Wednesday, September 26, 2007

meeting notes

it's been waaaay tooooo loooong...anyway...here goes:













Thursday, September 06, 2007

Action News 04

Channel 34 04

Introduction with voiceover

Announcer
From Channel 34’s national news headquarters in Cincinnati Ohio this is Action News.

Dave
Hey everybody and welcome to Channel 34 Action News! My name is Dave Little and we’ve
got a great show for you so let’s get right to it.

Have you ever gotten a really cool gift? (points to the gift on his desk) Raise you hands if you’ve
ever gotten a Christmas present or a birthday present of just a present anytime of the year that
was just really cool…okay…I can’t see everyone that is far from the screen..hold on (pulls out
binoculars)…yep…there’s a lot of hands…go ahead and put your hands down…thanks!

Anyway...I know when I get a really cool gift it feels like just saying “thanks” and writing a thank
you card isn’t enough. And it’s easy to feel that way with God sometimes. God has given all of
us so many awesome gifts like our family and friends and saying thanks just doesn’t always
seem like enough. The cool thing is that anytime we say “thanks” to God that’s a way to worship him!

There are all kinds of ways to worship him…singing, praying, reading the Bible, enjoyiong
nature…and another form of worship is communion. Not sure what communion is…don’t worry!
Our Senior Bible Correspondent Frank Merkyl is on the case

Bible Reporting segment intro
Reporter will retell the bible story using action figures and whatever else is cool and different.
We’ll start with an intro of the reporter (who tells us where in the Bible this story is which a
cool graphic zooms through the Bible to the specific spot .Then the reporter will then voiceover
the action figure “action” with the Bible story. We’ll use face shots of the reporter reading as
he/she is acting stuff out with the figures…close up and wide shots of the figure(s)…etc.

Frank
Hey All! We’re going to take a look at a story in the book of Luke which is in the New
Testament. It’s Luke 22:14-20 and it talks about the last supper Jesus had with his disciples.
Here we go!

When it was time to eat dinner, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to
them, "You have no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with
you before I enter my time of suffering. It's the last Passover I'll eat until we all eat it together
in the kingdom of God."

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and share it among you. For I tell
you I will not drink wine again until the kingdom of God comes."

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body
given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in
my blood, which is poured out for you.

That’s the story of the last supper…straight from the Bible in the book of Luke chapter 22.

I’m Frank Merkyl reporting for Action City News!

Transition to news room

Dave
We’ll be right back

Commercial: Have someone selling “communion packets”…the “official” packet.

Transition to news room

Dave
Welcome back. The important part to remember about communion is that it is form of
worship that helps us remember what Jesus did for us. Part of communion is the bread
and our most beloved senior senior cooking correspondent is going to walk us through the
baking of communion bread. Joining her will be senior garden gnome Noel Gnomon.

Cooking segment intro

Cook (Jo Ann)
Thanks Dave. Bread is a part of the communion experience and showing you how it’s made
seemed like a great way for us to learn a little bit more about communion. (While the cook
is talking we see the top of a grocery bag come onto screen) Right now we’re waiting for Noel…
he went shopping for all of the ingredients. (the bag rattles to announce that Gnome is there)
Oh there you are! You snuck up on me…thanks for getting all of the ingredients! (lifts bag
onto table and looks into it so we can do a close up of cook and get gnome onto the table) All
right…so we’re going to…

Gil walks by in the background and gives Noel a look.

Gil
Who’s this?

Jo Ann
He’s my helper today!

Gil
I’m going to play cards…you interested in losing?

Close up on Noel’s face. It’s easy to see that he wants Gil’s money.

Jo Ann (Gil has picked up Noel and now she’s alone in the kitchen)
Well I’ve lost my helper but that’s okay. I’ve gotten all of the ingredients ready so why don’t
you just sit back, relax, and watch me cook!

Montage (with cool music) of Jo Ann getting all the ingredients together and mixing and
stirring and everything else related to baking bread. Reference how the Food Network show
“Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis” is shot and edited. We’ll cut back and forth from
Jo Ann baking to Gil playing cards with Gnome. Perhaps we see that Noel has won the shirt
off of Gil’s back? Montage length can be adjusted for time considerations.

Jo Ann (standing behind a bread pan with the dough all ready to go)
Okay. So I’m ready to put the bread into the oven. (opens the oven door while looking at us
and she slides the pan in without looking) I asked Noel a while ago to preheat the oven so it’ll
be ready to bake the bread! (closes door)

We can see the Gnome is actually in the oven before Jo Ann closes the door.

