Every project begins with a vision. This project is no different.
For my first documentary project I wanted to do something that would shine light onto someone or something that no commercial project would do. In other words, what is something I can do that will not be a huge money maker?
I cannot even recall where the idea came from. The only explanation would have to be divine intervention.
On June 14, 2024, I sent a message to a friend and neighbor named Michelle.
A week later, she showed up at my house and I filmed my first interview to get this project started. I used a Canon C70 with a 24-70mm lens as my A cam and threw in a quick BTS B cam with my iPhone 15 Pro using the cinema settings. The lone audio source was a Sennheiser MKH-416 boom input into a Zoom H6 recorder. The lights were some cheap Neewer panel lights I had previously used for some training videos in one of my previous jobs.
Michelle admitted that she had no idea what this project was going to turn into. The reason she said yes is because she loves Seth so much so she wanted to be a part of anything that would shine a positive light on him.
The biggest takeaway for me on this interview was the basis of Seth’s character. Admittedly, I had not spent too much time getting to know Seth which is one of the reasons I liked this project because I had a natural curiosity to know him better. Michelle shared that Seth is a very strong man of faith and that he is the closest example of Jesus that she has seen in a person.
She gave me Seth’s son and wife’s contact since that would be the next logical step, because without the family blessing on this, the project dies a quick death.
I contacted Seth Jr and Patricia (Seth’s wife) shortly after this interview on June 21. I gave them my vision and had very little confidence I would ever hear from them again. I figured they either did not want to attract too much attention or just didn’t know me well enough to entrust such a project to a relative stranger.
But just like Lazarus, the project was not dead, only asleep.
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