Not only are we personally invested in their mission and vision - but their commitment to excellence in all they do is the perfect fit for the types of projects we like to produce.
We’ve created a lot of videos with GPTS over the years - but for this one, they wanted to do something different - A more narrative/short film style video that would be an encouragement to anyone who feels the call to the ministry - and also showcases the process by which someone becomes a pastor.
THE PROBLEM
In a lot of ways - the story is simple. We can look at the stories of friends and family members who’ve attended over the years, and use that as the base. The problem? How do you condense five years of someone’s life into three and a half minutes?
Not only that - but how do you show something like this that is more abstract in a visual way?
Pre-Production
With such a large story, the key was to establish which parts of the story were most important, and then work from there. We worked closely with the folks at GPTS to help craft the right story points that would communicate the process, but wouldn’t bog people down in the details.
We also had to find ways with the story to portray the more abstract or internal journey of the main character in a visual way - since we have to be able to see what he’s thinking.
THE STORY
We settled on following one lead character - someone who represents a lot of different real-life stories. We see him as he wrestles with the sense of call to the ministry - and seeks counsel from his wife and others around him. Together, they make the decision to go all in, selling their house and moving to Greenville, SC to attend seminary. We see the ups and downs of the rigor of seminary life - and we see him pushing through to overcome by the help and support of those around him and of the seminary faculty and staff.
THE VISUALS
We wanted to create something that stood out from the other things we’ve created for GPTS - as well as stand out from other media from other seminaries. We decided to use lenses and camera movement that feels “classic” - more like a movie than a promotional film.
For the camera, we opted for the just-released RED Komodo X. The Komodo offered a lot of advantages for this film, including shooting in raw format, full 6K resolution at up to 60fps - and all around a more cinematic image. The higher resolution also proved incredibly helpful in post production for the visual effects shots.
For lenses, we chose the DZO film Vespid primes. They’re a perfect balance of sharpness, while also introducing a lot of character - giving the film that more classic, cinematic look - especially towards the edges of the frame and in the out of focus bhoka.
When it came to camera support and lighting - we wanted to really lean into the “cinematic look” with how we moved the camera and lit the scenes. So with that idea in mind, we lined up a Dana Dolly, jib, and other support equipment that would be needed to capture that look with the camera, as well as a decently robust lighting package that would allow us to really create the lighting we wanted for our indoor scenes.
THE PLANNING
As the saying goes, “movies don’t want to be made” - and that always means there’s a lot of careful planning and logistics that go into making a film a success. With over 30 story days represented on screen, planning out each shot and how it would fit into the story was super important.
We spent a lot of time storyboarding out each shot, creating animatics, and nailing down exactly which scenes happened in what seasons, which part of the overall story they connected to, and what all would be needed to create those scenes.
With such a long timeframe represented, it was important that we maintained proper continuity - not only for our lead characters, but also with their kids. At the beginning of the film, they have a baby and one on the way - and by the end, the kids need to be aged appropriately.
In addition to all of the story details, a lot of time was spent on finding locations, lining up actors and extras, planning wardrobe and set design needs, catering schedules, and so much more.
As is often the case - some details don’t get worked out until the week before or even the week of the shoot - but that’s all a part of the adventure.
Production
Producing a film like this isn’t an easy task, but with the right people - it’s amazing what you can accomplish in a short amount of time. We had a crew of 8-10 people, all of which had their own important jobs.
THE TEAM
Andrew Bartlett was the director, heading up the vision for the film. His role was to take all of the ideas and information needed for the film - and to funnel that into one, cohesive vision.
Hannah Bartlett was our executive producer - and she helped to manage the client communication, as well as jumping in to help wherever there was a need - whether it was art department, shopping for food or supplies, or shooting BTS.
Micah Versemann was producer and assistant director on the project - and he was responsible for making sure that all of the logistics were taken care of, and that everyone knew what needed to happen when. He was also responsible for helping us to stay on budget, and make sure we met all of the clients needs. It’s a very complex, dynamic job!