Jo Ann
Now we set the timer (a clock appears on screen) and wait for about 20 minutes.

(we see a time lapse montage of Jo Ann doing all kinds of things for 20 minutes on camera…
finish a painting…talking with Gil…starting and finishing her taxes…funny stuff)

Jo Ann
The bread is almost done! You know…the really nice thing about communion is that you can
do it anywhere and you don’t need to make special bread. Taking the time to remember what
Jesus did for us is what really matters. So I could get bread from the store and it would be just
as good as the bread we are making. Actually you don’t even need bread…it could be crackers
or biscuits. And you don’t need wine either…you can use grape juice or orange juice…Like I said,
taking the time to remember what Jesus did for us is what really matters. And you don’t have
to be at a church to have communion…you can do it at home with your family if you want! You
can be anywhere while you are taking the time to thank Jesus for all the wonderful things he
has given us.

Ding!

Jo Ann
The bread is done! Noel…come take a look with me!

No answer

Jo Ann (looking around for Noel, the looks at the camera)
Well let’s check it out!

Door opens to reveal some nice bread and a burnt Gnome…which is surprising since he’s made
of stuff outdoor material…but this is a detail that doesn’t take away from the humor…promise!

Jo Ann
Oh my…

Transition to Jo Ann, Gil and a burnt Gnome standing behind a nice loaf of bread

Jo Ann
Well I hope you’ve had fun in the kitchen with us today. Take care!
Jo Ann and Gil wave goodbye

Gil
Crazy gnome.

Transition to news room

Dave
That Noel is the goofiest gnome I’ve ever met…and I’ve met my share of gnomes.
(holds up four fingers to denote the amount of anyone’s share)

Anyway…Our senior songwriter Scott Dill has a song for us today…

Song transition

Communion song
Singer/Songwriter will communicate what communion means to him/her.
Scott

Transition to news room

Dave
Well that about wraps things up for us today. (Lifts the gift box top and we see bread, crackers,
wine, juice, etc.) Communion is one of the many interesting ways that we can worship God and
thank him for everything he has done for us. Go ahead and try it out at home sometime. Have
a great day!

Fade Out

meeting notes


Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Action News 03

Introduction with voiceover

Announcer
From Channel 34’s national news headquarters in Cincinnati Ohio this is Action News.

Dave
Hey everybody and welcome to Channel 34 Action News! My name is Dave Little and
we’ve got a great….

gets distracted by some of the cool undateable toys on the desk…starts playing with them
for a little bit…makes crazy sounds…after a little while notices that the camera is still on
as the audience is somewhat patiently waiting for the show to continue.

Dave
Oh! Sorry about that…lost my focus…mmmm (looks around) oh yeah! Today we’re talking
about focus…funny how that ties in to the whole losing my train of thought…so…before I
get distracted again let’s have our Senior Bible correspondent Todd Kirpartrick take over.

Bible Reporting segment intro
Reporter will retell the bible story using action figures and whatever else is cool and different.
We’ll start with an intro of the reporter (who tells us where in the Bible this story is which
a cool graphic zooms through the Bible to the specific spot .Then the reporter will then
voiceover the action figure “action” with the Bible story. We’ll use face shots of the reporter
reading as he/she is acting stuff out with the figures…close up and wide shots of the figure(s)…etc.

Stephanie
Hey everybody! The story we’re taking a look at is in the New Testament in the book of
Luke, chapter 10, verses 38 through 42. Here we go!

While Jesus and his disciples were traveling, Jesus went into a village where a woman named
Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at Jesus' feet listening
to everything he said. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was making in the
kitchen. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do
the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about all these details!
There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not
be taken away from her.”
That’s the story…straight from the Bible in the book of Luke chapter 10.

I’m Stephanie Adams reporting for Action City News!

Transition to news room

Dave
Thanks for that story of Mary and Martha. To take a look at what this story teaches from
a science perspective we’re heading over to our senior science and munitions correspondent
Marcus Gardner.

Science segment intro
We’re introduced to Marcus as he’s in his lab muttering to himself as he swings a “real” light
saber. This adds nothing to the story…it’s just plain cool. Noel will be on the table next to him.


Marcus
Oh hello and welcome to my laboratory! (turns off light saber and puts it away) Today we’re
going to talk about focus. Also with us today is our senior garden gnome correspondent Noel
Gnomon. Let’s get started…Noel hit the lights!

