Apple Butter Makin’ Days Promo

ABMD is still on in October. Here are some of my favorite clips from last year in a promo type video:

 

Virtual Easter Choir

A couple weeks back, I had an idea to do something like I had seen a few times up to that point. Apparently most churches also had the same plan. We had our worship team members record their parts to a song remotely from their homes, and then I put it all together. It was quite challenging, actually, but I thought it turned out pretty good. In fact, I’m making plans now for the next one.

The song we recorded is one of my favorites from Andrew Peterson, “Is He Worthy?” I hope it inspires you, dear reader!

The Band’s Back Together!

During high school and some of college, I played in a band with my best friends. We played in 12 different states to audiences as big as 7000 and as small as 7, and everything in between. It’s been 20 years now, but at Christmastime, we were all in town to visit family, so we decided to play a private show for our families – a small reunion show. It went really well, so we thought, maybe we should start collaborating again on new music.

In 2020, collaboration on music is a great possibility through technology. In times of “social distancing” it becomes even a greater opportunity. So we are working on some new tunes. But as many others have done during this COVID-19 pandemic, we are starting to put out the live performances from this reunion concert.

This first offering is a fun song called, “Palm.” It’s got a “That Thing You Do” sort of vibe to it. In a moment where there’s a lot of uncertainty, and news is bad, we hope it’s something that can bring a smile to your face. Check it out… and follow “Brother John” band on Facebook and Instagram!

 

 

New 48 Hour Film

My son and I participated in a 48 hour film festival laster year, as you can see here. This year, we did it again, but it was quite different. I wrote last year’s script which was a bit more serious. My son, Nathan, who is a junior in high school, wrote this year’s script entirely, and it’s just fun and crazy. See for yourself and try not to laugh!

But first, a few details. Each entry share 5 common “required” elements which were chose at random at the kickoff event. These were a them of transformation, a location being a dining room, a painter character, a prop being a tube of lipstick, and a line of dialogue being “This might be the __________ day of my life.” Nathan wrote these into his script on Friday night, but due to busy lives, we would not shoot until Saturday. He saw it was supposed to rain all day the next day, so he wrote that into the script and kept things at one, mostly indoor location. To our surprise, it NEVER RAINED! We had to use a hose and special effects to try and pull off the script as written.

Being that our Sunday is fully booked with church duties from 7:30am until noon, we needed to be done by then, and not the 3pm deadline. We filmed Saturday until close to 5pm and immediately began editing. I started exporting the video at 1:30am and set my alarm for 4am to get up and see if any changes were needed. Fortunately, there weren’t any pressing issues to fix, so we went with the first render.

At the awards show, it was a clear crowd favorite, but with the judging, we got second place again. It was a mostly fun experience, and I’m finally getting to feel somewhat rested!

Now, enjoy “Vanderkalt the Magnificent”!

 

 

Washington DC on the 4th of July

My family got to be in Washington DC on the 4th of July. It was quite the event! This video shows the whole trip leading up to the events on the National Mall on the 4th. It was so hot that week, but the 4th was a nice reprieve from the intense heat of walking around DC. I’d gladly trade some light rain to the scorching sun. It was a great trip and something we will remember forever!

Apple Butter Makin’ Days

Apple Butter Makin’ Days (ABMD) is a tradition for residents of the small town of Mount Vernon, MO. But it also attracts many from outside as a popular festival for over 50 years. For my family, it’s always a fun time. We get our steps in, eat great food (especially the ribeye steak sandwiches), see some entertainment, and just enjoy each other’s company.

I like to document things in general, so naturally I was tasked with documenting some of the festivities. Here’s the little promo I did for this upcoming AMBD:

A New Chapter for CCB

I was fortunate to play a small part in a new chapter in the life of a church in Kansas. They are embarking on a capital campaign. My son and I went several weeks back to shoot a series of interviews and b-roll to put together videos that will help tell the story for their “Unfinished” campaign. It was a lot of work in not a lot of time, but I’m glad that I was able to meet the deadline and that they are happy with the final products.

They showed the main video (over 11 minutes) yesterday in church. The minister said, “Yesterday was PHENOMENAL! Had a huge crowd! People clapped after the video…” I’m thankful that they trusted me with their “story” and I hope and pray that over the next two years the church continues to do wonderful things in their community as a result of the “Unfinished” initiative.

Here’s their main video:

Washington DC in under 3 Minutes…

I recently posted a blog and video about New York in under 2 minutes. Well, due to the music and pace of the Washington DC edit, it’s over 2 minutes, but under three minutes. It was great to get to visit both these iconic cities. They similar in some ways and very different at the same time. I think my favorite part was the Lincoln Memorial. What’s your favorite?

New York in Under 2 Minutes!

My wife and I recently visited New York and here’s a travel highlights vlog for you. It’s called New York in two minutes, but I guess it’s mostly Manhattan if you want to get technical. I loved it there. It reminded me a lot of Santiago, Chile, where I grew up.

Enjoy the sites with us!

An AMAZING story 20+ years in the making…

I recently had the privilege of capturing the story of the Rolands. They are residents at God’s Resort in Joplin (which will be the subject of a future post). I don’t want to give too much away, but I do want to encourage you to watch this video. So push play and watch a few minutes, or if you’re feeling inspired go for the whole 10 minutes! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It is truly AMAZING how God can change individuals and even entire families! Watch the video…

WATCH NOW ON VIMEO!