Jayden Peterman was our Director of Photography - and his job was to craft the visuals of the film, whether that was through the lighting or the camera. Jayden is the reason the film looked so good!
Calder Tozier was our Gaffer/Key Grip - and he was responsible for taking Andrew and Jayden’s ideas - and executing them with lighting. In an ideal world, Calder would have had several more people working in his department - but even with being short on manpower, Calder hustled to make it happen, and did an incredible job.
Will Willer was a swing between Assistant Camera, and grip. He was invaluable to Jayden and Calder, helping to keep all of the equipment running smoothly, as well as being an extra pair of hands wherever needed.
Mary Wise came on as our production designer. She had the incredibly important role of not only making sure our actors and on-screen talent looked great and felt real - but also helping to create all of the many sets we needed for the film. Not only did she help find and purchase wardrobe and clothing, but also helped us to get all of the set decorations and items needed to make the scenes feel authentic. Additionally, she also did all of the hair and makeup to make sure our actors looked their best.
Rebecca Tozier headed up catering and crafty - another really important part of any good set. With so many people and days of filming - having home-cooked meals and plenty of snacks goes such a long way to help the crew stay well taken care of and motivated.
We were also blessed to have some people join us as production assistants for several of the larger production days - including ________ and __________ from Bob Jones University, and Joseph Ely (who also graciously allowed us to use his apartment for some key scenes in the film).
THE ACTORS
We spent a lot of time looking to find the right couple to play the student and his wife. We knew we wanted someone who could look the part, but not look too “Hollywood”. We wanted the character of the seminarian to be down to earth and real - and that meant we really needed to find the right person.
When we reached out and met with Joshua - we were convinced right away he would be a great fit. Not only did he have a background in acting, he also had a background in ministry. Additionally, he and his wife also had two kids and one on the way - so the whole family would be able to be in the film.
Joshua and ________ were the perfect fit for the role. Joshua was incredibly convincing as a seminary student, and totally embodied the role. He was also incredible with the baby we brought in for the early scenes in the film, and that went a long ways.
ON LOCATION
With every project, we always try to have at least one full prep day before we begin filming. This allows us to go to the key locations, walk through them, plan out the scenes and angles, as well as to build a game plan for what the lighting and camera support needs will be.
There are so many stories from production we could cover, but we’ll just hit the highlights!
We always try to start with the simplest scenes to help us get everyone firing on all cylinders. We started out with two days of filming at GPTS, as it was a location we’ve filmed at many times! The key for the seminary scenes was to make them feel as authentic as possible, while also capturing them in a way that made them more cinematic. Life at the seminary was an important part of the story, but watching people listen or study in a classroom isn’t inherently interesting… So we worked to create scenes that pulled you in, as well as helped to move the story along.
One of the most challenging and demanding locations was the “apartment” they move to once they get to Greenville. For the story it needed to be a small apartment - but that also meant it was more difficult to light and shoot in. This was the location they would be at the longest in the story - so that meant creating many different times and seasons.
Not only did we have a ton of different scenes, from them moving in (with boxes and stuff stacked everywhere), our main character reading and studying, Christmas time (twice!), but we also needed to shoot a lot of it as night time.
Since we only had one day to film everything in that location (and doing a night shoot wasn’t an option) we ended up blacking out and tenting all of the windows and doors so we could make it look like night. Tenting allowed us to plant lights outside some of the key windows to create a streetlight/moonlight look that helped bring more life into the scene.
Everyone on the team worked incredibly hard that day - but we managed to get everything we needed and to wrap on schedule!
Another scene that stands out is the ending church “ordination” scene. Micah found this beautiful little church not far away from the seminary, and it was the perfect location to use for that final scene!
Even though we ended up with a beautiful, sunny day - the angle of the sun and the trees didn’t allow us to get the direct beams of sunlight that we wanted. So to help create more shape and interest in the scene, we planted lights outside of the main windows and splashed a spotlight across the back wall to bring it to life.
