I have just seen what appears to me to be one of the worst of the recent Christian music videos. It's 6'27" long with 501 shots (if I counted correctly using Cinemetrics) which makes an average shot length of 0.8 seconds.
WARNING: Do not watch this video is you are susceptible to epilepsy. If you feel nausea or any other side effects stop watching immediately. I recommend watching no more than 30 seconds to get a feel for the whole video.
A fast cutting rate can be effective - the average shot length for the bathroom scene in Psycho is 0.6 seconds, but that scene is only 48 seconds not nearly six and a half minutes! Movie trailers are renowned for fast cutting rate - the trailer for the 'Bourne Identity', for example, has an average shot length of 2 seconds. There were a lot of complaints about this trailer because of the fast cutting rate. So much so that it became known as 'The Shaky-Queasy-Utimatum'. But it was 2-3 times slower than 'You are Great'!
Walter Murch is one of the best editors in the world, and was editor for the award winning ‘Apocalypse Now’, put it this way, ‘An overactive editor, who changes shots too frequently, is like a tour guide who cannot stop pointing things out: "And up there we have the Sistine Ceiling, and over there we have to Mona Lisa, and, by the way, look at these floor tiles..." If the guide- that is to say, the editor- doesn't have the confidence to let people occasionally choose what they want to look at, or to leave things to their imagination, then he is perusing a goal (complete control) that is in the end self-defeating.’
Of course, at the opposite extreme for cutting rate is one of the golden oldies of music videos (well, 20 years old this year): 'Wannabe' by the Spice Girls. Beautifully shot and choreographed at the place my father used to work in London. It is one shot. Yes, only one shot, 3'57" long!
The Bible commends the Bereans because they examined the Scriptures to check up if even what Saint Paul said was true. It’s not merely important to enjoy our Father but to critically evaluate what is said and how it is said by anyone from the front of a church. As someone who does give talks at the front of church sometimes I am acutely aware of this. It is thus wrong to ever say or imply that we should not critically evaluate what happens within worship at a church service. To do so is unsound!
My contention is that worship should be emotional, physical and cerebral. From the theological point of view there was nothing unsound with the lyrics of the song, albeit they were somewhat simplistic and repetitive. But some people like that.
However, one potential problem when getting caught up in physical and emotional praise and worship is the tendency to ‘check your brain out at the door’. Doing so not only opens you up to missing theological errors that those at the front may be speaking but also, as in this case, to potential medical or other dangers in the presentation.
Does this mean we should check out our emotions out at the door and be primarily concerned with the cerebral? Not at all, we worship the Lord with body, mind and spirit. Separating them was one of the early heresies of the Gnostic sect of the church. The Gnostics taught that the spiritual was more important than the physical or cerebral. Because of this they believed they knew God better than other followers of the Messiah. This is a major danger that can still be seen today in some places.
It is important to remember there is no single activity called ‘worship’. One person’s worship is another person’s uninspired indifference or worse. It is why worship cannot be manufactured by church or music leaders. However, emotionalism can. I have seen it happen. Indeed specific chord sequences can lead a gathering in the direction a music leader wishes, in severe cases this is manipulative.
Some of the deepest reverent worship I have experienced is lying on my back on a yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean in the middle of the night looking up at the heavens. No amount of singing can compare to the glory, the splendour and the majesty of our Father in that situation. For me. Others would simply get sea sick!
Although I, and a few other professional film producers, have significant reservations with the production values of this video, my primary concern is not with the style of worship or production values within this video, some of which is personal, but the very real possible medical dangers of this video and also the potential for manipulation as a result.
Many years back I did some primary research into the neurophysiological effects of audio stimuli on the brain using an electroencephalograph to measure the alpha and beta rhythms of brain waves. What was surprising was not the effect upon the alpha rhythms but the auto-nervous effect on many localised muscles to audio rhythms in the sub 20Hz region.