Room becomes dark enough to see the flashlight work but light enough to see Marcus.

Dave
So what are you going to show us?

Marcus (holds up a flashlight)
Who knows what this is? (holds up a flashlight) Yep…it’s a flashlight…It’s a pretty simple
device…when I flick this switch the light turns on.

The flashlight will be pointed onto a surface so we can see the beam.

Do you notice how the light beam is really wide? Well right now it’s not focused.

Dave
What does Noel have there?

Noel is playing with a laser…a very strong one…

Marcus
Oh that’s a laser…a really strong laser…It’s kinda like a flashlight but different. Noel, please
be careful with that laser, it can burn holes through things. Anyway, right now this flashlight
is not focused. But what I’m going to do will take care of that. The front part of the light has a
focuser and what it’s able to do is focus the light into a smaller beam. (adjusts focuser and we
can see the difference). Now because I focused it the flashlight beam will be brighter and we’ll
be able to see more easily. And that’s all because of the focus.

Dave
So how does that help us learn about focusing on God?

Marcus
I’m glad you asked. Think of each of us as a flashlight. You’re a flashlight, I’m a flashlight…
we’ll all flashlights. We all have the ability to focus with God’s help. And one of the most
important things we can do is focus on God! So if we want to focus, we can pray and ask God
for help. Think of him as the hand that can adjust the focus.

Dave
Cool!

Marcus
Absolutely! (sniffs the air) That’s odd.

Dave
What’s that?

MarcusI think I smell something burning.

Dave
I bet I know…

We go back to a shot that now shows Gnome holding the laser and it’s a really intense laser…
it’s one of those “start fires with this” kind of laser…which is has…started a fire…well at least
a lot of smoke…coming directly from Noel. Noel has started to set himself on fire!

Marcus
Easy fix. (lifts up a fire extinguisher and lets it rip on Noel). That should do it. Although those
laser burns are going to leave a mark.

Dave
No worries…This happens every show.

Marcus
I’m Marcus Gardner reporting live for Channel 34 Action News.

(He gives Noel one more shot with the fire extinguisher)

Have a great day!

Dave
We’ll be right back.

Commercial: Focus Magnification Blinders
The product is a combination of magnifying lenses used as glasses with the horse blinders
attached on the top, bottom, and sides. This “helps” the user focus on whatever they working
on…as long as it’s right in front of them and not too big. We’ll get a testimony from a person
who loves it but right in the middle of the testimony the guys walks smack into a tree…which
happens when you can’t see very far…or in many directions. It’s focus taken to the extreme…and silly.

Dave
Welcome back. With us we have our senior interpretive artist correspondent Mary Mushke.
Hello Mary!

Mary
Hello Dave. When I was given this topic of focus it made me think about all the distractions
in life that stop us from focusing. There are all kinds of distractions in our life and sometimes
those distractions make it tough for us to focus on God and other stuff we need to work on.
So with that basic idea I created the following video:

Video shows a kid reading a Bible in the living room. Every page turn creates a sound. The
video narrows down to the page turning and the video shrinks down to take 1/9th of the screen
(the screen becomes divided into 9 blocks). Based on the music Scott creates each square will
represent something in the room that could be distracting (tv, phone, internet, brother, food,
etc.) The amount of blocks on the screen will increase and decrease based on the music piece.
And the kid will become more or less focused on reading based on the other sounds.

Dave
Wow. What was your inspiration?

Mary
I just spent a lot of time thinking about focus and what I can do to eliminate distractions. And
it always seems like there are so many possible distractions. Those distractions make the
“noise” in my life that I don’t need. And that’s the way I feel sometimes when I’m trying to
focus on God by praying and reading the Bible. Reading is one of my favorite things to do…but
it needs to be quiet so I can focus.

Dave
Thanks Mary. For most questions you ask Shawn has an answer which is why out next
segment is titled Dear Shawn.

Shawn transition

Dear Shawn,
Sometimes I have trouble focusing when I’m praying or spending time with God. How do
I focus?
Andy Distracted in Detroit

Dear Andy
First things first…anytime you are trying to do something you can ask God for help. God
always wants to be a part of your life so if you need help you should ask! Next…don’t try to
do too much stuff all at once like reading your Bible, talking with your friends and watching
television. Being focused means putting all your energy into one thing at the time. So when
you want to focus on God all you should be doing is spending that time with God. And when
you do more than one thing at a time it’s east to get distracted.

