for those who don't know me, my name is Jo McClure and I am a student filmmaker. I'm about to go into my 3rd year studying Photography & Film at Edinburgh Napier University and I have big plans for the next year! I want to place a particular focus this year on documentary filmmaking, and I have a film in mind that I would like to make. This is where I need your help.
I want to make a short film about people being healed through prayer. (This is probably where I am going to lose half my audience who are reading this. "A film about religiousy stuff? Nope. See ya." And that's okay! But for those of you who are still with me here, thank you!) I'm not entirely sure how the film is going to pan out yet, that's something that will become more clear as I get to work alongside my tutors and peers at uni, but I do know a few things. I would really love to get a collection of stories from people who have been healed through prayer, or people who have witnessed it, or maybe you have the gift of healing, really anything to do with it! Seriously, I want to hear about anything and everything. I feel like a lot of people don't realise that this is something that actually happens, and the purpose of this film is to tell them, yes, God is alive and real, he does work and he does heal (tehe unintentional poetry).
I'll say this - right now this is more about research and getting to know the subject more. Telling me your story doesn't mean it'll necessarily be put in the film. I'm aware that this is a sensitive subject and I don't want to put people in the spotlight who don't want to be. I'm sure in good time God will make it clear what stories he wants spread and it's quite likely I may ask you for a formal filmed interview, but in the mean time all I want is a chat :)
So if you have any stories please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. Or if you know someone else that does, perhaps you could forward this to them. This would mean a lot to me, I would really really love to see this film come to light, and the best way I can do that right now is just by starting to chat to people about this sort of thing. My e-mail address is jomcclure73@gmail.com, or if you see me ever just pull me aside, I would love to talk! I'm also on Facebook and Twitter for those who like the social networking sites.
Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from some of you soon!
I gotta admit, there are some quality Christian parody accounts on Twitter, from the likes of @HoodJesusYo to @Rev_Norespect. Like seriously, these crack me up. I give you the best recent Christian parody tweets. Enjoy:
I want to believe the Lord gave you that song, but I think he has better grammar than that.
— Sister Mildred (@SisterMildred) October 17, 2012
If Jesus grace is like da ocean den errybody grab yo floaties cuz we drownin in it
— Hood Jesus (@HoodJesusYo) August 11, 2013
i don't like being called a 'Christian'... i prefer 'Christ-oriented, holistically missional soul-vessel"
— Christian Hipster (@ChristnHipster) August 7, 2013
People think its the Spirit when I laugh during #worship, but it was just that crappy guitar solo.
— Celeb Worship Leader (@CelebWorshipLdr) May 28, 2013
Me:"Hey those are cute earings, how do they make you think of Jesus?" Person:"They don't?" Me:"...then why are you wearing them?" #Oversaved
— Oversaved Girl (@OversavedGirl) July 29, 2013
I would just like to wish all the Youth Ministers a happy first day of school.
— Unappreciated Pastor (@Rev_Norespect) August 6, 2013
Glad to see youth group getting more spiritual. Tonight they said John 3:16 with a mouthful of marshmallows instead of "chubby bunny".
— Church Curmudgeon (@ChrchCurmudgeon) August 15, 2013
How do you guys feel about pre-marital high fives? Is that too far in a relationship? If not, when is it acceptable? First or second date?
— Michael Schaffer (@WDFF5) July 4, 2013
Picking the right church name is crucial. It should include at least one of these words: FIRE, IGNITE, MOTOCROSS, ELEVATE, ROUNDHOUSE, SOLEI
— Celebrity Pastor (@CelebrityPastor) August 1, 2013
@HoodJesusYo is my absolute favourite. They're as funny as Christian pick up lines... but more on that later!
Well well well, it's been a while since I've done a proper big blog post here, hasn't it? It's been a pretty busy summer, but that isn't really an excuse. I guess I just haven't had much to say until recently. But that changes today, because today I'm going to write about FUSED. If you know me well, you'll know that for the past four years I have been a leader at a summer scheme in my home town called FUSED. This year, as well as helping out with the Adventurers (kids age 8-11) most days where I worked previously; I had the privilege of actually being a co-section leader of the Swifts (the youngest group) along with my best friend / adoptive big brother Adam Leahy. Leahy is a fantastic guy and a joy to work with. And I hope he's not reading this right now or his ego will inflate like a balloon and he won't let me hear the end of it! We had a fantastic team to boss around work with, big shout out to Zoe, James, Megan, Hannah, Cara and Jenny. These guys exceeded expectations despite their young age (most of them were around 16) and were great leaders, both Adam and I felt so blessed to be working with such great people.
They let us two be in charge, whoops.