The range of frequencies for alpha and beta rhythms in the brain is 1 Hz to 20Hz. Significant audio and/or visual stimuli in that range can cause disorientation, vertigo and nausea. It is widely known that video stimuli in that range is highly dangerous and in extreme cases causes epileptic type seizures. For that reason there are guidelines about visual stimuli for presentations within the UK.
Audio stimuli within that range, for example sub-sonic organ pipes or, more recently, synthesised music in that range, sometimes found in some films in cinemas, can cause out of body experiences that are attributed to be spiritual, but are in reality neurophysiological. Thus evaluating the spiritual impact of a video like this is either very difficult or impossible.
The editing style of this video was definitely within the dangerous range. I have had reports of nausea from people watching it. Two other professional film producers also expressed concern.
To be shown on broadcast TV in the UK I believe this video would have to have a warning for people susceptible to this not to watch it. Even then I doubt they would show the whole of it, probably no longer than 30 seconds, which is the maximum recommended dose. It’s that dangerous! It is for that reason that I consider it one of the worst of the current Christian music videos.
So where does that leave people who enjoy this and find it draws them closer to God? That is a difficult one. Some people find taking recreational drugs draws them closer to God. However, no mature followers of the Messiah would condone that. The trouble is some of the neurophysiological effects of video material aligned to a strong musical beat creates a very similar effect. Playing it repeatedly would be like consuming significant quantities of alcohol.
I am not a neuro-specialist doctor, but I would personally consider it very unwise to watch this video repeatedly and particularly unwise in recovery from a traumatic stress situation. As a professional film producer I would personally advise against showing it in any public situation because of health and safety concerns.
From a production point of view the biggest problem is there is no story. Cinematography is about telling a story. Jesus told stories. All the world loves a story. All the best music videos tell a story. This one had none. Compare Carrie Underwood's 'Just a Dream' or Taeyang's 'Wedding Dress' with 'God is Great' and you'll see what I mean. One has a story, one doesn't. Those two examples are both non-Christian non-worship music videos. I use them as examples because even within the secular commercial world with a simplistic message it’s possible to create good film-making with some form of story.
So called ‘worship videos’ are no different. Of course, there are worship videos and secular music videos with no story. It’s like comparing worship songs that come from the genre someone described as ‘God is my buddy’ with the depth of theology contained in the best of modern songwriting.
Compare the lyrics of You are Great to some of the better written worship songs like The Servant King or Meekness and Majesty. But there is a problem with the latter two songs if you enjoy the endomorphin and adrenelin release of rhythms in the 1Hz to 20Hz region then… you will get none. It partly depends therefore on what you are seeking in worship. Well crafted songs exist in all cultures. Look at the lyrics to a song with similar theme to ‘You are Great’ by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir called ‘I’m amazed’. There are very few performances online of this, but this one with Portuguese subtitles shows the crafting of the video. This is interesting from a production point of view because parts of it have a very fast cutting rate and parts are much slower. This gives it a really good rhythm.
St Paul in his writing raises concerns about the level or maturity among the Hebrews. There are issues with some of the simplistic songwriting around, often justified with the phrase ‘God gave me this song’. However, as Adrian Plass so aptly put it, ‘He was probably glad to get rid of it’. The biggest problem with evaluating songs like this is to remain within the area of the Bereans without drifting into the area of the Gnostic, believing we somehow have a corner on God. However, not critiquing at all leads us down a path warned about in 1 Peter 5:8-9.
But to what extent is critical appraisal culturally loaded? For sure it has cultural overtones, but I learned a lot from Nigerian and Egyptian Christians. Because I was approaching production values as being cultural I let them produce in the way they felt appropriate. Some years later one of the top TV producers in the country concerned sat me down and asked why I hadn’t made comment about the poor production in that country, specifically the poor production of some of his films. I explained that I thought it was just cultural for the style they liked. He said that no, it was just bad production and that in fact not critiquing it was being racist. It was like saying ‘this is good enough for you, but not good enough for us’. His contention is there are stylistic issues related to culture, but bad TV is just bad TV!
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