Learning to «Walk on Water»

Catholic Media Council LEARNING TO «WALK ON WATER» Un foyer sur trois dans le monde possede un magnetoscope. Certes les taux de penetration 'sont tres diffSrents par exemple entre VEurope et Jes Etats-Unis qui trustent 64% du marche mondiai et VAfrique sub-saharienne qui ne pese que pour 0,7%. Quels que soient ces ecarts, le marche mondial des magnetoscopeS s’est multiplie par 15 entre 1981 et 1991 (et meme par 20 pour l’Afrique sub-sa harienne!). Cette videomania sevit aussi dans les Eglises au point qu'un auteur tres sdrieux a intitule un livre recent : "La civilisation video-chretienne". Sous toutes les latitudes au sein de l’Eglise fleurissent les pro jets de productions video. Mais sans doute peu mesurent la difficult6 de 1’entreprise. C’est pourquoi nous avons demande au P. John Wijngaards, Directeur de HOUSETOP et produc- teur executif de la sdrie de programmes video "Walking On Water", de nous ra- conter son aventure depuis son enseignement biblique en Inde jusqu’a sa ",mar che sur les eaux" camera au poing dans un esprit de co-production Internationa le exceptionnel. Fr. John Wijngaards, Director of HOUSETOP, London, and Executive Producer of the video series "Walking On Water" was asked by CAMECO to present to our Information Bulletin readers the adventures of his international video co-production with local partners worldwide. WALKING ON WATER, now active in twenty However, seemingly unsurmoun table countries, is to my knowledge the most obstacles loomed on the horizon. Creating adventurous Catholic video co-production professional videos is a complex and costly project ever launched. I have been asked business. Few Christian communities have to describe the way we have walked thus the resources in finance and personnel to far: the crossroads, the pitfalls, the blind invest in any major video project. On the alleys and the mapping of our route. It is other hand, importing videos from abroad a long tale I will have to keep short. It is can be a disaster. My own media work had like entering the witness box and the convinced me that Christian films made in confessional at the same time. Italy or the USA should not be used in India. Apart from the culture clash, it THE ORIGINAL IDEA fosters a counter-productive image: ’To be a Christian means to be foreign’. Instead If lateral thinking is a good thing, it of touting Pasolini or Zeffirelli, my centre helps to be pushed laterally through life I Amruthavani prodded secular film suppose, as happened to me. I have seen producers in Madras to produce a three- active service teaching Scripture, running hour feature film on the Life of Christ a TV, film, radio and publishing centre in (based on Fr. Coelho’s script Karunama- India, planning Church renewal and yudu) which was screened in Telugu, Hindi managing missionary personnel on six and Tamil. In some cinemas it ran for a continents. Fate made me write academic hundred days non-stop! commentaries, novels, spiritual books, newspaper columns, comic strips and The solution for good video was, I saw, to Hollywood-type scripts for films. set up the project as a true co production. Just as Japanese, Australian This mix of experience helped me to and Swedish companies could co-produce a conceive a bold plan in 1985 while I was filmed report on, say, camels in the Sahara on a lecture tour in India. I knew there - using the same images but presenting was a real need, worldwide, of making the them in forms targeted to.their audiences, Gospels accessible to lay people, Video was so we Christians should learn to co entering the scene as a group medium produce on things we have in common. with real promise. Unfortunately, the lack of proper resources made many groups After my return I put my plan before my turn to Pentecostal, preaching-type videos HOUSETOP team, a group of wise and which, apart from their cultural mismatch, enthusiastic men and women with promoted a dangerous fundamentalism. The experience of communication in Africa, Asia only answer, I saw, was offering the right and Eastern Europe. We talked and kind of video that would combine reliable agonised and prayed, then kneaded the Scripture teaching with the participatory first clay. We called the project Sitting at learning techniques inherent in good Jesus1 Feet -•» video. 