1980 – 2020 Celebrating 40 Years! Spectrum A&E Media 1980-2020 Celebrating 40 Years! Spectrum Productions was established in 1980 in Regina, Saskatchewan to provide multimedia resources for organizations working with students in Canada. A board of committed friends sacrificially stood behind Keith and Jenny Martin to help raise support and give direction to the work. Spectrum’s Roots The roots of Spectrum go back to 1970, when Keith, having graduated with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in philosophy from the University of Regina, spent time at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland. L’Abri was and still is a live-in student community founded by Francis and Edith Schaeffer to explore answers to basic philosophical questions from a Christian worldview. 2 In 1971 Keith, Steve Archer and Art Pearson applied for and received a federal Opportunities For Youth grant for a summer project called Street Level: A Multimedia Culture Probe. Inspired by seeing 2100 Productions in the United States, they wanted to do something similar in Canada. With a budget of $8,800 they hired 8 students (Keith, Steve, Art, Gene Haas, Chris Molnar, Steve and Lorne Seibert, and Linda McArdell—and Henry Friesen for the presentation phase) at $1,000 each for 3 months of work. That left $800, and lots of borrowed eQuipment, to produce a 5-screen, 7-projector 80 minute multi-media presentation using contemporary music to look at what people were living for. 3 Some of the artists used in the production were Pink Floyd, Simon & Garfunkle, Strawbs, STREET LEVEL Steppenwolf, Leonard Cohen, Cat Stevens, Moody Soundtrack (1971) Blues, Traffic, Chicago, Procol Harem, Black “Careful With That Axe, Eugene” - Pink Floyd (Ummagumma) “At the Zoo” - Simon & Garfunkle (Bookends) “I’ve Got a Story” - Gary Wright (Extraction) Sabbath, King Crimson, and Ford Theatre. The “Martin Luther King’s Dream” - Strawbs (Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios) production ended with Nietzsche’s “Parable of “Power Play” - Steppenwolf (Monster) “The Stories of the Street” (st. 1, 2) - Leonard Cohen (Songs of Leonard Cohen) “MLK’s Dream” (last verse) - Strawbs the Madman,” comparing us to planets in need of Electronic music - The Wild Bull a sun for light and warmth. “Where Do the Children Play?” - Cat Stevens (Tea for the Tillerman) “How Is It We Are Here?” - Moody Blues (A Question of Balance) “Genesis in Reverse/Careful . Axe” - Pink Floyd (Ummagumma) “MLK’s Dream” (fade in) - Strawbs “No Time to Live” - Traffic (Traffic) “Don’t You Feel Small?” - Moody Blues (A Question of Balance) “Signs” - 5 Man Electric Band (Goodbyes & Butterflies) “Father and Son” - Cat Stevens (Tea for the Tillerman) “Look Around” - Thunderclap Newman (Hollywood Dream) “Stories of the Street” (st. 3, 4)) - Cohen “Where Do We Go From Here?” - Chicago (Chicago) “Born To Be Wild” - Steppenwolf (Steppenwolf) “Legend of a Mind (Timothy Leary’s Dead)” -The Moody Blues (In Search of the Lost Chord) “The Pusher” - Steppenwolf (Steppenwolf) (motorcycle sound) OM/music of Dalai-Llama “In Held ‘Twas in I” - Procol Harem (Shine On Brightly) (motorcycle sound) “Season of the Witch” - Vanilla Fudge (Renaissance) “Black Sabbath” - Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath) “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” - Roger McGuinn (Easy Rider soundtrack) (motorcycle sound and crash) “Where Is This Dream of Your Youth? - Strawbs (Strawbs) “Shine On Brightly” - Procol Harem (Shine On Brightly) “Epitaph” - King Crimson (In the Court of the Crimson King) “Parable of the Madman/Careful . Axe” - Nietzsche/Pink Floyd “Who You Belong To” - Ford Theatre (Trilogy for the Masses) “Postlude” - Ford Theatre (Trilogy for the Masses) 4 Chapter I: Exploring Values and Beliefs (1980-88) After completing an Honours B.A., a Master of Divinity degree, and marrying Jenny Milone in Nyack, N.Y., in 1980 Keith and a board of friends (Merv Hepting, Verlyn Wilson, Bill Hall, Jenny, and later Gary Nelson) founded Spectrum Productions Association in Regina, Saskatchewan as a nonprofit media organization exploring values and beliefs. With a Canada Summer Youth Employment Program grant they hired 4 students, Karen Travis, Darrel Reid, Daryl McKinnon, and Daryle Niedermayer—all Darrels spelled differently(!) and then joined for a few weeks by Keith’s brother Darrell, also spelled differently. Together with Keith, Jenny and Joanne Austring, they produced the first version of In Search of a Sun, a 3-screen, 9-projector multimedia presentation. 