Saving Creativity

So here’s the update, sorry it’s been so long between them.  I was sent to Uganda by theMet to tell some stories, acquire great footage, and generally be what I hoped to be…creative.  What happened today will forever change who I am and how I view my life in America.  We went to Pastor Henry’s church in Njeru, Uganda, and while we have been recording some great testimonies to what theMet has perviously done here in Jinja, Uganda, have struggled this trip to find that story that rips your heart out and makes mashed potatoes of it.  Well we found it today.  God wrecked me when I was introduced to this young man…

Meet Samuel, he doesn’t know how old he is, does odds and ends to make maybe 100 schillings a day, and oh yeah….and most of the time the people he does the tasks for don’t pay him, kinda like leaving a tract at a restaurant table instead of a tip.  He eats maybe once a day, and goes to sleep crying at night because all he can think about is how hard it will be tomorrow to survive.  To top it all off: his dad died before he moved to Njeru and his mom died right after he moved there.  So now that we’ve established that he is in a situation that seems impossible…here is where we all come in:

It takes $50 a TERM to send Samuel to school.  For that $50 per term (3 terms a year) they get: uniforms, books, two solid meals a day and an honest to God education so he can make something of himself.  What he needs is our help.  I want to support this boy so that when he turns into a man, he can support his family.  So that his children will see hope and want to make something of themselves.  I want Samuel to be able to go to school for the next 5 years.  This is really where we all come in.  For every person that donates $50 to sending Samuel to school..I am going to send you a note card with specific things to pray for him and…a rock.  The prayer card is to remind you every day what to pray for, and the rock is to remind you that you have it so easy in America and that Samuel is back in Uganda struggling to just survive.  That the hardest thing you have to decide is what you want on your salad or what coke to drink, and that Samuel has to fight every…single…day to just eat.

For those of you who struggle with math, here is the break down: 3 terms a year X 5 years…that’s $750 to change a child’s present and future.  We can’t change his past, but we sure as hell need to change his future.  So I need 15 people to give Samuel a life, give him a chance at a future.  We are cutting a video together and each person who gives money will be given a link to hear Samuel’s story.  Once we launch it at theMet, I will post it for everyone else here.

So here’s my plea to you:  give to something bigger than yourself.  Go without your coffee for a couple of weeks (that would be you… you vente triple machiatto, no whip, soy milk drinkers you..), or maybe go to Supercuts instead of snooty salon (and when people ask you why you got your hair cut there, tell them Samuel’s story), or maybe don’t go out to eat every night and send that money.  God really challenged me to do something about Samuel, so are you human enough to care more than saving your creature comforts?  I know I am….  Over the next few weeks I am going to post a more stories of what God is doing in the lives of the people in Uganda, get ready for inspiration and heart wrenching stories.  God is bigger than America, and I hope through these stories, that God will give all of us a little insight into His heart for others around the world.

If you want to participate post a comment below and I will email you with the details.  I collect the money and once we have an entire year paid for, I will send it over to help Samuel out.

Thanks for taking the time to read and to help a young man out.  Your reward will be visible through a changed life…. Samuels!

For all of you over achievers in the world here are a few links to different organizations that will help you get a better understanding of the HOPE that is being spread around the world, and how you can be a part of something that is bigger than our little…American…worlds…

www.mochaclub.org

www.invisiblechildren.com

www.worldvision.com

20 days or 116,800 hours till I start my new job.  So many changes coming.  We have had a bunch of good showings on our house, no big bites yet, but this weekend could change that.  Ok, enough said about that.

I do have a question for everyone, they asked me what my must have plugins are for FCP.  I named the usual, G-films transitions and Magic Bullet.  But what are the other must have plugins that I haven’t yet discovered?  What do you use in FCP that really help polish that video piece till it’s buffed out goodness?

Ahh, my ADD is kicking in.  You should check out today’s free downloads on iTunes, the Neon Leon song “Push to Freeze” is a decent ambient song with lots of good guitar riffs throughout.  Although not as toasty as Owl City, I am digging these guys right now, especially for a free song.