Focusing is important…but what is even more important is focusing on the right things at
the right time. But guess what!...you can ask God for help!

And when you know what you want to focus on then you need to remove as many distractions
as possible. You can always ask God and your family to help you figure out how to get rid of the
distractions. Thanks for you questions Andy! Sincerely, Shawn

Transition to news room

Dave
Well that’s our show for today. (pushes all of the toys off the desk as he is about to get
distracted from them) I hope you are able to focus on the important stuff in your life and
that you ask God for help all the time. Have a great day!

Fade out

Monday, September 03, 2007

Action News 02

Channel 34 02

Introduction with voiceover

Announcer
From Channel 34’s national news headquarters in Cincinnati Ohio this is Action News.

Dave
Hey everybody and welcome to Channel 34 Action News! My name is Dave Little and
you wouldn’t believe how excited we are for this show today...it’s the kind of excitement
you feel when…well… (trying to think of a comparison and ends up reaching for a bag of
marshmallows) when you’re cramming marshmallows into your mouth (Dave starts putting
lots and lots of marshmallows in his mouth) and you’re excited because you want to cram
more marshmallows in your mouth but then you realize if you do then you’ll run out of
marshmallows and then not have any to make smores (we can hardly understand what
he’s saying) but then you’re excited about making the smores…well….anyway...anyway
let’s get right to it.

Today we’re talking about temptation …temptation is that feeling you get when you think
about doing something that you know is not right. Here’s a question for you. Raise your
hand when you think you know which of the following is an example of temptation? (choices
will be illustrated)
A Thinking about washing the dishes after dinner.
B Wanting to steal a toy from a friend.
C Thinking about wearing a different shoe on each foot

All right…well it looks like most of you got it…the answer is “B”… wanting to steal a toy
from a friend. Thinking about stealing, thinking about lying, and thinking about not
following through on a promise are all types of temptation. Temptation is thinking about
doing something that isn’t nice or wanting something that isn’t good for us. Temptation
is something each and every one of us deals with each and every day. Why just this morning

(Dave looks upwards to the right as he fondly remembers…a thought balloon pops up
showing what he is telling us)

I was thinking about eating a chocolate cake for breakfast…and it was quite a tempting
thought because I love chocolate cake! But I knew that eating an entire cake wouldn’t be
a good breakfast.

One way to learn how to beat temptation is to know how other people have beaten
temptation…and to learn about that we go to our Senior Bible Reporter Frank Merkyl

Bible Reporting segment intro
Reporter will retell the bible story using action figures and whatever else is cool and
different. We’ll start with an intro of the reporter (who tells us where in the Bible this
story is which a cool graphic zooms through the Bible to the specific spot .Then the reporter
will then voiceover the action figure “action” with the Bible story. We’ll use face shots of the
reporter reading as he/she is acting stuff out with the figures…close up and wide shots of
the figure(s)…etc.

Frank
Hey everybody! The story we’re taking a look at is in the new testament in the book of
Matthew, chapter 4, verses 1 through 11. Here we go!

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The devil came to him and
said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered
saying, "It is written in Deuteronomy: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every
word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the
temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "then jump off. For it is written in Psalm
91: He has placed you in the care of angels and they will lift you up in their hands, so
that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Jesus answered him, "It is also written
in Deuteronomy: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of
the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and
worship me."

Jesus said to him, "Get away from me, Satan! For it is written in Deuteronomy: “Worship
the Lord your God, and serve him only.”

Then the devil left him, and angels came and took care of him.

That’s the story…straight from the Bible in the book of Matthew chapter 4.

I’m Frank Merkyl reporting for Action City News!

Transition to news room

Dave
Thanks Frank. Sometimes the details of a Bible story slip through the crack. Which is
why Skip Bellows goes digging in a segment we like the call “Details”

Details segment intro

Skip (with a dessert background behind him)
Have you ever had to skip or miss a meal? For some reason you couldn’t get lunch so
you went from breakfast to dinner with no food in between. Or maybe you didn’t get a
chance to eat dinner…was it tough to go to sleep because your stomach was growling?
Well imagine having breakfast and then not having another meal for 40 days. 40 days
and 40 nights (show some graphics to give some visual reference) That’s more days than
there are between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That’s 960 hours. 57,600 minutes.
Three million four hundred and fifty six thousands seconds. Anyway you look at it…that’s
a long time to not eat.

