Part of a four day training on mobile media production and distribution for ministry. Covers the role of mobile media in an outreach strategy and the issues involved at the intersection of media and cultures.
2. Your ministry goals and
mobile media’s role in
achieving them
As table groups, discuss:
1) Your ministries’ main objective/goal
2) A way you could see mobile media
assisting in the achievement of that
objective/goal
5. The Christian religion itself is
a religion of communication
with a communicator God
who has utilized a wide
variety of media
Soggard Media in Church and Mission
8. 1. Prayer
2. Abundant Gospel sowing
3. Intentional church planting
4. Scriptural authority
5. Local leadership
6. Lay leadership
7. Cell or house churches
8. Churches planting churches
9. Rapid reproduction
10. Healthy churches
9. 1. Prayer
2. Abundant Gospel sowing
3. Intentional church planting
4. Scriptural authority
5. Local leadership
6. Lay leadership
7. Cell or house churches
8. Churches planting churches
9. Rapid reproduction
10. Healthy churches
10. In Church Planting Movements,
hundreds and even thousands of
individuals are hearing the
claims that Jesus Christ has on
their lives. This sowing often
relies heavily upon mass media
evangelism, but it always includes
personal evangelism with vivid
testimonies to the lifechanging
power of the gospel.
37. A Couple Radical Thoughts
• What if media is less about persuading
and more about identifying? (Push vs.
Pull)
• What if the community-building and
response systems aspects are more
important than the actual content?
Courtesy Tom Khazoyan, 10X Productions, Adding Fizz to Your Vids
and Frank Preston, Push vs. Pull Media in Movements
(http://www.mobileministryforum.org/pullvspushmedia)
38. A Couple Radical Thoughts
• What if media is less about persuading
and more about identifying? (Push vs.
Pull)
• What if the community-building and
response systems aspects are more
important than the actual content?
Courtesy Adding Fizz to Your Vids (conference presentations) and
Frank Preston, Push vs. Pull Media in Movements
(http://www.mobileministryforum.org/pullvspushmedia)
39. Appropriate Media
Subject Matter:
• Does it address their needs/concerns or
ours?
Heaven as hell for a Buddhist
Presentation:
• Are there elements that call out the media
as foreign/”other”
Is Jesus a white man?
Are closing credits in English helpful?
40. Appropriate Media
Subject Matter:
• Does it address their needs/concerns or
ours?
Heaven as hell for a Buddhist
Presentation:
• Are there elements that call out the media
as foreign/”other”
Is Jesus a white man?
Are closing credits in English helpful?
41. Appropriate Media
Subject Matter:
• Does it address their needs/concerns or
ours?
Heaven as hell for a Buddhist
Presentation:
• Are there elements that call out the media
as foreign/”other”
Is Jesus a white man?
Are closing credits in English helpful?
42. Appropriate Media
Subject Matter:
• Does it address their needs/concerns or
ours?
Heaven as hell for a Buddhist
Presentation:
• Are there elements that call out the media
as foreign/”other”
Is Jesus a white man?
Are closing credits in English helpful?
43. Appropriate Media
Subject Matter:
• Does it address their needs/concerns or
ours?
Heaven as hell for a Buddhist
Presentation:
• Are there elements that call out the media
as foreign/”other”
Is Jesus a white man?
Are closing credits in English helpful?
45. While watching the "JESUS" film in the
forest region of Guinea, West Africa,
audiences are reported to have understood
Jesus as a successful traditional priest or
marabout. From their cultural context it is
obvious to them that Jesus keeps his
fetishes, from which he draws his powers, in
the bag he carries with him. (Wiher 1997:70)
Merz, Johannes Translation and the Visual Predicament of the ''JESUS'' Film in West Africa
http://mis.sagepub.com/content/38/2/111.full.pdf
46. Particularly during the time of his ministry, Jesus is depicted as
exemplary and immaculate, merging the conventions of Hollywood
with the evangelical pietistic tradition. The makers seem to have
tried to remain as neutral, and for that reason inexpressive, as they
can, creating an image of human distance
Merz, Johannes Translation and the Visual Predicament of the ''JESUS'' Film in West Africa
http://mis.sagepub.com/content/38/2/111.full.pdf
48. Appropriate Media
Presentation (continued):
• Is it orally/visually appropriate for them?
