BIG is definitely Better

What can ordinary people accomplish with an extraordinary God, unity, and hard work? A local cross denominational group shares their story.

For generations people have struggled to read and interact with God’s word. The Bible Society and Scripture Union wanted to create a resource addressing this need specifically for the young people of today. In 2007 they gathered together with SA youth representatives from seven different denominations as well as other interdenominational groups, and the Bible to Youth Consortium (BTY) was formed. (www.bty.com.au)

The BTY Consortium decided to produce a video resource that encouraged reading and interacting with the Bible, and partnered with HISOWN (www.hisown.com.au) - a local company who produce multimedia resources that focus on building the Kingdom of God. With a lot of teamwork, Twentyfour was produced - a video study resource on the 24 chapters of Luke. Young people from around the state were filmed sharing about themselves, reading a chapter of Luke, and asking thought-provoking questions. Viewers received a journal booklet to follow along and respond in. The project was a success, with over 2500 youth benefiting.

Students at my school were enthusiastic about the idea of reading through a slab of the Bible at the same time. And once they saw the quality of the whole production, it really captured their imaginations. A handful of students took a pack home out of curiosity. For five bucks, it made for a fairly inexpensive evangelism tool. The video footage provided an extra level of interaction. Several students would come to Bible group each week with their booklets full of big questions. Now they've seen the sneak preview of Big, their even more excited!" Jeremy, CPSW Seaview High School. On using twentyfour

Encouraged by the results, the BTY Consortium met once again to work out a project for 2008. They decided to bring the first 17 chapters of Genesis to life. Aiming even higher than the year before, they wanted to produce a DVD that is visually captivating, as well as engaging the viewer emotionally and spiritually. They delegated this massive task to a project team, consisting of HISOWN and a representative from both the Bible Society and Scripture Union. Rev. Dr. Stephen Raisin, principal of Bible College SA and Old Testament expert, came alongside the project to lend his knowledge and facilities.

“The creation of this DVD resource, while involving a lot of hard work and late nights over several months of production, demonstrates what a dedicated team led by the same passion can achieve”. Grant Hull, Director HISOWN.

The project was such a big undertaking, sharing about such a big God in a big universe in order to have a big impact, that it was aptly named BIG. Bible Society volunteered to provide funding.

The project team decided to use high quality animation to captivate the audience, with the concept of making the room in which the young reader was sitting come to life. Animation illustrating the words being spoken would play out across the walls behind the reader and within the 3D space of the room itself. To achieve this they filmed the readers in high definition in front of a green-screen. The green-screen was then removed and the animation was painstakingly created and incorporated. Filming took place over a two week period at Bible College SA during holidays. Some of the animation was actually created by filming live actors and then reducing their images to silhouettes. An atmospheric soundtrack was also added, enhancing the viewers’ experience all the more.

The readers themselves were real youths from local churches, suggested by the BTY Consortium, sharing their own struggles and triumphs with the bible. Two Christian pastoral support workers volunteered their services to provide explanations of difficult sections of the text and practical applications. Additional resources such as BIG journals, the website and group studies were also created.

This massive project took the project team seven months and many late nights to complete. Throughout this time they met with the BTY Consortium regularly for feedback to fine-tune the product. The final result is absolutely unique and remarkably engaging. Incredibly, a study pack which includes the DVD and journal is sold at just $5, so that no one has to miss out. Over 4000 youth are expected to benefit within SA alone, and both national and international interest has been shown.

So what can ordinary people accomplish with an extraordinary God, unity, and hard work? The answer is BIG results.

BIG is available now. Visit the website www.big.bible.com.au or your local Bible Society shop to order.