But that’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t eat anything for 40 days and nights. And he
was in pretty hot and uncomfortable dessert too!

So what does all this information have to do with my report. Well, I’ve decided to not eat
for 40 days like Jesus and I will report to you everything that is going on with me physically,
mentally and emotionally. So let’s prepare the clock (a clock pops up showing days, hours,
minutes and seconds)…wait a minute....(pulls a burger out and quickly gobbles it up)….start
the clock now!

Fade to black in a few seconds with the clock still counting (Like 24 the tv show). The clock
time changes to 10 minutes later and we fade back into the scene.

Skip (picking his teeth)
Some French fries would have been really good with that hamburger.

Fade to black and clock changes to 58 minutes. Skip’s tie is loosened.

Skip
Well. It’s been 58 minutes and I’m really hungry. I don’t like being hungry. But the good
news is that I’ve got almost one hour down and only nine hundred and fifty nine hours to go.

Fade to black and clock changes 1 hour and 34 minutes. Skip has since has his top button
shirt undone

Skip
It’s been an hour and thirty four minutes and now I’m really very hungry. And not only
am I hungry. This desert is ridiculously hot. My whole body is sweating. Even my eyeballs
are sweating. Can you see this (moves eye up close to the camera)…can you see the sweat?!

Fade to black and clock changes to 4 hour and 25 minutes. His jacket is off

Skip
Ugh. It’s been almost four and a half hours since my last meal. Right now I would be
usually having another meal. Bu only 39 days and 20 hours to go! (we see one of his eyes twitch)

Fade to black and clock changes to 6 hours and 14 minutes. We fade in and see that Skip
has his tie around his head…his shirt is mostly unbuttoned and sleeves are rolled up.
Maybe his pants have been turned into shorts. He’s completely lost it. And somehow he has
a five o’clock shadow. It’s been a rough 6 hours and 14 minutes.

Skip
Six hours and I don’t know how long without food. This is crazy. I can’t take it anymore.
I’m hungry and it’s hot and I’ve been sweating non-stop from places that shouldn’t sweat
and I haven’t even moved yet! This is too much. Folks I’m sorry but there is no way I
could walk around in a desert for forty days and forty nights with no food. Jesus is the
man. I don’t know how else to say it. I am not going to make it anywhere near a day without
food let alone 40 days in a row. That is an incredibly long time with no food. I’m outta
here…I gotta go find a buffet somewhere near by. This has been Skip Bellows reporting
for Channel 34 Action News.

Transition to news room

Dave
We’ll be right back

Commercial: The temptation detector (similar to a water stick)
Another over the top commercial that is trying to sell us a product that will help us spot
temptation. It will start working well enough…beeping at candy and tv…but then it will
go astray…start beeping at family members, light sockets, walls, etc.

Transition to news room

Dave
Welcome back…for our next segment we turn to our very own senior garden gnome
correspondent Noel Gnomon

Gnome intro: sound with intro will be similar to the “charge” at a baseball game but we’ll
substitute the “dum” with “gnome”…so it’ll go something like “gnome gnome gnome gnome
gnome gnome gnome…da dah da dah dah dah…GNOME!”…it’s easy to say than write but
you get the idea

Dave
Noel is with us live via satellite from an undisclosed location. Noel what have you got to report?

Gnome just stands there.

Dave
My script tells me that you are going to attempt to defeat temptation today…would you like
to tell us more?

Gnome just stands there.

Dave
Is this one of your quiet days?

Gnome just stands there

Dave
Okay…(looking at notes) well my understanding is that you are going to try to resist the
temptation to throw a peanut butter strawberry jelly and banana sandwich into a large fan.

Gnome just stands there while a gnome sized table with a sandwich on a plate and a large
industrial fan are placed in camera view

Dave
So how do you plan on resisting this temptation?

Gnome just stands there.

Dave
Have you considered walking away from the temptation? I know one way for me to avoid
a temptation is to get away from whatever is tempting. So this morning when I was tempted
to eat chocolate cake for breakfast I put the cake back in the fridge so I wouldn’t have to look
at it. Are you going to walk away?

Gnome just stands there.

Dave
Noel we don’t have all day to watch you resisting temptation. This is a short news show and I….

We hear a loud sound off camera…it sounds something like a peanut butter strawberry jelly
and banana sandwich hitting a large industrial fan.

