New children’s film gets free screening
WAYNESBURG – While looking for a video that would teach sign language to their youngest son, Andrew, 3, and at the same time be God-honoring and Creation-based, David and Kellie Crowe found nothing that satisfied their needs.
So, as co-owners of Crowes Nest Media, they decided to come up with a film of their own making.
The couple and three of their four children started on the project in July using a high definition Nikon DSR-7100 video camera. By the end of October, the 40-minute long film titled “For His Own Glory” was finished.
At 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, the work will get its official premiere in a free showing, popcorn included, at the Greene Community Church, located at 653 E. High Street in Waynesburg. The public is invited to attend the event along with the entire cast and crew, the farm owners whose animals are shown in the film and everyone else involved in the film’s making. A discussion and question and answer session will follow the screening.
“More than 95 percent of the DVD was completed with Greene County talent, from the children used to demonstrate the signing to the music and even the farm-themed finger puppets,” said David, who also serves as the church’s pastor. “We did include a couple of family members from Georgia when we made a visit to Atlanta, but we’re especially happy to be able to showcase the faces, farms and talent of those right here in our region.”
Some of the farm scenes in the video were shot in Greene County, using horses, ducks, dogs and cats on the Crowes’ 20-acre property in Ruff Creek. Most of the animals featured in the DVD, however, are from other Greene County farms.
The DVD is an all-family creation. Kellie wrote and directed the video and shared the videography with David. Their nine-year-old daughter, Grace, hosts the video, sons Taylor, 16, and Samuel, 14, edited the video footage and all three older children created the majority of the computer-generated animation.
“Each section of the DVD begins with ‘In the beginning God created’ to make the viewer aware that God created the universe,” Kellie said. “Grace then follows with a demonstration of each sign for each animal, then you hear the animal sound followed by a puppet segment and a minute-long video of the animal along with music.”
The film teaches ASL sign language for 12 barnyard animals including a cow, horse, dog, cat, sheep, pig, goat, rabbit, duck, chicken, rooster and donkey. On the DVD, musicians Frank (banjo and harmonica) and Lisa Pazzynski (guitar) perform six hymns arranged by Hannah Morris, an accomplished pianist and music major at Waynesburg University. National recording Christian artist Judy Rogers’ “God Made Me” and “Isabel is a Pig” is also included on the sound track.
Besides teaching the ASL sign for each animal, the DVD teaches counting, letter recognition and animal sounds, all the while pointing toward the glory of the Creator.
“ALS sign language is a neat way to teach children a way to communicate even before they can speak and boosts their cognitive skills,” David said. “Because there’s a lot of music on the DVD, it isn’t necessarily intended for deaf children.
It’s really meant for all children.”
The Crowes’ three-year-old son, Andrew, served as the test for the project. Not only did he watch the making of the film while it was actually happening, he’s also is seen in the donkey, duck and goat segments and sat through a screening of the final product. The Crowes said his response was very positive.
“All of our children worked very diligently and long days on the project,” Kellie said. “We made the film to show children that God made all these animals for his own glory. Hence the title. We hope that other parents will sit with their children and watch it with them.”
The Crowes made the DVD with equipment they already owned and at a minimal cost. Kellie said that the time it took to make the film was their biggest investment. To make duplicate copies for resale, the Crowes outsourced the DVD to WTS Media of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In a review published in a popular online curriculum review site “Curriculum Choice,” Tricia Hodges wrote of the video that “It’s fun on the farm as you and your little one snuggle close to learn 12 ASL signs for common barnyard animals! Enjoy vivid, up-close images of your favorite farm animals beautifully set to best-loved hymns such as ‘Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee’ and ‘All Creatures of our God and King.'”
“Playfully engaging and yet welcomingly gentle, ‘For His Own Glory’ is a children’s production that gives glory to God and teaches children to have thankful hearts.”
Originally from Georgia, the Crowes met at a Fourth of July event that Kellie, a journalism major at the University of Georgia, covered for a television station in the Peachtree State’s town of Dalton. The couple moved to Greene County in 2003 to start their church. Three years ago, they launched Crowe’s Nest Media and have since produced two previous videos in a series titled “Your Back Yard.”
One DVD is about feeder birds and is shot mostly in Greene County; another that focuses on the Monarch butterfly is about 80 percent filmed in Greene County. Both have an educational and Christian outlook.
“All of our DVDs are meant to get children outdoors to appreciate and enjoy,” Kellie said.
“There’s so much today on television that’s fast-paced and over-stimulating, and we wanted to do something different that would be engaging but also playful and gentle.”
Future DVD projects depend on the success of their newly released “For His Own Glory,” and the Crowes are considering DVDs of zoo animals, objects found in the house and how to teach children manners.
“Making a DVD is very time challenging, but we’d love to do more,” Kellie said.
The film, currently available at www.crowesnestmedia.com for $16.95, is also available at national online retailers, including: Christian Book Distributors and Amazon.