TRANSFERRING THE REAL WORLD TO THE SCREEN

Words: Sebastian Strand Art: Nathaniel Redekop

What makes a video look professional instead of cheap or cheesy? As a ‘video guy’ growing up in a small church, I’m well-acquainted with the frustration of knowing my own work looked unprofessional, but not always being able to pinpoint why.

Nathaniel Redekop is a well-known visual artist within Hillsong, and has created content for the Hollywood produced Hillsong feature film Let Hope Rise, as well as Hillsong United tours and albums. He’s even done some work with recording artist Selena Gomez.

Those that see his work are often blown away by the ground-breaking visuals and his ability to not just complement, but add layers and personality.

Working with Nathaniel for many years now, I recently caught up with him to discuss his thoughts on what it is that distinguishes professional looking content from the average.

Years ago in the future | 2021

Sebastian: So, you’re from Saskatoon which, correct me if I’m wrong, isn’t really known as a creative hub of the world?

Nathaniel: Well, they call it the Paris of the Prairies so you never know. Only people from Saskatoon call it that though.

(Note: I googled it. It’s true. The province even boasts its own replica of the Eiffel Tower.)

From a young age, Nathaniel was interested in cameras and video editing.

Nathaniel: As kids we always made homemade movies with a camcorder. [Recording ourselves] entering through one door, coming out through another, that kind of thing. My dad had worked for a camera rental place and always brought home top of the line cameras that I played around with. But I never knew what to do with it, so I figured I should go to film school.

In order to save money for school he started working in the metal industry, running the shipping and receiving operations at a manufacturing facility. Nathaniel: I loved the constant rush and having to solve urgent issues, and using a ton of big equipment. But it was crazy busy and difficult. You’re in 40ºC laser-cutting or outside in -50ºC having to pick up hundreds of pounds of metal frozen to the ground.

Sebastian: Did you end up going to film school?

Nathaniel: (laughs) No.

On holiday one year, Nathaniel went to visit a friend in Australia and loved it. He remembers walking into church in Australia for the first time and being blown away by the pre-roll video before the actual meeting even started. He describes this moment as his realisation that this form of art could be used with purpose and meaning behind it. This was what he wanted to do. While still on vacation, he decided to learn After Effects and Photoshop. With no day job to spend his energy on, Nathaniel spent a whole week making a motion graphics-driven promo for a youth gathering. It blew everyone out of the water! As a result, he was soon animating and editing for Hillsong Conference, and subsequently landed a job at Hillsong Church as an editor.

Untitled | 2021

Untitled | 2020

Sebastian: Why is art important in the Church and to us as humans?

Nathaniel: I think, because it breaks your normal train of thought. It provides an opportunity to think outside of how you’d normally think, and gives you a different perspective. Something other than your day-to-day. It kinda disrupts you a little bit, like seeing a sunset up in the Blue Mountains, and it’s like you can’t help but think about things bigger than your everyday life.

Sebastian: Does art always need to communicate a story?

Nathaniel: I think beauty can be enough. Sometimes people make up their own story and it’s probably better than what was intended. But there’s room for both [abstract beauty and clear storytelling]. Being a bit more obvious can be really powerful in a moment.

Nathaniel works closely with Joel Houston and the United team on their projects. Recently, they were discussing the tension between abstract and onthe-nose.

Nathaniel: That’s what I love about what Joel does. There are so many layers. You have to dig through the different layers to kinda piece it together. You kind of allow the participant to get the satisfaction of feeling like they’ve figured it out.

Sebastian: You have a pretty specific visual style. I feel like it’s quite easy to point out. It has certain textural qualities, real items, analog stuff, paper textures…

Nathaniel: I don’t know…I’ve always been really interested in what makes something look the way it does when mine doesn’t. When I started out, I would mimic things I see. I’d spot a movie title and try to do the same but it always looked cheap. I could tell it wasn’t a professional who’d made it. So, I became interested in the little things that made it look professional.

It was this curiosity that pushed him to discover a few key ideas that added professionalism to his work.

