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What's In Your Hand?

And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, a rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and moses fled from before it.  And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail.  And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand..." (Exodus 4:1-4, KJV)

A very interesting thing happened to Moses when he met the LORD at the burning bush.  God had told Moses to go back to Egypt and bring out the Children of Israel, but Moses didn't think anyone would believe him.  So God asked him a question, "What is that in your hand?"  And then God told him to cast the shepherd's rod that was in his hand to the ground.  Then the miraculous happened.  The rod transformed into a miraculous sign to prove that God was sending Moses.

Maybe you're overwhelmed by the difficult almost impossible task of moviemaking and asking yourself:  "How can I possibly make a film with no budget or on such a low budget?"

Consider God's question to Moses: "What's in your hand?"

What's in your hand that you can access?  What's in your  hand that you can use and that God can bless and transform?  See, you have so many more connections and blessings all around you than you probably realize and probably access to many things that no other filmmaker has.  You are unique and blessed.  Ask God for eyes to see what is really in your sphere of influence.  Then write a story around what you have that can be utilized in your film.

What's in your hand?

If you're a no budget "guerrilla filmmaker" I'm sure you have heard of Robert Rodriguez who made his feature film debut,  El Miriachi  for a  mere 7 thousand dollar budget.  The film impressed the folks at Columbia Pictures so much that they chose to distribute it and the rest was history.    Rodriguez has become famous for being a "one man crew", serving in so many film roles at one time: writer, director, cinematographer, editor, and more.   On the back cover of his book, Rebel Without a Crew it describes his "innovative" "Miriachi-style" filmmaking, "where creativity - not money - is used to solve problems".  And he has set the standard for all of us filmmakers with his "Rodriguez List" (a term coined by Stu Maschwitz in his book The DV Rebel's Guide) 

 The Rodriguez List is basically taking what you have access to and writing a script around it to create a unique film with better production value and to avoid writing something into your script that you can't afford.   This is  using creativity to solve problems.  This is thinking outside of the box.  This is guerrilla filmmaking at it's best.

What's in your hand?  Maybe you have a friend who owns a Ferrari who would let you film it, or maybe you have access to a Martial Arts Academy or a display of medieval swords on your mantle.  Or maybe all your friends love to dress in realistic period costumes for Renaissance Festivals or as Civil War reenactors.  Maybe you have a grandfather who owns a junkyard and he would let you film a gunfight scene there.  You have access to many more things than you realize.  This is your opportunity.  What's in your hand?   It's a miracle waiting to happen.  Who knows - maybe something collecting dust in your attic is a true treasure that will make cinema history.

Ask yourself: What's in my hand?  Then make your list and tell a film story based upon what you do have and see how God will multiply the loaves and fish in your next film project.

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