Adam Leahy
The fantastic 'Swifts', leaders and kids
If you don't know exactly what FUSED is, here is a video I made to explain it. Incidentally, this video is technically my first ever film under the name 'Joyful Mourne Media' which is exciting, but I'll blog about that more later -
I'll just let that video explain what goes on at FUSED. But in writing I can get down to the more nitty gritty stuff. FUSED this year was crazy. Each group has two sessions a day, usually in the afternoon and evening. Swifts, however, has only one session a day, in the morning, allowing me and a few other leaders to take part in another group as well. Three sessions a day was exhausting, I hardly had time to stop and think, but it was good. I would have hated to miss out on helping out with the Adventurers this year, so it was great to go back there with the usual team.
And the kids, oh how I love those kids! They are so enthusiastic and excited to come back every year which is such an encouragement to see! They clamber over you and give you odd nicknames (a new one for me this year was 'Kangaroo') and attempt to get piggy backs and draw you pictures and they are just the best things ever! This year they seemed more curious than ever, kids that seem so young and innocent ask such hard hitting questions that leave us humbled, and it's just crazy to see how hungry they are for learning more about God. Over 20 youth gave their lives to Christ this summer at FUSED, which is so exciting!! I know numbers shouldn't be something to focus on, and I can tell you that that is not what we focus on, but it's still wonderful news and I am so excited for them all. Keep those kids in your prayers as they start their new lives with God!
I always find FUSED a very humbling experience. There are days in it every year when I feel like absolute crap, if I'm honest. It's a fortnight of spiritual warfare, when I can always feel like I'm being attacked at my weak points. But I always come out the other end stronger. FUSED is not only great for those kids, but it's a great experience for the leaders too, and I thank God for that. Having been as a youth before I was a leader, it's great being able to watch the programme grow from its early , humble beginnings to something so much bigger. I encourage you to support it in any way you can, whether its becoming a leader next year or even just keeping it in your prayers. FUSED is a beacon of hope in what have been a dark and scary few months in Newcastle, Co Down, and I thank God for it.
Just gonna get stuck straight in... I want to make films about Jesus.
I made a post about this kinda stuff earlier in the year [see that post here] but I felt for a while that I should attempt to make a vlog about it, just because I'm not good at talking about it in real life. You can watch that vlog below, which I would love it if you did just that. It's fairly long, about 9 minutes, which is pretty long for a vlog, but I cut it down as much as possible haha! There's more I could say but this was the basics -
I think this is something I'll continue to do, vlog updates about what's going on with the project. I think that way, the people who watch these things can keep me accountable, which is something I desperately need. So please watch, and you will hopefully see more of these soon (and hopefully some actual short films). If you are genuinely interested in what I will be doing, the best way to keep updated is probably to subscribe on YouTube, if you have an account, then you'll get notified there every time I upload one of these things.
EDIT: A big thank you to everyone who has responded to this video, whether on YouTube itself, on other social media sites or in person. Your support means the world to me, seriously. I've definitely noticed an increase in people asking me about it, which is great for accountability, please keep that up! It's nice when I hear people being interested in it anyway.
I will always have a fondness for this film. This is the first short film I ever made, at the young age of sixteen. There are so many things wrong with it, but I still really like it. Take a wee look for yourself, I thought I might as well post it here for something to watch in the mean time while I get my next films organised -
I found this little list of A-Z questions on Kelli Taylor's blog, She Learns As She Goes. Kelli is part of the Blimey Cow trio, probably my favourite YouTube channel! You should definitely check both the blog and the channel out! Let's give this a go shall we? A // Available or Married?
Uh... neither? I am currently attached to a lovely boy named Patrick, we started dating in our last year of high school and have now been together for two and a half years! This is a recent photograph of us from a walk we went on last week.
B // Book?
Well for my birthday me parents bought me a kindle, which was lovely, so I've been rereading Pride and Prejudice on it! Great book. Couldn't think of my favourite book to be honest. I'd like to say I read the Bible a lot, but the truth is I really don't and I could really do with doing that more often! C // Cake or pie?
Cake! Chocolate cake! Birthday cake!! All the cake and icing and heavenly goodness!! D // Drink of choice?
I do like a bit of Coca Cola, though I am yet to find one with my name on it, how disappointing! E // Essential item?
Clifford the big red camera! Or any camera for that matter. I never leave the house without one. I love capturing all those little moments throughout each day, I'm actually taking up a Project 365 right now, you can check that out here.
F // Favorite color?
Yellow; yellow is the colour of happiness and sunshine and I just like it a lot! The song 'Yellow Shirt' by the Icarus Account also plays a big part in why I like that colour so much. G // Game to play or watch?
I take it this means sport? Never really one for team sports. I do enjoy video games though, I play quite a bit of Pokemon and Mario etc etc H // Hometown?
I come from the beautiful Newcastle, Co. Down, a little town by the sea and mountains in Northern Ireland! I have better photographs, but this was the only one I could find right now. I love it. I currently live in Edinburgh right now though, also a really lovely part of the world.