Dave
…Oh my goodness…

We see that Gnome was unable to resist temptation and threw the sandwich into the fan…
however there isn’t much left sticking to the fan since it all blew back to Noel. We are all
now looking at a garden gnome covered in peanut butter strawberry jelly and banana
sandwich pieces.

Dave
Wow…Noel...I don’t think we’ve ever seen someone with you style of reporting.

Gnome just stands there.

Dave
Okay…well…we’ve seen how Noel tried unsuccessfully to resist temptation…but what he
didn’t have to help him that we do have is this next segment…Dear Shawn.

Dear Shawn transition intro

Dear Shawn: How do I defeat temptation?
We’ll see the kid writing the email or with a kid voiceover and then switch perspectives to
Daryl and see him write a response with a voiceover.

Lowell
Dear Shawn. I try really hard to resist temptation but it’s difficult to do. It seems like any
time I see a donut I want to eat that donut and then four more! And when it’s time to go to
bed and I want to read and I am tempted to sneak into my closet and turning on the light.
When I don’t know an answer on a test I am tempted to look at someone else’s paper.
Please help! Sincerely, Lowell Willpower

Shawn
Dear Lowell. Thanks for writing. It’s easy to understand why you get tempted sometimes.
Donuts are good, I like to read in my closet too, and sometimes teachers aren’t easy to listen to.

Being tempted is perfectly normal. We all get tempted from time to time by things that we
know aren’t right or good for us. When you’re tempted by something you need to ask God
to help you resist the temptation. Resisting temptation may sound easy but it can be really
hard. Let’s say there is someone in your class that everyone is picking on. You could be
tempted to say something mean too. But you know it’s not nice. So pray to God and ask him
to help you.

Sometimes we don’t resist temptation and we do some things that are wrong but that
doesn’t mean that we are bad people. And when we give into a temptation we need to
forgive ourselves and ask God to help us. And if you’re not sure if you are being tempted
you can always ask your family for help. Temptation is something we will all deal with
every day. But by asking God for help we have a better chance of not doing the things
that tempt us. Have a great day and thanks for your question. Sincerely Shawn.

Transition to news room

Summarize

Dave (he’ll have a fire on the news desk and will be making smores)
That’s our show for today. Special thanks to Gil for letting Noel borrow the industrial sized
fan…we’ll clean that right up. Hopefully you’ve learned something about temptation and
you know that God loves to help us with everything…including helping us to resist temptation.
Have a great day!

Fade out

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Action News 01 (shooting script)

Channel 34 01
Intro graphics with voiceover

Announcer
From Channel 34’s national news headquarters in Cincinnati Ohio this is Action News.

Dave
Hey everybody and welcome to Channel 34 Action News! My name is Dave Little
and we’ve got a great show for you so let’s get right to it.

You might be asking yourself…hey self…I love God… he loves me, he talks with me
and he watches over me…God is my best friend but how can I say that? How can I tell
people? How can I share my faith with others? Could I (choices are illustrated)
-Start tapping on my school desk in morse code about how much I love God so everyone
in the room that knows morse code can find out?
-Invite someone to come to church with me?
-Train a canary to deliver secretly coded messages that tell people I love God?

Would all of you out there you please raise you hand if you know morse code or
if you have canaries that you could train.

(pull out binoculars and start mock counting…”uh you in the in back…please put
your foot down…you’re messing up the count”)

Well none of those choices are bad…although having lots of canaries might get messy
in the long run… But to learn more about this idea of sharing our faith with other people
we go to our Senior Bible Reporter Stephanie.

Bible Reporting segment intro

Reporter will retell the bible story using action figures and whatever else is cool and
different. We’ll start with an intro of the reporter (who tells us where in the Bible this
story is which a cool graphic zooms through the Bible to the specific spot (Jamin: this
graphic was used on main stage for next levels). Then the reporter will then voiceover
the action figure “action” with the Bible story. We’ll use face shots of the reporter reading
as he/she is acting stuff out with the figures…close up and wide shots of the figure(s)…etc.

Stephanie
Hey everybody! The story we’re taking a look at is in the New Testament in the book
of Matthew, chapter 3, verses 1 through 12. Here we go!

In those days John the Baptist was preaching in the desert wilderness of Judea. The message
he would tell people was as simple as his desert surroundings: "Change your life. God's
kingdom is here." John was the one the prophet Isaiah was talking about, when he said,
"In the desert someone is shouting, get the road ready for the Lord! Make a straight
path for him."