Ok more to come today, I am hunting down reasons for everyone to upgrade to the iPhone 3GS, even if you own an HD camera, two videos that will blow your socks off and a new review on Final Cut Pro 7!  All those updates before noon EST!

So I guess it’s been a while since my last post.  Things have been so crazy around the Ackerman household and at Trinity.  With a job change in the next 3 weeks, moving 1500 miles away, packing, selling a house and making sure I have a happy wife and son…I have been slammed.  Things are tracking right along though!  Creatively I have been working to finish a lot of projects that have been hanging over my head and I am excited to launch the final version of Trinity’s fall series: Philippians: Live the Letter.  I am almost done with the bumper and have changed a few things with it since I last posted about it.  Any thoughts or ideas would be so great to hear from you AE pro’s out there.  What could I do better with the typography or ideas to help really polish the entire bumper!  Please comment and let me know how I can improve it…

Philippians Series Bumper from TrinityWired Productions on Vimeo.

I have gotten away from my bi-weekly inspiration posts and I will be getting back to that today.  My friend Adam over at ProgressIsBeautiful posted a bunch of videos but one that really struck me is Clayton’s Story.  What an amazing story and what an amazing young guy.  If you can watch his memorial service or his message at ABC, and not cry, then you have no soul!  Clayton’s legacy is one that has really challenged me to not just go through life, but to truly live life to the fullest!

Clayton’s Story from Jacob Lewis on Vimeo.

Well if you have been following my twitter feed or even facebook for that matter…it’s official.  The Ackerman household is moving to Houston, Texas to join a wonderful staff at theMet.  I will working in the Worship Arts department as a Video Director/Editor and working along side Andrew (a great guy might I add!).  We are excited and nervous all at the same time.  God has been doing some very cool stuff along the way and we feel confident and at peace with going.  Now comes the long list of things to do, to actually pick up all of our stuff and move it 1500 miles cross country to a town I have been to twice!  I am also trying desperately to sell my house and finish up all of my video work for the side business as well as Trinity!

Today is a woot.com woot!off so make sure you head over there and F5 often to get the woot! goodness that they slepp up every time a product sells out.  Right now it’s a professional slicer, but I just missed a Gutter Cleaner, a microSD card and a Pen scanner…. Oh the joys of woot!

I have been working hard on some very cool stuff here at Trinity.  Namely the fall series.  I wanted to create this…but alas my PS/AI skills are lacking to actually pull it off.  So I went with the default, find a cool look in AE and create it!  So without further ado, here is a sneak peak at what the rough fall bumper will be….

Phillippians Bumper from TrinityWired Productions on Vimeo.

First off, if you aren’t my friend on FaceBook, why not?!  Go, look me up and friend me already!  Next thing you should do is go check out this website from Philips advertising their new CinemaScope LCD TV.  Innovative or gimmick, you be the judge.

So it’s Friday morning, the screening night from “The 24hr Film Festival” is over.  It went over really well.  Ralph Winter was one of the judges.  That guy has some cool insights on the films.  I might dare to say that last night we screened some of the best films I have seen come out of our 24hr film festival.  They should be going up on the 24hr’s website sometime in the coming week or so.  Please go check them out at the above link.

Life is going good right now.  We are post Easter, I made a mad dash to get my side business projects all billed out and done, and nothing is on my schedule right now except for things to do around the house.

Love is our son.  Since the building has been closed on Fridays I have been working 4-10’s.  While it sucks to get to work at 7am and work hard through 5pm, it has been nice to be home on Friday’s.  I have gotten to spend lots-o-time with the wife and boy.  With that comes so much more son and dad time, and he has really started to smile a lot lately.  I am going to post some video of him smiling and hamming it up to the camera tomorrow.

Happiness…well isn’t that interesting.  I think that happiness comes from the right perspective on life and love.  So without further ado, please go here and watch the Shannon Culpepper video.  Now that is what happiness is all about….

Jon

Oh and for those that love vimeo as much as I do, loving the smooth animation and Lego like effects…

subprime from beeple on Vimeo.