The Real Change Campaign

This past sunday was the final week of "The Real Change Campaign" series.  During a time of economic crisis, Pastor Steven preached truth and hope into the lives of the congregation, letting everybody know that the "real" change lies within the box, with the things we have influence over and not the things outside of the box, the things we don't have influence over.  Again, the stories flooded the office of people finding hope in God's word and being reminded that responsibility with what He has given us is the answer to achieving financial freedom. Check out the trailer that preceded the series and the bumper used for the 1st few weeks of the series.

Visionary Love Dream Sex

The first series that I had the pleasure of doing work for Elevation Church was right at the start of a series in September 2008 called "Visionary Love Dream Sex."  This series worked through the book "Song of Solomon," a book teaching us about God's intentions for a relationship between a man and woman.  The couple in this book moves through the the process of courtship into marriage, and all the comes with that.  Pastor Steven preached the truths in this book boldly, and judging by the letters that poured into the office, God worked to heal many relationships and marriages through that series.  You can check out the sermons online here under sermons from the media menu. (HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!)

Here are the 2 different graphics I did for that series. Enjoy!

When You Know You Can Do Better

I think it is safe to say that most of us have experienced or come across something in life that we are almost CERTAIN we can do better than what's currently being done.  Those thoughts often end with a few snide comments towards whatever it is that didn't meet our expectations, or may even lead to us dreaming about the idea of how we could improve upon what already exists.

Those dreams, I feel, too often get thrown to the wayside or are crushed with fear and doubt that we aren't really capable of pulling off what is in our head.

My wonderful wife Cheyenne is an example of the complete opposite.

So during our wedding planning process, Cheyenne did pretty much all of vendor research.  She loved it (at first) and often spent countless hours sitting on my bed in my old apartment watching "How Do I Look" and flipping through pages and pages of wedding magazines.  When it came to finding our photographer, we must have looked at over 100 photographers and to be quite honest, weren't to excited at what we were finding.  I can distinctly remember Cheyenne saying time after time, "Are you serious, they are charging $2000 for THAT!  I can do better than THAT!" which as I mentioned above, is where most of us stop.

After seeing some pictures that Cheyenne had taken on a weekend trip to the mountains with some friends, Sara and Erick, who began to follow Cheyenne's blog she recently started, asked if she would shoot their engagement pics. Taking our first shoot, we thought it might be wise to purchase our first digital SLR, a good ole' Canon Rebel XT.  I second shot using my point-and-click Fuji and for our first shoot ever, I don't mind patting ourselves on the back even now.

Flash ahead... we got married that June (2007) shot a couple weddings that fall and started booking for 2008!  Spring flew by and Cheyenne found herself in over her head with photography work.  Next step, quit the day job @ Davidson College and go in full-time. Now, she has already started to book weddings for 2010!  WHAT?!?

My wife turned a dream into a reality.

She took an "I can do better than that" statement and DID it.

God has a way of revealing gifts to us that we never knew we had, and when we trust Him that He gave them to us for a reason, amazing things can happen.  I encourage you to take whatever that dream is, that idea that just won't leave you alone, the one that keeps tapping you on the shoulder and whispering in your ear, and listen to it... it's probably there for a reason.

www.cheyenneschultz.com

Even You Can Inspire Those Around You

So this morning while I was at work checking my email, I received, perhaps, the nicest email that has ever been written to me. After reading it, I wrote back and asked if I could post this and was given the green light.

Hi Geoff,

I came to SCAD as a young aspiring Rrrrrrising STAAAAAR! When I was
there you were an RA or some sort of administrative something or other.

You made enough of an impression on me that I, to this day, remembered
your first name. I also remembered a time-based-type piece you did for
a scene in Blackhawk Down, which was one of the first pieces I saw
that drove me to study mograph at SCAD.

Anyway today someone just emailed me about a piece I did from a scene
in Pulp Fiction asking if I "invented" time based type. Hilarious. But
then I started thinking about where the inspiration for that piece
came from, and I remembered your Black Hawk Down piece that made such
an impression. Such an impression that it immediately popped to mind
when I had the same assignment 3 years later. That piece is why I
chose a clip with two characters having an intense dialogue. That's
when I began my rampant internet search to find your video. To no
avail, I'm afraid.

So I went on a googlethon trying to put Geoff, scad, and blackhawk
down together. I also randomly remembered "off-brand", but that ended
up being a dead-end leading only to a piece in Nagle's pdf portfolio.
The name "Nagle" only brought back memories of a goatee. Eventually,
being the supersleuth that I am, I found you.

I thought you'd like to know that you inspired someone to jump into
mograph, and were largely responsible for the clip I chose to make the
Pulp Fiction piece. So thanks. I hope you are still making stuff that
inspires you, and potentially long-haired high-schoolers. Not to brag
or anything of the sort, but for your interest and hopefully delight,
I ended up being the student of the year in broadcast design for 2008.

And send me your Blackhawk Down Piece if you still have it. I would
love to indulge in the nostalgia.

best and good luck,

Jarratt

I was totally thrown back in my seat after reading this.  To some it might not seem like that big a deal, but to me, knowing that I was able to make an impression on somebody, to encourage somebody, and to inspire somebody without even realizing it really made me think.  Whether we realize it or not, the interactions we have with people that may seem mundane and ordinary may turn out to be profound and extraordinary.  Don't pass up the opportunity to make an impact. Take every chance to influence those within your circle. The way you carry yourself day to day and the character that you develop within yourself shows up in emails like this one and prove to be worth the effort. 

Now, with no further ado, "Black Hawk Down Time-Based Typography Animation" from my first motion graphics class.

Jarratt recently graduated and took a job working for Favorite Color, a studio out of New York City.  Jarratt, your reel looks great.  So cool that I was able to play a part in inspiring somebody as talented as you are.  

Shout Out!

This one goes out to my junior boys over at Forest Hill - a.k.a. The Junior Juggernauts.  Before becoming  a part of Elevation Church, I called Forest Hill my home church here in Charlotte.  I met a lot of great people while attending there, learned a lot, but most importantly, had the opportunity of serving with some of the best high school students this side of the Mississippi.

Formally known as the Sophomore Sensations, the Junior Juggernauts (name still pending) bring an unexplainable element to The Heights (the name of the high school ministry @ Forest Hill) that is nothing less than contagious.  I kid you not, I have never witnessed a level of energy and excitement matched with a level of acceptance and enthusiasm for other students that these guys bring week in and week out.  It was probably the toughest decision about taking my job at Elevation that I would no longer be able to serve with these guys, but our friendship extends beyond Sundays, and they have been nothing but total support in me shifting focus on where I am spending my time in ministry.  

I could go on and on, but I'll some up their awesomeness in the video that we shot to promo their life group this year.  Some of the guys aren't recognized in this video, but they are still awesome too!  Miss you guys, this one's for you.