each culture has its own form of art, and hence
its own visual language: "the transposer [of
Scripture to film] must therefore know all about
the art of the culture of the people he is trying
to communicate to"
Merz, Johannes Translation and the Visual Predicament of the ''JESUS'' Film in West Africa
http://mis.sagepub.com/content/38/2/111.full.pdf
49. Film reproduces visual cultural symbols
that become part of the visual language
of film that can be easily read and
directly understood by an audience who
shares the same cultural and ideological
background as the filmmaker. The
shared context between filmmaker and
audience allows the latter to infer the
intended meaning of a film to a high
degree
Merz, Johannes Translation and the Visual Predicament of the ''JESUS'' Film in West Africa
http://mis.sagepub.com/content/38/2/111.full.pdf
51. An in-depth and systematic
explanation of how the skills
bound up with alphabetic
literacy shape visual narrative-
and how an unavailability or
dismissal of these skills
fundamentally shapes visual
narrative, too.
http://www.film-philosophy.com/index.php/f-p/article/view/896/841
52. Perhaps nothing could be more foreign to audiences
accustomed to the ambiguity and restraint of Western
(European and American) art cinema than the
exaggerated emotionality and tortuous narratives of
Hindi film. Spontaneous musical interludes, bombastic
declarations of love and revenge and camerawork
amplified to reinforce the extremities of emotional
intensity and physical violence featured in the
narrative would only be employed in an ironic sense in
most films produced in the West, where subtlety and
ambiguity are often the hallmarks of artistic worth. A
lack of mutual appreciation, and even of basic
comprehension, often exists between these two
widely disparate forms of cinema and their
respective audiences
http://www.film-philosophy.com/index.php/f-p/article/view/896/841
53. • Oral films are non-utilitarian in structure, with
many digressions that do little to further the
plot.
• Their tone is exaggerated and melodramatic,
and they are often employed in the espousal
of conservative ideology.
• Oral modes of communication impart
knowledge that cannot be preserved in print,
and are thus geared towards making
information as easy to absorb as possible;
hence the hyperbolic cinematographic style
and simplistic ideology of orally-inflected films
Sheila J. Nayar (2010) Cinematically Speaking: The Orality-Literacy Paradigm for Visual Narrative
54. • Oral films are non-utilitarian in structure, with
many digressions that do little to further the
plot.
• Their tone is exaggerated and melodramatic,
and they are often employed in the espousal
of conservative ideology.
• Oral modes of communication impart
knowledge that cannot be preserved in print,
and are thus geared towards making
information as easy to absorb as possible;
hence the hyperbolic cinematographic style
and simplistic ideology of orally-inflected films
Sheila J. Nayar (2010) Cinematically Speaking: The Orality-Literacy Paradigm for Visual Narrative
55. • Oral films are non-utilitarian in structure, with
many digressions that do little to further the
plot.
• Their tone is exaggerated and melodramatic,
and they are often employed in the espousal
of conservative ideology.
• Oral modes of communication impart
knowledge that cannot be preserved in print,
and are thus geared towards making
information as easy to absorb as possible;
hence the hyperbolic cinematographic style
and simplistic ideology of orally-inflected films
Sheila J. Nayar (2010) Cinematically Speaking: The Orality-Literacy Paradigm for Visual Narrative
56. • Oral films are non-utilitarian in structure, with
many digressions that do little to further the
plot.
• Their tone is exaggerated and melodramatic,
and they are often employed in the espousal
of conservative ideology.
• Oral modes of communication impart
knowledge that cannot be preserved in print,
and are thus geared towards making
information as easy to absorb as possible;
hence the hyperbolic cinematographic style
and simplistic ideology of orally-inflected films
Sheila J. Nayar (2010) Cinematically Speaking: The Orality-Literacy Paradigm for Visual Narrative
57. • Oral films are non-utilitarian in structure, with
many digressions that do little to further the
plot.
• Their tone is exaggerated and melodramatic,
and they are often employed in the espousal
of conservative ideology.
• Oral modes of communication impart
knowledge that cannot be preserved in print,
and are thus geared towards making
information as easy to absorb as possible;
hence the hyperbolic cinematographic style
and simplistic ideology of orally-inflected films
Sheila J. Nayar (2010) Cinematically Speaking: The Orality-Literacy Paradigm for Visual Narrative
58. • Exaggeration and repetition of character traits
and actions within masala films render their
stories easier to remember and more enjoyable
for illiterate viewers, who are accustomed to
acquiring and maintaining information through
processes of verbal reiteration rather than
relying on written records as the basis of
knowledge.
• Stereotyped characters (such as flawless
heroes, irredeemably evil villains and chaste
and beautiful princesses) reflect the Manichean
structure of oral narratives, in which a clearly
defined moral universe aids in understanding
and retention
Sheila J. Nayar (2010) Cinematically Speaking: The Orality-Literacy Paradigm for Visual Narrative
59. • Exaggeration and repetition of character traits
and actions within masala films render their
stories easier to remember and more enjoyable
for illiterate viewers, who are accustomed to
acquiring and maintaining information through
processes of verbal reiteration rather than
relying on written records as the basis of
knowledge.
