Rob Webster Creative Communication

Sacred Moments in Story Telling

// June 27th, 2011 // No Comments » // DSLR, Faith, Story, Video

My job involves getting to hear lots of wonderful stories. Interviews with people who have had their lives changed in some way are always enjoyable to do, and remind me of the wonderful power of God to bring about change in people’s lives.

Every now and then, an interview becomes something more than an interview. It becomes a sacred moment. Something holy happens, just through the process of talking, of drawing out stories, and of sharing. Continue Reading

Video: The Final Words from the Cross

// June 25th, 2011 // No Comments » // DSLR, Video, Worship

I’m way behind on posting projects I’ve been working on. One of the main reasons I set up this blog was to share video projects and some “how-to” info for students of my Leadership Institute workshops. So I’ve got three or four videos in the hopper that I’ll be blogging about in the days to come.

The video above was the promo video for our Lent series on the final words of Jesus, spoken from the cross. The sermons were also character studies, looking at the crucifixion through the eyes of those who were present at his death. Continue Reading

Seven Sentence Review: Super 8

// June 12th, 2011 // 3 Comments » // Culture, Film, Review

The movie Super 8 is excellent, and tells the story of a group of kids, amateur film makers in 1979 who, when filming a scene for their homemade zombie movie, witness an incredible (and mysterious) train crash, while their Super 8 camera witnesses even more. Continue Reading

Seven Sentence Review: THOR

// June 7th, 2011 // No Comments » // Culture, Film, Review

Helmets and lens flares and hammers, oh my! Thor is over-the-top silliness, set in a mythical land of perpetual greenscreen golden sunsets with the most impressive collection of extreme helmets since 1980′s Flash Gordon. The dialogue is staggeringly bad and clichéd, so much so that it elicited occasional bursts of laughter. That being said, the middle section of the movie, set on good ol’ Planet Earth, seems to embrace its campiness, and keeps the movie from becoming a spectacular sci-fi dud. Thor and his abs have an improbable romance with Natalie Portman and her mole, which, though my mind tells me is a stupid plot contrivance, actually works to give us something (anything?) to root for in this movie. The Surprisingly Good Acting Award goes to a fellow named Tom Hiddleston, who plays Thor’s much-conflicted brother Loki with more sincerity than this movie deserves. Overall, a tolerable summer escape, but nothing more.

Rating: Only worth 3 of my 7 sentences.

Free Worship Graphics Package, fully customizable

// June 6th, 2011 // No Comments » // Worship

Download this free set of full-screen worship graphics, suitable for use in PowerPoint, ProPresenter, Easy Worship, Media Shout, and other programs. This set has a total of 58 pre-made slides, including blank ones for your own text and slides with simple titles. Though this was created for a series on the book of Acts, I’ve kept the look generic enough that it can work with any series. A set of free matching fonts can be downloaded, too. And, for those who really want to dig in and customize, you can get a many-layered Photoshop PSD file and modify to your heart’s content!

Continue Reading

How to Record Any Audio from your Mac Speakers, for free!

// June 3rd, 2011 // 9 Comments » // Tutorial

Here’s an out-of-character technical blog some of you may appreciate. I decided to write this post after having to look a number of places to find out the answer to a simple question: How can I record the audio coming from my Mac’s speakers? Continue Reading

Tornado Videos

// April 29th, 2011 // No Comments » // Personal

I’ve created a page with links to videos of the Tuscaloosa tornado. The direct link is here: http://robwebster.net/tornadovideos

In Memoriam: Kirby the Wonder Dog

// April 1st, 2011 // 4 Comments » // Family, Personal

I remember being in a bookstore when my wife called me over. She had found a book about dog breeds. Handy charts rated dog breeds on a number of scales. We looked up “American Fox Hound”. My dog Kirby was a stray, probably a mutt, found in a Texas cemetery, near death. A vet told me he looked most like an American Fox Hound. More or less. Continue Reading

The Sacred and Secular in Worship

// March 23rd, 2011 // 11 Comments » // Culture, Faith, Worship

Sacred Bowl, Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church

I was once accused of bringing worldliness into worship. “Cool!” I thought. Then I realized it wasn’t a compliment.

What the person was talking about, of course, was secular elements in a worship context. And it raises interesting questions about what’s appropriate in worship services, questions that have been wrestled with, I imagine, by anyone wanting to lead a worship service designed for modern people.

So I started out writing a long blog post that few of you would read. At the risk of being misunderstood, I’ve decided to simplify things to a few disjointed bullet points. Discuss amongst yourselves. Continue Reading

Friday Inspiration for February 18, 2011

// February 18th, 2011 // No Comments » // Inspiration

The Armor of God never looked so cool…

Upgrade + Mobilize from Benji Thiem on Vimeo.