I // Indulgence?
Coke, popcorn, Cadbury's chocolate, pizza, my mothers' cooking, too much stuff to be honest haha! J // Job?
Working on that right now! Waiting to hear back about what could be a very cool job, we'll see how that goes. Keep me in your prayers as this would really be an ideal job for me! K // Kids and names?
Don't have any! Not planning to have any for a while haha but I hope that I will have quite a few some day! In the mean time, my cameras are my children haha! And they do have names - Clifford, Nora, Manfred and Rodney. L // Life is incomplete without...?
For me? God. Couldn't cope without Him, like really. And people around me to support and encourage me. M // Music group or singer?
I am completely in love with NEEDTOBREATHE, such a great band! I love all their songs, but in particular 'Slumber', 'Stones Under Rushing Water', 'Keep Your Eyes Open', 'A Place Only You Can Go' and 'The Outsiders' are some of my personal favourites. Here's a little video I made a few years ago using 'The Outsiders' as music.
Also currently loving Gabrielle Aplin, Imagine Dragons, Phil Wickham, Chasing Owls, Rend Collective Experiment and many more! Check them out too! N // Number of siblings?
I'm the eldest of 3, I have a brother, Thomas, 18 and a sister, Katie, 8. They're pretty cool! O // Oranges or apples?
Hmmmm, oranges as the fruit itself, but I love apple as a flavour in sweets and drinks and puddings etc P // Phobias and fears?
As I mention a lot in this blog, FOMO, the fear of missing out, is a big issue of mine. But I am slowly getting over it which feels wonderful! To stop feeling so anxious about that sort of thing is amazing! Also, jellyfish. I hate jellyfish. Q // Quote?
"As you may know, I am a full time internet" - @horse_ebooks on Twitter R // Reason to smile?
Lots of stuff, I am very blessed. I smile knowing I am loved by God and by my friends and family. This keeps me going in harder times. S // Season?
I do love Spring, it's my favourite season. T // Tattoos?
Ooo well I want one of a centurion helmet with the reference 'Ephesians 6:11' on my arm, that would be cool. Dunno when I'll get it, but sometime I hope! U // Unknown fact?
Hmmm.... I was once pooped on by a hippopotamus. True story. V // Vegetables you love?
I do love a bit of spinach! W // Worst habit?
I'm certainly one for procrastinating (this blog post is testament to that as I should be storyboarding right now), and I'm not the best at keeping my room tidy either! X // X-rays you've had?
None so far... thankfully! Y // Your favorite food?
This is a very difficult question!! I love chicken pie, mmm, that stuffs good. A nice Indian take out as well would be lovely! Z // Zodiac?
I believe I'm a Gemini but I don't really care about that sort of thing.
Well that was fun, now you know a bit more about me I guess! :) if you are a blogger yourself, you should do it too and send me a link so I can look at it! x
After spilling my feelings out in my last blog post I figured it's a good time to write something a little more lighthearted! So why not another film review? Yes, good idea. Well today I shall be reviewing the new film 'Epic', which is out in cinemas now.
When I was looking after my little sister last weekend I asked her if she wanted to go see anything in the cinema, and she said she wanted to see 'Epic'. I didn't know much about the film, but I knew Blue Sky Studios were pretty good, having released such great as Ice Age and Horton Hears A Who. The film also boasted a talented and er, interesting voice cast, featuring the likes of actors Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Chris O'Dowd, Aziz Ansari, Christoph Waltz and Jason Sudeikis; and musicians Steven Tyler, Beyonce and Pitbull. Yes, Pitbull.
I have to say I actually really enjoyed this film, a lot more than I expected to. A lot more of an adventure story than a comedy, it has its funny moments but overall it presents an engaging storyline of love, family, good versus evil, belonging and defending your home. The characters are extremely likeable, I really found myself drawn into the characters' plights. Plus O'Dowd and Ansari are hilarious as the snail and slug respectively.
Also, can we talk about how beautifully animated this film is?! It's gorgeous!! Just take a look at the trailer here. Okay, maybe I have a thing for forests, and this is pretty much an hour and a half of beautiful forest animation. That makes me a very happy film student. The textures and the colours and just gahhh, I'm not good at describing it. I just really liked it a lot. The trailer here gives you a good idea of the look and feel of the movie. Just lovely.
I have one complaint - why name the film 'Epic'?! You've just built up an expectation that the film itself will be 'epic', which is pretty ambitious of you, despite how good the film actually is. Also, with the overuse of the word epic on the internet, you've made it notoriously difficult to search for your film online, as the vast majority of what will come up will quite likely be those Epic Win / Epic Fail pics. Bad choice of title guys. But, that is really my only fault with this film!
I'd definitely recommend it for adults and kids alike, head to your local cinema and go watch it!!
