Through a different lens

Michael Clouse and Blake Nelson with this year’s LoveWorks brochure that was distributed in last Wednesday’s chapel. Both students filmed the LoveWorks video that played in Chapel to highlight some of last summer’s trips. Photo by Vannessa Siria

Unlike most chapel services, the LoveWorks/YouthWorks chapel last Wednesday did not start off with worship but jumped straight into a short prayer followed by a short film by Blake Nelson and Michael Clouse.

This year’s film aimed to tell a more personal story by closely following two PLNU students on their LoveWorks trips.

“The story, the characters and the ideas behind this movie are so much bigger than me and even so much bigger than LoveWorks as a whole,” said junior Blake Nelson via e-mail. Nelson spent nearly 500 hours editing the film.

The film focused on PLNU junior Pieter Baker and his newfound Solomon Islands friend, Jimmy, as well as sophomore Lissy Gillespie and Venezuelan pastor Oscar Acosta. Clips and interviews from LoveWorks trips to Armenia, Rwanda and Liberia were also included. The array of upbeat music combined with the comical comments of LoveWorks participants and the different regions’ residents entertained the audience.

“I was really impressed with the film; it had my attention the whole time, which is unusual for chapel,” said senior Rachel Sanches. “It was funny as well as insightful. It inspired me to do a LoveWorks or YouthWorks trip, and I already turned in an interest card!”

Students are not the only ones who enjoyed the film.

“I hear people remarking that it was a coherent video with easy-to-follow storylines,” said Melissa Tucker, the YouthWorks coordinator. “I have heard more people talking about this year’s film [and] chapel than in past years, and I believe the credit for this, in large part, is due to Blake’s art maturing over time.”

The film was shot by Nelson in Venezuela and senior Michael Clouse in the Solomon Islands. Additional clips were shot by students on other LoveWorks trips.
Clouse felt that the video was well-received but noted that the stories that were focused on in the film were just glimpses of what happened last summer.

“Viewers can’t see everything that happened because the editing had to focus on a specific situation,” said Clouse. “There were so many good stories and interesting people that were impossible to tell about in 30 minutes. [I hope that] the interest that the film generated will get people talking about LoveWorks with others who have also gone, giving them the opportunity to share their experiences.”

Nelson agreed and hoped that viewers were able to understand that the experiences shown in the film are part of something much bigger.

“I’m happy as long as [the film] is understood as just one intimate experience,” said Nelson. “What was shown in the video is just a tiny part.”

Unlike in previous years, students were allowed to turn in interest cards at the back of Brown Chapel immediately after chapel.

“This increased the amount of immediate responses that we received,” said Tucker. “The same-day response was much higher this year than in previous years.”

Jeff Bolster, director of International Ministries, was also pleased with the outcome of the LoveWorks/YouthWorks chapel.

“The students seemed very interested and attentive to the film,” said Bolster. “At the end of the [LoveWorks] trips, I do an evaluation survey to find out various things about the program. One question I ask is how important the chapel [and] film was to their decision. For the 2007 participants, over 60 percent of them rated it ‘very important.’ My assumption would be that this year there will be a similar reaction.”