Comments on: The Problem with Christian Film

By: Jacquline Youell

Jacquline Youell — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:06:27 +0000

Great read. Thanks for the info!

By: Jim K

Jim K — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:33:00 +0000

Should we risk making them more real? No. Cinema is supposed to be fake. It has been the place where imagination and the surreal come to life. It is only in the past ten years or so that we have become obsessed with making it more real, and I think this is where we are going wrong. What’s so good about real. I, like all of you, live real every day. It’s good. But when I watch a movie I want to escape. If that moment of escape makes me question my morals, my life and my choices, so be it. Otherwise it is a time for me to relax and enjoy.

Senseless violence that does not further the story in any way is unnecessary in christian and non christian films alike. Lust can be a good tool when used as a choice, a crossroads in the heroes journey, and terror is just a part of life. There are many things people find terrifying, and this just makes us human. Fear is one of the earliest emotions we develop, and when used with a little class (Hitchcock), can be very exciting. Everyone needs a little scare at times.

The one thing I find lacking in christian films is Humor. We need to laugh. Why is it I wonder that so many Cristian filmmakers feel they need to be so serious all the time. Laughter is one of the best ways to get people to drop their defenses for a moment and makes it much easier for morals and messages to get across in the end.

By: team travel

team travel — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 04:35:26 +0000

I’ve seen a lot of Christian films and I think they’re good. The importance in Christian films is to deliver the message and explain to the viewers the importance of the message.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:35:26 +0000

Thanks for sharing this… cool stuff

By: Louise@gelert tornado

Louise@gelert tornado — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:23:46 +0000

hi
Hey, I was wondering I saw that Corin played in the film Hidden Secrets, which is obviously a christian film?
Louise

By: grossmusic

grossmusic — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:46:42 +0000

yep. I personally think Christian film overall would do better if the cinematic audience was not expecting it to be Christian. I’ve seen plenty of secular films that have moved me with a message that has stuck with me (Braveheart comes to mind).

A Spielberg may be a driving force, but it all began with a compelling script with a great message. Some are PG-13. A few are R (though my personal rule has me watching them edited for PG audience).

It all starts with a great screenplay. If you have that, even bad actors can’t totally ruin it, but of course it will attract good actors, so it will be a win-win for everyone.

By: Phillip Gibb

Phillip Gibb — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:12:53 +0000

18th century pirates? Nice. Sound interesting.
Maybe it should not be pushed as a Christian Story, rather be pushed as an adventure with the theme of redemption.

By: grossmusic

grossmusic — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:35:49 +0000

rlackeyjr – here here!

I stumbled on this forum using the phrase “the problem with christian films” in google after suffering through yet another awful & unsatisfying Christian film on the local praise channel. They only come on at 2am on Sunday nights. Good thing I’m a typical musician/writer with night owl hours.

The movie I just watched had only one interesting twist, & it actually made me cry a little, but had nothing at all to do with the milktoast story. It was made in 1994, but was billed for 2009 because they brought back the actors to put a 4-minute tag on it. Unfortunately, the preceding 86 minutes were a typical agony of terrible acting mixed with veteran greats.

1994: In The Living Years was updated to 2009: A Letter To Dad

The tension was so manufactured & so lackluster (bad acting didn’t help) that it was really hard to stick with it. But I watch these to learn. 100% of the time, I learn what NOT to do.

Enough of the preaching to the choir screenwriting. Please!

As a solution, I write for a secular audience. I don’t cause anyone to sin. I show a believable & palpable & relatable conflict, then I offer the redemption we’re all looking for. The realization that we’re all really messed up humans in need of God’s help.

My current project is the true story of 18th century pirates. Now there are some sinners! There’s a redeeming story to be found, & I’m telling it. I’ll never call it a Christian film, but I think it can truly change lives. & I really hope it doesn’t fall into the hands of Christian filmmakers, because from what I’ve seen, I can’t trust them to do it justice.

Sad but true.

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By: Phillip Gibb

Phillip Gibb — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:17:37 +0000

Thank you very much. My recent post Get your Christian Film

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By: HOSFU

HOSFU — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:20:46 +0000

Important question from @phillipgibb regarding Sinning v. Illustrating Sin in our movies: http://bit.ly/5MJFpa

By: Phillip Gibb

Phillip Gibb — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:56:16 +0000

oh wow, saw a segment on the film sometime ago on TV. I remember thinking how awesome it was that the animation was all done by South Africans. Looking forward to watching it
I remember when I was a teenager. As a Christian I was quite irritated that I could not easily find great contemporary christian music, ok I was also a bit into rap. But it seemed that anyone and everyone was jumping in, granted there was not much money in it. Things have changed a lot since then. The same is happening with books.
However with Christian film, the bit problem is money. Who is going to say yes to financing a R150,000,000 budget of "How an atheist becomes a Christian after his wife dies and he starts questioning his own ideals".
Not in this country.
Actually, I was listening to two filmmakers talking in SABC, the one mentioned that if District9 was offered to South African producers as a R300,000,000 film they would have laughed.

By: Phillip Gibb

Phillip Gibb — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:06:08 +0000

Have you ever read the book Flickering Pixels? by Shane Hipps and his thoughts on how the Medium you use changes the message. Preaching the message in Film, apologetically Christian film, show Christians to be unreal, squeaky clean and in touch with their feminine side. The message can then come out flaky and ineffective. Whereas using a theme within a gritty story where characters are not even Christian can plant a seed, almost subliminally and make people think (hmmm, not many of those movies nowadays).
It possible that audiences would prefer to have an ah-ha moment afterward than go thru the film thinking "well dahhh" Now I am rambling

By: Deryck Broom

Deryck Broom — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:12:23 +0000

Thank you for talking about this, it really is a question on so many 'Christian' filmmakers minds. My first feature hits the cinemas Easter 2010 and it's an animated 'bible' film called 'The Lion of Judah' which made all moral debates easy (bar the full frontal pig fart scene). I'm a Christian film maker, but like so many Christian singers, am I going to be stereotyped. We don't all get to make an acceptable 'Narnia' or 'Lord of the Rings',, those opportunities are few and far between. I'd really love to make something in the 'Jason Bourne', action, thriller genre. I also know so many Christian singers are stuck entertaining Christians. Anyway – thanks for processing this, still not 100% confident of what I'd accept or turn down, but I pray for wisdom and then take steps of faith – God is good.