• Stereotyped characters (such as flawless
heroes, irredeemably evil villains and chaste
and beautiful princesses) reflect the Manichean
structure of oral narratives, in which a clearly
defined moral universe aids in understanding
and retention
Sheila J. Nayar (2010) Cinematically Speaking: The Orality-Literacy Paradigm for Visual Narrative
60. Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
1) Who is the intended audience?
The more specific you can get the better:
- Ethnicity - Age group - Location
- Occupation - Media preferences
- Spiritual status (disinterested, curious, seeker,
engaged, involved)
- Socio-economic status
61. Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
1) Who is the intended audience?
The more specific you can get the better:
- Ethnicity - Age group - Location
- Occupation - Media preferences
- Spiritual status (disinterested, curious, seeker,
engaged, involved)
- Socio-economic status
62. Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
1) Who is the intended audience?
The more specific you can get the better:
- Ethnicity - Age group - Location
- Occupation - Media preferences
- Spiritual status (disinterested, curious, seeker,
engaged, involved)
- Socio-economic status
63. 1) Who is the intended audience?
The more specific you can get the better:
- Ethnicity - Age group - Location
- Occupation - Media preferences
- Spiritual status (disinterested, curious, seeker,
engaged, involved)
- Socio-economic status
Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
64. 1) Who is the intended audience?
The more specific you can get the better:
- Ethnicity - Age group - Location
- Occupation - Media preferences
- Spiritual status (disinterested, curious, seeker,
engaged, involved)
- Socio-economic status
Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
65. 1) Who is the intended audience?
The more specific you can get the better:
- Ethnicity - Age group - Location
- Occupation - Media preferences
- Spiritual status (disinterested, curious, seeker,
engaged, involved)
- Socio-economic status
Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
66. 1) Who is the intended audience?
The more specific you can get the better:
- Ethnicity - Age group - Location
- Occupation - Media preferences
- Spiritual status (disinterested, curious, seeker,
engaged, involved)
- Socio-economic status
Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
67. 1) Who is the intended audience?
The more specific you can get the better:
- Ethnicity - Age group - Location
- Occupation - Media preferences
- Spiritual status (disinterested, curious, seeker,
engaged, involved)
- Socio-economic status
Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
68. 1) Who is the intended audience?
The more specific you can get the better:
- Ethnicity - Age group - Location
- Occupation - Media preferences
- Spiritual status (disinterested, curious, seeker,
engaged, involved)
- Socio-economic status
Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
69. 1) Who is the intended audience?
The more specific you can get the better:
- Ethnicity - Age group - Location
- Occupation - Media preferences
- Spiritual status (disinterested, curious, seeker,
engaged, involved)
- Socio-economic status
Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
70. 2) What do you want them to
feel, think, value or do after
experiencing your media
project?
The more specific you can get the better
Two questions that must be
answered before starting a
media project
72. In your table groups share
the project you have begun
outlining and, as a group,
brainstorm ideas that could
help each project have
maximum effectiveness
74. Visual Narrative
Structure and Form
Oral
• Flashbacks and
digressions that may or
may not advance a
normative plot
• Repetition, recycling,
formula privileging
• Spectacle (flat surface- a
“cinema of attractions”)
• Narrative closure (no
ambivalent or open
endings)
Literate
• The use of a normative
plot involving the three
act structure and Freytag
pyramid of action
• Originality
• Anti-spectacle
• Lack of narrative closure
(ambivalent endings,
open endings) Nayar
Cinematically
Speaking p121
75. Oral
• Flashbacks and
digressions that may or
may not advance a
normative plot
• Repetition, recycling,
formula privileging
• Spectacle (flat surface- a
“cinema of attractions”)
• Narrative closure (no
ambivalent or open
endings)
Literate
• The use of a normative
plot involving the three
act structure and Freytag
pyramid of action
• Originality
• Anti-spectacle
• Lack of narrative closure
(ambivalent endings,
open endings)
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
Visual Narrative
Structure and Form
76. Oral
• Flashbacks and
digressions that may or
may not advance a
normative plot
• Repetition, recycling,
formula privileging
• Spectacle (flat surface- a
“cinema of attractions”)
• Narrative closure (no
ambivalent or open
endings)
Literate
• The use of a normative
plot involving the three
act structure and Freytag
pyramid of action
• Originality
• Anti-spectacle
• Lack of narrative closure
(ambivalent endings,
open endings)
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
Visual Narrative
Structure and Form
77. Oral
• Flashbacks and
digressions that may or
may not advance a
normative plot
• Repetition, recycling,
formula privileging
• Spectacle (flat surface- a
“cinema of attractions”)
• Narrative closure (no
ambivalent or open
endings)
Literate
• The use of a normative
plot involving the three
act structure and Freytag
pyramid of action
• Originality
• Anti-spectacle
• Lack of narrative closure
(ambivalent endings,
open endings)