John dressed in a camel-hair and had a leather strap tied at the waist.He lived on a diet
of locusts and wild field honey.

People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see
John in action. They told him how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them
in the river.

When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal
experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: "You bunch of
snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? Do something to show that
you have really given up your sins. And don't start telling yourselves that you belong to
Abraham's family. I tell you that God can turn these stones into children for Abraham.
An ax is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn't produce good
fruit will be chopped down and thrown into a fire.”

Then John said, "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one
who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear
his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

That’s the story…straight from the Bible in the book of Matthew chapter 3.

I’m Stephanie reporting for Action City News!

Transition to news room

Dave
Thanks Stephanie. On the scene for us to learn more about the time period that
John the Baptist lived is our very own Senior Time Traveling Environmentalist
Charlie.

Intro similar (but different) to the Austin Powers time machine effect.
Reference this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sZJKbLIxLXc

Charlie’s voiceover as we see pictures of the desert of Judea

Charlie
I took Channel 34’s time machine and traveled back to the days that John the Baptist
was here in the desert of Judea. And it is amazing…much different than I though it would
be. My idea of a dessert is rolling hills of sand that are very soft...like the stuff you dig
your feet into at the beach. But this dessert…oh no…this dessert is not like that at all!

We now see Charlie on camera with the desert behind him.

The Judean desert is no ordinary desert. You can easily call it an extreme desert!
Geography and climate experts identify it as a "rain shadowed" desert which means
that rain clouds coming from the Mediterranean sea (illustrated) can’t get past the
Judea mountains and end up dropping all of their water before they can reach the
desert. Because of that mountain range this desert gets less than 150 mm (pull out a
vial showing from his travel pack to show us how little this is) of rain each season -
sometimes less – which means most of the time it’s a really dry desert. There are only
two seasons here: floods season and really dry season. Dry season means 120 degrees
in the shade if you can find any. And when it rains it rains! All over the place you can
see where flash floods have carved ditches into the landscape and as quickly as they
come they’re gone.

This dessert is rocky, hot, and hard to move through. It is tiring to travel through
because you have to look every where you step (illustrated) so that you won’t sprain
your ankle or fall down and break your bones. Playing soccer, baseball or ultimate
Frisbee wouldn’t be possible because of how rough this area is! It’s tough to find stuff
to eat and there are all kinds of dangerous animals around…and they’re small so they’re
hard to see! Snakes, scorpions and other animals are all over the place!

When John the Baptist lived in this desert not only was the environment extreme, his
clothing and diet were pretty extreme too! He wore clothes made out of camel hair.
Camel hair! If you think wool can be itchy, camel hair clothing is even itchier. Did I mention
he didn’t wear shoes! The sand and rocks sometimes feel like you could cook an egg on
them and John didn’t have shoes! And to top it off he ate locusts and wild honey. Have
you seen what locusts look like? (He rummages around and pulls out a scorpion first…freaks
out and throws it…pulls out a snake…freaks out a little bit more…is scared to reach in this
time but does it anyway and pulls a locust out to show. It’s a big ugly bugger) And do you
know what you have to do to be able to eat wild honey…you have to get past the wild bees!
The fact is John the Baptist was an extreme guy living in an extreme desert. This is Senior
Time Traveling Environmentalist Charlie reporting for Channel 34 Action News.
Back to you Dave

Transition to newsroom

Dave
We’ll be right back

Commercial: Cue Card Service
Reference the WWIDIIKWIWD commercial from main stage

Announce voiceover
Do you have trouble talking? Is finding the right words hard? Do you sometimes wish
you could say the right thing at the right time?

We see a kid on screen shaking his head yes to every question the announcer asks.

Announcer on screen
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you to read off of cue cards that other people have written. This allows you to never have
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We see shots of people having a conversation and a person holding cue cards in the
background…but the holder isn’t all that hidden…and the scripts aren’t all that well written.

Announcer
But don’t take our word for it! Here’s what our valued customers have to say

Kid 1
(who is obviously reading off of a cue card)
Thanks so much Cue Card Express. Having cue cards with someone else’s words makes
it so easy for me to fit in and be liked by everyone.
(smiles at the end because he just read “smile realistically”)

Kid 2
Cue Card Express has made my life so easy. No more thinking and talking on my own!
(not looking at the cards) Wait a minute…I don’t like the cue card service! It’s silly! I may
not always say stuff right but I need to learn somehow! And only by practicing do I get
better! How…(announcer quickly takes over)

Announcer
(back to a picture of a unknowing kid…who is confused by what Kid 2 just said…he’s
starting to not believe the commercial)
Uh…those are some words from happy customers…but don’t just take their word for
it…try it yourself and order now!

