Smile! You’re on Scott’s Camera

Three days after Steven the Doctor & I parted ways, Scott the Videographer arrived in the DR. We've been looking for someone with precisely his skillset for I don't even know how long; God led him to us in His perfect timing. Scott's task is deceptively simple: create a Spanish promotional video for Concordia the Reformer Seminary (CMSCR) as a recruitment tool for the residential pastoral formation program. In reality, it's an enormous undertaking: roughly 100 hours of pro-bono editing awaits, interspersed with all of his other work as the owner of his own business. I've seen his portfolio, though, and it's going to be epic. 

Day 1 on the ground featured a double header of church services - all the better for shooting TWO sets of seminary field workers in their element - and a volleyball game that brought together students, professors, missionaries, youth from the Good Shepherd Lutheran Homes group home, and neighbors. 

Rev. Carlos & Deac. Danelle prepared a feast for a small group of us afterwards!

Scott's first full day in the country was beach day! For starters, he wanted to shoot some of the DR's beautiful scenery, but mostly, there are no seminary activities on Mondays. Taking a guest to the beach is a tough job, but someone's gotta do it, and that someone was director Rev. Joel Fritsche. I used my hands-off time to take my car in for regularly maintenance and catch up on computer work. 

Scott's first real look at the seminary campus came on Tuesday with tour guide Joel. 

Disclaimer: this shot is 100% staged, although Freddy (foreground), for one, was prepping for this Sunday's Bible class on Romans. 

"Extras" walking from point A to point B and back again with a GoPro tailing them. 

We also conducted our first batch of interviews on Tuesday. Scott would ask a question in English, I'd interpret it into Spanish, and interviewees would answer in Spanish. Scott couldn't understand a word (I'd later watch every. single. clip. and record the answers in English), but I was so edified by the answers to questions like

How long have you been here and how long do you have left?

Why did you come to this particular seminary?

What does your family think about you being here?

What is your favorite part of seminary life? 

What do you do for fun? 

[If applicable] How do you feel about your wife studying in the deaconess program?

Why is it important to spread the Word of God?

What do you hope for the future of the Church?

We made an early morning trip to Palmar on Wednesday to shoot in-person Hebrew class (side note: I was surreptitiously Googling the difference between attributive and predicative adjectives and am seriously considering auditing Greek next school year and Hebrew the year after that)...

...Concordia Lutheran School to highlight that while future pastors are studying the Confessions, kids ages 3-9 are learning about Jesus two floors down...

...and the exterior of the building in perfect morning light. 

We were back in the neighborhood in time for brunch and Bible study with the seminary wives, followed by some impromptu interviews about their experiences so as to give due mention to CMSCR's largest program by far. That afternoon, we accompanied my pastor and Panamanian seminary student Demetrio on visits, and enjoyed homemade Venezuelan empanadas for dinner. 

I was pretty hands-off again Thursday, as Scott participated in Community Day and accompanied the Pueblo Nuevo church planting team on visits. 

This morning we hit up three cultural sites for some essential B-roll: the botanical garden (pictured), the Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration, and a nearby street on which nearly every surface is muralized. 

Tomorrow it's off to the capital for a full day of shooting. I'm beginning to wonder how I used to get anything else done when on-field guests and volunteers were more of a constant fixture, but I can't stress enough how fulfilling it's been to watch Scott connect the dots between the various aspects of seminary life and begin to grasp CMSCR's wide-ranging impact. I can't wait to see his finished product and reminisce about my miniscule role in bringing it to fruition. 

Until next time, blessings in Christ!