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
Visual Narrative
Structure and Form
78. Visual Narrative
Visual, Verbal and Aural Tone
Oral
• Inflated melodrama
violence
• Amplified
characters and
settings
• Frontality
(obviousness)
Literate
• Restraint/quietude
• Understated
“nuanced”
characters and
settings
• Nuance and
subtlety
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
79. Visual Narrative
Visual, Verbal and Aural Tone
Oral
• Inflated melodrama
violence
• Amplified
characters and
settings
• Frontality
(obviousness)
Literate
• Restraint/quietude
• Understated
“nuanced”
characters and
settings
• Nuance and
subtlety
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
80. Visual Narrative
Visual, Verbal and Aural Tone
Oral
• Inflated melodrama
violence
• Amplified
characters and
settings
• Frontality
(obviousness)
Literate
• Restraint/quietude
• Understated
“nuanced”
characters and
settings
• Nuance and
subtlety
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
81. Visual Narrative
Visual, Verbal and Aural Tone
Oral
• Redundancy/
repetition
• Use of cliches,
proverbs
• Plain meanings
Literate
• Restraint and non-
redundancy
• Lack of “formulaic”
language
• Ambiguous
meanings that must
be deduced
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
82. Visual Narrative
Visual, Verbal and Aural Tone
Oral
• Redundancy/
repetition
• Use of cliches,
proverbs
• Plain meanings
Literate
• Restraint and non-
redundancy
• Lack of “formulaic”
language
• Ambiguous
meanings that must
be deduced
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
83. Visual Narrative
Visual, Verbal and Aural Tone
Oral
• Redundancy/
repetition
• Use of cliches,
proverbs
• Plain meanings
Literate
• Restraint and non-
redundancy
• Lack of “formulaic”
language
• Ambiguous
meanings that must
be deduced
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
84. Visual Narrative
Worldview and Orientation
Oral
• Polarized/Black and
White
• Non-psychological
orientation
• Concerned solely
with present events
Literate
• Non-polarized/
Grayness
• Psychological
orientation
• Concerned with
historical factors
effecting present
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
85. Visual Narrative
Worldview and Orientation
Oral
• Polarized/Black and
White
• Non-psychological
orientation
• Concerned solely
with present events
Literate
• Non-polarized/
Grayness
• Psychological
orientation
• Concerned with
historical factors
effecting present
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
86. Visual Narrative
Worldview and Orientation
Oral
• Polarized/Black and
White
• Non-psychological
orientation
• Concerned solely
with present events
Literate
• Non-polarized/
Grayness
• Psychological
orientation
• Concerned with
historical factors
effecting present
Nayar Cinematically Speaking p121
Editor's Notes
If you look at the 72 “Fruitful Practices” that have been identified from successful church planting efforts in the Muslim world you will find that mobile ministry enables several of these fruitful practices.
Storying the Bible is being recognized more and more as being vital to hearers’ comprehension of the gospel. Even after ten years on the ground, though, this was often the kind of look I would receive when I tried to share the Gospel in a story form. I have never been a good storyteller in English and I didn’t get any better in Arabic. When we started sharing via the dramatized Bible stories that Wycliffe had developed for the Bedouin we found we got much better reception and comprehension. Well-done gospel poetry recordings that had been composed and recited by MBBs also really helped.
While not many of us could necessarily create our own website most of us I’m sure can record a voice message on a phone answering machine. That simple recording can become an outreach tool (learn more at How-To #6: “Phonesite” Outreach- http://www.mobileadvance.org/index.php/how-to/131-how-to-6-qphonesiteq-outreach).
microSD cards are tiny and discrete and allow secret believers to be discipled in even the most difficult/closed of settings.
According to my contacts at MAF-LT, 90% of Christians who leave their home setting in order to be trained as church leaders never return to their original setting whether they be leaving from their home village and going to the city to receive that training or going overseas to be trained. Additionally, those who do return often find it very difficult to implement the learning that they had received while separated from their “real life” living and ministry situation.
Some groups are now redeeming a technology that seems straight from the pit- customer service voice mailbox systems. They are using it to enable Christians to call in and access any and all audio materials available in their language using even the lowliest of “dumbphones”. Using such services ministries can deliver segments of audio and then break in with question and answer times which enable ascertainment of the individual’s comprehension of what they’ve heard and appropriate follow-on teaching whether remedial or continuing. The application of this technology for Theological Education by Extension (TEE) could allow leaders to be developed in their home villages requiring nothing more than that they have the dumbest of dumbphones.
This can be developed into a full-orbed outreach using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) voice mailbox systems like FreedomFone (http://freedomfone.org/).
The possibly overly serene/inexpressive Jesus
What a radically different Jesus is presented in “Matthew”- he is continually smiling, seemingly joyful.