Zoom In

When I graduated from college, Mass Communications degree in hand, I had lofty aspirations of a storied career in Broadcast Journalism.

News — Researching it.  Exploring it.  Delivering it.  First, locally at Fox5 Atlanta.  Then, nationally and internationally at CNN.  And ultimately—the television newsmagazine, 20/20.  Cue: Proverbs16:9a

I made it by Fox5 Studios.  I even made it to CNN.  I also made it by Times Square Studios.  I made it, however, not as a story visionary, but as a sightseeing visitor. 

As it often goes in life, my career trajectory wasn’t as linear as I had dreamed.  As God would have it, I ended up working in television production for a ministry.  It was local.  It was national.  It was even international.  And it was the Good News.  Cue: Proverbs16:9b

My introduction to the master control room, to this studio for visual storytelling, was broad, new territory.  You see, as much as I loved the conceptualization of stories, I had never studied all of the elements that combined to create tell-a-vision.  In the art that is storytelling, the only brush that I had ever considered was the pen.  The only canvas, paper. 

I had never considered this side of production.  Now, here I was, surrounded by all of this hardware.  These mechanics were not my chosen media.  Tapes and tape decks, microphones and mixing boards, monitors and cables, edit controllers and programming software, lights…and cameras…

…time for action.

It was here, then, that I learned the power of perspective. 

Perspective.  What the producer means.  What the viewers interpret.

Perspective.  How the eye of the camera sees.

Writing, audio, and lighting are all important in telling the story, in painting the picture.  But it’s the camera, through its perspective, that brings everything together to communicate and visualize the storyline.   

In television, the message of a single scene is often communicated from multiple cameras with diverse viewpoints.  How those shots are composed—their sizes, their angles, their movements—are many, mini portraits fused to evoke viewer reaction.  Whether it’s Dateline, Law and Order or Golden Girl reruns, every scene from your favorite television program happens in a “frame.”  How large or small this frame is, relative to its subject, is the shot size.  Camera angles refer to placement — where and how the camera is positioned.  But it’s the camera’s movements, like brush strokes, that help create visual dimension.  The zoom, for example, moves toward or away from the character, drawing the viewer either in or out.  While zooming, the camera itself doesn’t move; it remains constant while the lens adjusts. 

By now you may be thinking, “I like Lester Holt, Olivia Benson and Sophia, but what’s your point?” 

It’s not only what we see, but how we see it.

2020 was a gallery of video imagery that showcased stories of significant global impact.  The stories of COVID and civil and political unrest were alarming, impressionably awakening.  Painfully provocative and really, really revealing…   

…time for action.

It is here, now, that I’m still learning the power of perspective.

Perspective.  What God means.  What I interpret.

Perspective.  How the eye of my heart sees.

The world, with its carefully crafted scenes and souls, was framed by the Word of God.  But as we watch the nightly news, we often see an ideological long shot.  Some context is established, but there are details that are missed with distance.  To get close-up, to achieve an eye level or point-of-view perspective, sometimes we must obey God’s direction to zoom in. 

Zooming in, looking more closely at events or people, doesn’t require a change in our position per se — just a change in our lens.  Oftentimes, the lenses of our hearts need adjustment.  Far too often, we take long shots from critically high angles.  But because I don’t want to show the world an abstract image of Christ, I’m learning to get compassionately close, to consider others’ viewpoints, and to simply be more personal.     

We live in a sound bite society, where news stories promptly fade to black, where the spotlight of relevance quickly dims, awaiting its cue for the next trending topic.  The real story, however, often remains untold.  As the world’s eyes dim with fear, anger, apathy and hatred, are we close enough to share the Light of faith, peace, empathy and love?  Are we zoomed in enough to see humanity and the world, the characters and setting in God’s story, the way in which He intended?  Is the rendering of our hearts such that they have eyes to seek the places where Jesus wants to reveal His redemptive plan? 

This is the Good News. 

After a year of socially-distant zoom meetings, I believe that God is spiritually connecting us, commissioning us to craft a more vibrant, international display of His glory.  Oftentimes, God takes us on journeys that we never would’ve ventured through on our own.  It’s not a part of our plans, but as a part of His, we’re unexpectedly taught preparatory life lessons.  

PRINCIPLE:  “…For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”  I Samuel 16:7