Cinematography and the Bible: Part III: "Skill and Building"


Creating a film is like constructing a building. All the pieces have to be in place in order for it to function(communicate). Not only that, artistry is employed in order to make it breath with the breathe of the artist all the aesthetic, mundane, and divine values it expresses. Great buildings and great films do this.

One great building that has been lost in the ravaging path of human history is the Jews ancient temple in Jerusalem and its predecessor, the tabernacle. At one point in time the temple was tantamount to a Wonder of the World. Look at it this way, as far as I know the tabernacle and the temple are the only buildings in the thousands of years of billions of human lives that have been filled with the manifest presence of God repeatedly. If that doesn't make a building great...face it, it was a magnificent building for a magnificent God.


When God ordered the tabernacle to be built He gave all sorts of specific instructions. However, in regards to a bronze basin that needed to be built for ritual cleansing, He gave only general instructions. Yet, he gave two people very special skills to build the tabernacle:

Exodus 31:1-7
Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship. Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent-"

God filled these men with what they needed to accomplish. This is some heavy stuff, if you let your mind go to the place of "what if's"? Such as, "What if God didn't fill me with the skill I need to do what I am doing?" I think those questions can be answered if we ask Him, however they are also very self-centric. Instead, I think the bigger issue is whether or not we have the courage to use the skill he has given us.

Fast forward in Jewish history a few hundred years and you will see what I am talking about. In 568 BCE the Jews of Judah found themselves under the control of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, who leveled Jerusalem. He exiled the people and they remained in exile until King Cyrus, of Persia, conquered Babylon 2 decades later. Then King Cyrus wrote a decree which reads much like the commission of Bezalel and Oholiab.

Ezra 1:1-2
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: " 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.' "

Yet again, God is moving people and equipping them to build. In the same way we are all moved and equipped to do certain things. This passage and the one in Exodus both reveal that God had certain people in certain places to accomplish certain things, and He made sure they were equipped to do it! He gives people skill, ability, and knowledge to engage in the crafts He has set before Him. Now if it were only that simple. The human taint still must be over come. When the people under Cyrus' rule found themselves in Jerusalem doing the work they had to continue;

Ezra 3:3
Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices.

When I find myself preparing for a shoot I have only a given level of skill, ability, and knowledge to engage in the craft of story telling in a visual medium. My job is to utilize what God has given me, and engage. This is a very active word which God used to describe what Bezalel would do. He also used the word, make. To make, is to begin and then to finish. Then you can look at your work and see that it is good.

Cinematographers, and all artists, must remember that the skill, ability, and knowledge they have is God given and they need not fear the people around them. All they have to do is engage, engage, engage and make something.

The Cinematographer
Stewart H. Redwine