Details of the Execution Stage for the film by Mark R. Turner

This is a list of the materials, hardware, software and considerations involved in the creation of my film “Going Into Bethlehem”.

Seven Works of Art

  • All featured in the book Verse &Visions from Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany by Mark R. Turner
  • Dating from as far back as 1990
  • Created in Photography, digital painting, oil painting, collage, sculpture, costuming, and oil pastel

Writing

  • Choosing one of 13 poems from Verse & Visions, “Going Into Bethlehem” (2015)
  • Scripting with Final Draft

Vocal Recording

  • Pacific Pro Audio Tube microphone
  • Zoom H4n portable digital recorder
  • Drawing upon my theater and voice-over experience

Music

  • Composing an original score for alto flute and nylon string guitar and not employing AI or music libraries
  • Notation – Presonus Notion6 synchronized with the first rendering of the film (visual and vocal)
  • Audio mixing – Presonus Studio One (Digital Audio Workstation)

Sound Effects from CD archive of thousands of sounds

  • Wind ambience from forest, marsh, desert
  • Human sounds of crowd, pedestrians, infant, whispering crowd
  • City traffic

Editing

  • Adobe Premier Pro
    • Motion Graphics over still images
    • Audio mixing of voice, music, and sound effects
    • Ending credits
  • Adobe Audition
    • Extraction of CD sound effect tracks
    • Praparation of sound effects audio files
  • Renderings of the film
    • 1. Visual with vocal
    • 2. Visual with vocal and music
    • 3. Visual with vocal, music and SFX
    • 4. Remix Final

Exhibition

  • Decision to release in October rather than in the Christmas shopping season based on the principle that the film can help prepare viewers in advance to experience the season with new insight.
  • Post “Going Into Bethlehem” (with links to books)
    • YouTube
    • Patreon
    • Pinterest
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook x 3
    • Threads
    • Instagram
    • Behance
  • Early November:
    • Post “short” (vertical format video) promoting Verse & Visions on YouTube with link to “Going Into Bethlehem”
    • Post on all the platforms listed above
  • e-newsletters
    • October e-newsletter to feature “Going Into Bethlehem” with blog post
    • November e-newsletter to feature the “short” for Verse & Visions
  • Film Festivals Debate
    • My experience has been that film festivals are their own market based on paying someone to judge whether your work agrees with their viewpoint or not. If it does, and they like it, their audience is allowed to see it. The primary goal seems to be fitting what the festival is looking for rather than to express authentically, although I do agree that certain producers can present authentic expressions within those limits. That is not my “market”, but I may take the time to search through thousands of festivals for one or more which seem open to this kind of film.