6 In 1981, with help from photographer Don Riggott from Minnesota, Spectrum produced Between Reflections: A Hard Look At an Eclipsed Sun, exploring the possibility that the God of Judeo-Christianity offers what we are looking for as an adeQuate sun to answer to and to belong to. 7 Here are the soundtrack lists for the original productions. IN SEARCH OF A SUN Soundtrack (1980 version) BETWEEN REFLECTIONS: A hard look at an eclipsed sun Soundtrack (1981) (Introduction) “Careful With That Axe, Eugene” - Pink Floyd (Ummagumma) “Have Mercy Love” - Janice Ian (Night Rains) “Long Away” - Queen (U) “Is There Anybody Out There?” - Pink Floyd (The Wall) (Materialism) “When All the Laughter Dies in Sorrow” - Chicago (Chicago III) “The Winner” - Randy Stonehill (Welcome to Paradise) “Meanings Will Change” - Paul Stookey (Paul And) “Dialogue With the Devil” (st. 1) - Bruce Cockburn (Sunwheel Dance) N1 (Sex) “Comfortably Numb” - Pink Floyd (The Wall) “Open Invitation” - Santana (Inner Secrets) “Pardon Me” - Larry Norman (Only Visiting This Planet) N2 “Dialogue” (st. 3) - Cockburn “Rumours of Glory” - Bruce Cockburn (Humans) (Fun & Entertainment) “Fun It” - Jackson Browne (Lawyers in Love) “Bedsitter” - Soft Cell (Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret) N3 (Pursuit of knowledge) “Benediction” - Stealers Wheel (Right or Wrong) “I Robot” (instrumental) - Alan Parsons Project (I Robot) “Long Long Way” - Ian Thomas (Long Long Way) N4 “Epitaph” - King Crimson (In the Court of the Crimson King) “You Don’t Have to Play the Horses” (vs. 3) - Bruce Cockburn (Night Vision) “He is Risen” (pt. 1) - John Michael Talbot (The Beautiful City) (Comic Reflief) “The Great American Cure” - Randy Stonehill (The Sky Is Falling) N5 “Horses” (vs. 4) - Cockburn “Death in Jerusalem” - Parchment (Hollywood Sunset) (Love & Friendship) “Journey to Calvary” - Clear Light Productions (Because I Am) “That’s Enough for Me” - Peter Yarrow (That’s Enough for Me) “This Morning” - Justin Hayward & John Lodge (Blue Jays) N6 (Human Potential) “Be Careful What You Sign” - Larry Norman (So Long Ago the Garden) “Willpower” - Dominic Troiano (Burnin’ At The Stake) “Dust in the Wind” - Kansas (Point of Know Return) N7 (Transcendental Options) “On the Other Side” - Kansas (Monolith) “He is Risen” (pt. 2) - John Michael Talbot “Questions” - Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (The Roaring Silence) N8 (Conclusion) “Time” (pt. 1) - Pink Floyd (The Dark Side of the Moon) “Hallelu” - John Michael Talbot (Beginnings) “On the Other Side” (vs. 3) - Kansas “Invisible Sun” (excerpt) - The Police (The Ghost in the Machine) “Time” (pt. 2) - Pink Floyd N9 “Careful With That Axe, Eugene” (ending) - Pink Floyd “Reflections” - Cliff Richard (About That Man) (Postlude) “More Not More” - Bruce Cockburn (Humans) N10 “Dweller By a Dark Stream” - Bruce Cockburn (Mummy Dust) Spectrum’s original brochure explained why the name Spectrum was chosen: SPECTRUM . Examining the full range of what people believe in . Reflecting sights and sounds in a clear pattern and progression of thought . Shedding light on what it means to be human, made in God’s image. This is Spectrum. A few years later, even as part of Inter-Varsity, the last line would be changed to “Shedding light on what it means to be human—physically, socially, spiritually.” That is what Spectrum’s brochures have said ever since. 8 In the fall of 1981 Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship in Alberta hired Keith and Jenny to show both productions in universities and colleges across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, based out of Calgary. In January of 1982 Keith and Jenny and Spectrum moved to Toronto to work with IVCF Ontario under the leadership of Don Posterski. For 2 years Keith was also the IVCF staff worker at York University. 9 In the summer of 1982 Tom Balke helped strengthen the productions with his excellent photography. In 1983 Keith and Jenny took a break from Spectrum and travelled to Europe and Israel for the summer. In 1984, with help from John Sharp, Darrell Martin and Jill Jones, In Search of a Sun was updated and renamed In Search of a Sun: An InQuiry into Values. 10 Here is the soundtrack list for the 1984 version. IN SEARCH OF A SUN: An Inquiry Into Values Soundtrack (1984 version) (Introduction) “Dazzle Ships” (instrumental) - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (Dazzle Ships) “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of” - The Human League (Dare) (Material possessions) “Money” - Pink Floyd (The Dark Side of the Moon) “Candy Man’s Gone” - Bruce Cockburn (The Trouble With Normal) (Sensual pleasure) “Open Invitation” - Santana (Inner Secrets) “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” - Eurythmics (Sweet Dreams) (Partying & entertainment) “For a Rocker” - Jackson Browne (Lawyers in Love) “Bedsitter” - Soft Cell (Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret) (Comic Relief) “The Great American Cure” - Randy Stonehill (The Sky Is Falling) (Love & friendship) “Hold Me Now” - Thompson Twins (Into the Gap) “This Morning” - Justin Hayward & John Lodge (Blue Jays) (The pursuit of knowledge) “I Robot” (instrumental) - Alan Parsons Project (I Robot) “Pretending to See the Future” - O.M.D. (Orchestral Manoeuvres