Transition to order screen

Call now and get a cue card marker for free. Three easy payments of $435.54. Not
available in Romania.

Transition to news room

Dave
Welcome back to Channel 34 Action News. With us live via satellite is our Senior Garden
Gnome Correspondent Noel Gnomon.

Gnome intro: sound with intro will be similar to the “charge” at a baseball game but
we’ll substitute the “dum” with “gnome”…so it’ll go something like “gnome gnome gnome
gnome gnome gnome gnome…da dah da dah dah dah…GNOME!”…it’s easier to say than
write but you get the idea.

Dave
Noel can you hear us?

A garden gnome statue stares back at us…microphone in hand or attached to him somehow.

Dave (hand to ear microphone and looking off to the side)Can he hear us? He can? Noel
would you like to report on anything?

Gnome stands there

Dave (looking at his notes)
It says here that you are going to share your faith with a dog while you are wearing a
necklace made of doggie treats. So you’re going to tell this dog that you love God? Noel,
I am pretty sure that sharing you faith with a dog is not the right way to go for a number
of reasons but I definitely know that wearing a doggie treat necklace is not very smart.

Gnome stands there

Dave
Okay…well...this is your news segment. Do what you want. But we can’t have the
cameraman getting hurt since he’s the only cameraman we have so please have him
move a safe distance away. Can you please do that?

Gnome stands there

Dave
Thank you. Now while the cameraman is moving away I just want to tell everyone
watching that wearing a necklace of doggie treats while hanging out with a dog or dogs
or cats or any other kind of animal is not a good idea. Our senior garden gnome
correspondent claims to be a trained professional and is being watched very closely
by someone far away.

(hand to his ear)
It looks like the camera man is in position….here we go.

We see Gnome from a distance as he is in the yard as the dog is let into the yard and
it goes after the necklace. May be funnier and less dramatic if the dog was small. The
necklace will be loose enough that the gnome just shakes a little bit. Or perhaps all of
this happens off camera and we just watch Dave’s reactions.

Dave
Wow, that dog love doggy treats…can we get an up close with Noel to see if he’s all right?

Camera runs up to Gnome and if he’s face down an off camera hand will turn him over.

Dave
Noel are you okay?

Gnome lays there

Dave
Well it looks like Noel is quite all right. And he has nothing to be ashamed of…he took
it like a gnome. Viewers, from time to time I know I have questions about the sanity
of our reporters but when you the viewer have questions… about anything…well…they
get answered in our next segment…Dear Shawn.

Dear Shawn :What does it look like to share my faith?
We’ll see the kid writing the email or with a kid voiceover and then switch perspectives
to Daryl and see him write a response with a voiceover.

Faith
Dear Shawn. I know that I want to show and tell others that I love God but I don’t
know how. Help! Faith Philson

Daryl
Dear Faith. You’re not alone trying to figure this question out. I get this sharing faith
question a lot from kids and adults because we’re all trying to find out how to show and
tell people what we feel. And sharing emotions isn’t always easy. But I’ve got some ideas
for you. The best way to show others that you follow God is to live like God wants you
to. People will notice how you behave and might ask you why you do the things that you
do. You can tell them you love God and one way to show God you love him is to behave
like he wants you to. Another way to share your faith is to invite people to church. They
can experience what you get to do every week and afterwards you can tell them how you
feel when you come to church and how you talk and pray with God. Those are just a few
ways to show your faith. Also, you can always talk with your mom, dad, aunts, uncles,
sisters and brothers to figure out ways to share your faith as a family. Thanks for the
question Faith. Sincerely, Shawn

Transition back to newsroom

Dave
Well that about does it for us today at Channel 34 Action News. (Dave has a can of honey
and a plate of “locusts”. Pours some honey on it…gives it a look…and then eats it whole.
He struggles through the rest of his lines) Hopefully you’ve learned something about how
you can share your faith with others. Until next time, have a great day!

Fade out

Notes: Do versions of the Dave segments (after the report by Charlie) with a plate of
locust and the honey being next to him and he slowly warms up to the idea of trying it
out by the end.