Nathaniel: I started seeing that [using the real elements, like paper textures and actual VHS machines] are what make it look better, because you’re using actual real elements. I’d tried to make everything [from scratch in the computer], but when I figured this out, it was like I had the final piece.

Nathaniel’s edit suite today testifies to this ‘real elements’ approach. He’s surrounded not just by his computer and AeroPress coffee maker, but by pencils, markers, highlighters, different types of paper and notebooks full of sketches, cartoons and scribbles — all potential assets to be scanned and used in video projects. His room is also full of different kinds of cameras and VHS machines.

Looming over it all is a two-metre wall of old analog TV monitors. He uses these to re-record his content on real analog pixels. First, he’ll create something in Adobe After Effects —an industrystandard software used for animation and visual effects — and play it on one of the TVs. Then, he might add distortion to the image by turning knobs on a console connected to the TV. Next, he records the resulting image onto a VHS tape adding another layer of distortion, and finally, captures it back onto the original computer. His visual artistry is reminiscent of the analog eras of the 1980s and 1990s, as well as a bit of the early 2000s, with semidigital solutions and ground-breaking 3D animations that point to the future.

Nathaniel: I’ve always liked that old tech stuff. It’s not all necessary, but it makes everything easier to use.... It’s way easier than having some janky setup and trying to hot-wire something. At least with this, you go, ‘oh, I should make this quickly,’ and you fire it up, you know, it’s all ready to go.

With the amount of content Nathaniel creates, he definitely has reason to have the monitor wall and the tape machines. His work ranges across many target audiences and platforms, but there usually are some ‘real-world’ elements which bring his signature and professional look to each of his creations. Whether it’s a subtle texture on a 3D element or that the whole video has passed through the magnetic strip of a VHS tape, Nathaniel’s art style leaves people captivated and inspired as he takes the old and the real, to generate something virtual and new.

Now that you know his secrets, if you’d like to see more of Nathaniel’s work and setup, follow these links to see his recent masterclasses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQCPK8qqkL4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDTdyvEKeI8

Releasing Creativity:

How the Underground Church is Finding Its Voice Through the Creative Arts

Words: Janae Janik

In Shanghai, talking about God outside of church is illegal. Unregistered churches must limit their numbers to 30 people, or risk being fined by government officials. Subtlety is key — service locations constantly changing every week to avoid being tracked down. Even the language on social media is coded in a way as to not raise alarm bells or risk getting deleted. This is the underground church in China.

Yet, there is a vibrant community of Believers engaged with seeing the Gospel proclaimed despite the limitations. Renee Deng and Kenelm Chan are involved with running the Chinese services at Hillsong. In addition to their involvement in Sydney, they have worked with a creative ministry team in China that is helping encourage creativity as a way of spreading the Gospel.

“[Art] creates a pathway for people to actually know Jesus,” Renee said. “Arts literacy like those kinds of things, it’s embedded in people’s — in people’s plight. And a lot of time you realise… art speak[s] louder than when you’re trying to preach to people using words. And it’s also a safer way to do so.” Christian content will be deleted, but art can provide a pathway to start conversations in ways that aren’t blatantly religious. Therefore, it can go undetected by officials and continue to make an impact, giving the community a powerful voice where the government has tried to take it away.

One artist who is a member of this ministry is Sunday. A few years ago, she started to receive prophetic visions and images she believed were from God and use her creative skills to make them tangible for others. As she painted, Renee says Sunday began to experience healing from her past and God began to give her new understandings of her identity. It became more than simply art, but an act of personal devotion and worship.

After hearing about the 100 Day Creative Challenge at the 2018 Worship and Creative Conference, Sunday did a whole series inspired by the Songs of Ascent in the Psalms. These were later shown in a week-long gallery exhibition in downtown Shanghai alongside other artwork Sunday had painted. The event wasn’t ‘Christian’ — that wouldn’t have been allowed — but Sunday was able to talk about the influence behind the paintings to those who asked.