9 1 » Catholic Media Council CONSULTATIONS THE NETWORK I submitted our plan to experts I knew in Co-production is like conducting an various fields. They included com- orchestra with instruments that are played municators, pastoral workers, catechists, thousands of miles apart. Harmony will not theologians, Scripture men and women, and be achieved unless each player knows missiologists. Face-to-face encounters soon what music to play, and when. And players grew to lengthy meetings: in London, need to be found. Roughly they fit into Munich, Rome, Dublin, Bogota and Nairobi. five wings: central resource persons, local I talked to the Catholic Media Council, production partners, feedback advisers, PR Sonolux, the World Federation of Biblical contacts and distributors. Apostolate, 0C1C, UNDA, WACC and others. A consultation which lasted ten full days Our production partners in a given was convened in Yogyakarta. It was country need to be visionary as well as attended by twenty-five participants from competent. The perfect solution involves far and wide and proved a real turning the combination of a studio, a catechetical point. institute and a publishing house. Once initial contacts have been made, we ask Two years of consultation (1986 & 1987) our partner! s) to organise a local gave birth to the forty-three ’principles consultation of media people, pastoral , of production’ which still govern the workers and theologians. After introducing project. As they say in Nigeria, if you the theme, we brainstorm with them to hatch it long enough, an egg will learn to find suitable story lines. From this an walk. What discoveries had we made? initial script emerges. In our original plan we had, naively, Since the story, though filmed in one assumed that the videos should be of a country, will be seen in many others, we documentary nature. Catechists and parish next circularise the script to a network of workers made us see that presenting 165 feedback advisers experts on all Scripture in the form of contemporary continents who know about WALKING ON stories would be more helpful to ordinary WATER and who are willing to vet the people. Communicators pointed out that script for us. A story to be filmed in teaching is better conveyed through Columbia can thus be pre-tested on its written material which can be presented credibility in, say, the Philippines, Korea, viva voce in small groups; while video Zimbabwe, Canada or Spain. The responses lends itself better to convey models, we receive help us avoid cross-cultural emotions, other people’s lives. Stories, I clashes. At times they force us to entirely found out, can be shared cross-culturally re-write the script. provided they deal with general human life experiences. From the start we keep in mind that co producers all over the world are going to All this led to the present format of our use the material. We minimise dialogues or WALKING ON WATER courses. Each course monologues and write the scripts with a contains a course book (with instruction) a voice-over narration in view. Our Gospel video (with stories filmed in various scenes are presented in simple, universally countries) and a guide (which explains the understood line drawings. On our method). international master tapes we keep music and effects on a separate sound track; Our exchanges with Latin America per and omit English titles and captions. suaded us that the courses should offer community-centred action and change. We For PR reasons we have recruited fifteen replaced the original title with the more prominent ecclesiastical patrons, among dynamic one WALKING ON WATER. We also them three Cardinals and two Archbishops. decided to test the format in a pilot There are 350 key persons in 60 countries project which was filmed by PUSKAT on on our general mailing list. Keeping our Java in 1988. The story was shown to network going is a costly business. Mailing audiences in Europe, Africa and Latin our scripts to our feedback advisers costs America. The response was amazingly $ 1,400.00 each time; sending progress positive, and crucially critical. Among the reports to all our contacts $ 800.00. But it lessons we learned were important matters is well worth the expense. relating to content, sequence in production and international organisation. 10 • • Catholic Media Council BEING LOCAL WORLD-WIDE video does not come cheap anywhere. The cost per minute will often be a hefty $ Experience has taught us to be very 2,000.00 or more. To find the funding for democratic and open in consultations, but WALKING ON WATER has called for to maintain a firm central control on ingenuity and careful planning; even contents, quality of production and legal though its future use in so many rights. We base our contracts on an countries makes the project eminently international model also favoured by the economical. BBC. The secret of success so far has lain in In whatever country we produce, we rely dividing the overall project into on our local partner(s) to supply the manageable 'bites' which can be submitted director, camera crew, actors and to individual agencies for co-funding. actresses and all other requirements, Getting support was more difficult during Hubert de By our Housetop series the initial stages, before tangible results producer, observes the filming to assist in could be seen.

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