At BIC we’re a huge fan of using haze in our scenes - and this was no exception. We filled the little church with haze, and that allowed us to have beautiful depth and help really show the beams of light coming in through the window.
The goal was to create an almost angelic atmosphere for the ending scene - helping to show that it was the completion of a journey, as well as the beginning of another.
Another challenge of that scene was finding enough people for extras to fill up the congregation. Thanks to the hard work of Micah, Hannah, Mary and our contacts at the seminary - we were able to get just enough people to sell the scene without it feeling too empty. We did have to be strategic to position people to fill the gaps, but we were thankful that God provided the people we needed!
All in all - even though we had a ton of content to capture and not enough time to do it in - we managed to capture everything we needed to make the film. There were definitely lessons learned and mistakes made - but thanks to our incredible team and the hard work of the folks at GPTS - we managed to create something special.
POST-PRODUCTION
Post-production is where all the pieces of the puzzle start to come together. There’s a saying in the film business, “there’s the movie you plan, the movie you shoot - and the movie you finish”. Even though you do your best to plan and execute an idea - there’s always new ideas and thoughts that come to light once you start editing.
Jayden jumped in and created a first, full assembly of the entire film. After that, we bounced it back and forth between different editors on our team - each person continuing to hone and shape it into a more final product.
Along with that, we had lots of opportunities for feedback with GPTS - who not only helped us to identity which sections worked or didn’t, but also helped us to make sure that the message they wanted to communicate was clear.
The edit for this project was even more difficult than most, as the narrative nature of the film made every scene and shot count even more. The timing, the acting - everything was so important to making sure the film was GREAT, not just ok.
MUSIC
Another key aspect to making the film successful is the music. We were blessed to work with several talented musicians to bring a custom score to life!
Music is such a subjective medium - so crafting the right sound was something that took some workshopping. We wanted to create something that felt classic, and maybe even a bit historic - but at the same time, make sure that we captured the feeling of the heart of who GPTS is, and the importance of the calling to the ministry. This also needed to find a balance with creating a score that was driving and building enough to keep an audience engaged throughout the whole film.
We worked with Ryan Moore to build the score for the film - and he did an incredible job capturing the vision for the story!
COLOR
We do our best on set to create the look and feel that we want - but having a talented colorist is still a hugely important part of post-production. John-Clay was able to take the footage we captured, and help to create the final look and feel we were going for - a very movie-like look, pushing the image to look its best.
SOUND
One thing that many people overlook is the sound design! Almost all of the sound that you hear in the final film was created by Oscar, our sound designer. Not only does the sound design help bring the image to life, but it also helps to better tell the story by building out a world outside of just the frame that you see.
VOICE OVER
GPTS had a very specific voice that they were looking for on this project - so we worked hard to audition a bunch of people and find the right person. We wanted someone who could bring a sense of importance and history to the voice.
We were blessed to have Rob Rocotta join the team for this project, and he did an incredible job!
VFX
Another important part of the process was the visual effects. If we did our job right, you probably never even noticed them! Some of the VFX we did in the film were to replace skies that were either over exposed or didn’t have much detail to them, change or adjust production design elements to better tell the story (even removing an entire Christmas tree!) - as well as to create a new establishing shot for the ending scene we didn’t know we needed to capture.
THE DELIVERABLES
Once the film was complete - the only thing left was to create the final deliverables! We always work to provide assets and resources to help our clients release and promote the film on any of their platforms.
We created several teaser videos for social media, as well as several different versions of the film for different platforms.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
We were excited to hear so much positive feedback about the film! GPTS heard from several ministry leaders, as well as others in the ministry space who were impressed with the film, and resonated with the story and the message.
GPTS was able to use the film as a part of the launch of their new website and brand refresh, as well as a part of their recruiting campaign for the year.
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