New Music Video -- "SHOWSTOPPER"

Hey everyone! Gah it's been a while since I've posted anything... All I can say is that I'm extremely busy with my college studies.

However, that doesn't mean that I'm done making videos. As a matter of fact, I've managed time to complete my third music video project entitled "Showstopper"



Just about a month ago, I found out about AJ Rafael's music video contest and I decided to participate and create my own music video of one of AJ's songs. So I contacted my friend, Rodney Balmes, who is an outstanding music artist with hardcore talent, and I told him about it. He was really excited to get started on the project.

The video production lasted for a good two weeks. I would say this, by far, is the best video I've ever done. In terms of the setting, the atmosphere, the new and improved shots (panning, camera angles, even a homemade steady cam, lighting equipment), and with the help of fellow friends, I can say with confidence that this is my best so far. I even assembled a film crew to handle the specific needs to film this music video, such as lighting and providing a steady cam device to stabilize and smoothen moving shots. EJ and Michael who volunteered to be part of my filming crew were such a great help!

Two days before the deadline of AJ's music video contest, out of nowhere, a whole day's worth of overcast clouds and rain from Tropical Storm Ida had spread throughout central Florida. At first, I thought.... oh crap... But then I thought, "Hmm, why don't we use this storm to our advantage. So one night we went out to Uptown Altamonte, a beautiful location, and the light rain was PERFECT for a night date scene.

Overall, I'm glad to know that I've accomplished a great music video! Hopefully I get great results from the contest!

BEHIND THE SCENES


Here's some pictures from our video shoot! Props to Michael Neubrander for these awesome pics!

Empty and Beautiful

This is by far one of my most favorite inspirational songs. It's called, "Empty and Beautiful" written and sung by Matt Maher. The song really relates to us and it emphasizes the struggles that we face each day. But this song also reminds us that Jesus is still with us and that He continues to give us strength, grace, and love to us even though we don't deserve it.


"EMPTY AND BEAUTIFUL" - MATT MAHER (Lyrics)

My past won't stop haunting me
In this prison there's a fight between
Who I am and who I used to be

This thorn in my side is a grace
For because of it the flesh and blood of God
Was offered in my place, my place

You fought the fight in me
You chased me down and finished the race
I was blind but now I see
Jesus You kept the faith in me

Where did my best friends go?
In my defense they disappeared
Just like Your friends did to You, oh Lord

But You were there, You gave me strength
So this little one might come to know
The glory of Your name, Your name

You fought the fight in me
You chased me down and finished the race
I was blind but now I see
Jesus You kept the faith in me

Awaiting, set apart like incense to Your heart
A libation I'm pouring out
Empty and beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

You fought the fight in me
You chased me down and finished the race
I was blind but now I see
Jesus You kept the faith in me

You fought the fight in me
You chased me down and finished the race
I was blind but now I see
Jesus You kept the faith in me
Jesus You kept the faith in me
Savior, You kept the faith in me

Christ for Congo Ministries

Hello again everyone! Justin here...

About two weeks ago I met up with a fellow friend, Dr. Safary Wa-Mbaleka, who is the director of an organization called, "Congo for Christ Ministries" an organization dedicated to helping the poor and unfortunate people of Congo, Africa and spreading the love of Christ to each and everyone they meet.

Congo is a country hit by repeated wars in the past 13 years, and has claimed more than 6 million lives. As a result, the people of Congo suffered miserably and now are living in poor conditions. Dr. Safary Wa-Mbaleka and a team of Christian missionaries formed an organization called, "Christ for Congo Ministries," a group of Christians with a yearning desire to help the people of Congo and spread the love of God.

It was a pleasure working with Safary on an all new documentary film that explains the mission of the ministry program. It's a 10 minute video that describes the situation in Congo and the work of the C4C to help the people who are suffering.



Here's pictures of the missionary work in Congo and the behind the scenes of the documentary video shoot:









Visit the C4C website! Donate! Be a part of the ministry!
www.Congo4Christ.org

"Left Behind" WORLDWIDE MINISTRY

Hello everyone! Justin here. I thought it'd be nice to share a bit more about the success of one of my best short films, which is a Christian drama short called, "Left Behind." You've probably seen the movie already, knowing that it's been out on YouTube for like 5 months and the mass online advertising of this movie). Let me just give you a glimpse back before the production of the this film started.



A month before April 11, 2009, I got together with two of the church elders, one of them, a former professor in teaching film. We were thinking of doing a short film for the upcoming church family life retreat in April 2009, and we wanted to emphasize the essence that having a bonding relationship with God and family are two crucial aspects of life that we believed the people needed to know about. That is how this film originated and came about. The film portrays two different individuals, each facing the reality issues of life, but also portraying their relationship with God and family, and how it affected them both physically and spiritually.

After planning and mapping out the film production process, we spent 3 weeks working on the movie. During the production process, there were no scripts. So the actors had to study and relate to the topics of the scene. After they understand their role in the scene, we begin the video shoot and the actors improvise their lines in their own words. The very first scene of the movie, for instance, was 100% improv. Another scene, which was shot at a local cemetery was 100% improv as well so we did face some difficulties along the way but we made it.

After the three long, painstaking weeks of video shooting and editing, the film was finally finished and on April 11, 2009, during the church weekend retreat, the film made it's official premiere on the big screen, impacting the lives of the church members who saw it, and sending a clear, strong, motivational message to strengthen relationships with God and family. An official movie trailer was posted on YouTube, informing the public of the soon release of the movie.



Four days later, on April 15, 2009, the film was finally released on YouTube, and within 5 months after it's release, with the help of fellow friends and church members, the film reached out to over 20 countries worldwide with over 2,000 views!


On August 29, 2009, 5 months after the film's premiere and release, we had the privilege again to feature this film at one of our local Seventh-day Adventist churches in the community. So we put together a Saturday afternoon vesper program called, "Music&Film" a presentation of our church's music and media ministry, which turned out to be a huge success.







The outstanding number of views and popularity of the short film urged the church to create hundreds of DVD copies to send out to the public for free. The movie even has it's very own souvenir t-shirt!


Thank you to all of you who has viewed and supported us in the ministry of this movie! Please share this also with your loved ones, friends, and relatives so that they too can experience God's love and goodness through the story of this movie.

God bless!
--Justin Niere (Asst. director & video producer of "Left Behind")

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VISIT OUR CHURCH'S WEBSITE:
http://www.faisdachurch.org

VISIT MY WEBSITE:
http://www.justinoproductions.tk

We NEED spiritual discipline & guidance in our lives!

Hello again everyone!

Well this blog post is gonna be pretty much different from my previous blogs, simply because I want to talk about the Christian walk. Today, we live in a world full of chaos, disaster, troubles, trials, you name it. And it's because of this that we at times fear and stress. To sum it all up it's basically a world full of sin. For us Christians, it's extremely hard for us to go through the world of sin without God's help and guidance in our lives.

When Jesus was on this earth, He too, faced difficulties and challenges during his days here on earth. Jesus, Himself, needed God's guidance and direction in order to successfully complete his mission here on earth. So what did Jesus do to gain strength for the challenges ahead? If you look in Matthew 14:22-25 of the Bible, it says that after He dismissed the crowd, He went up to a mountainside to pray. He took time away from the issues He faced and went to a remote place where He could spend quality time with God....ALONE... That's the key aspect to the spiritual strength that Jesus needed to move on with life.

And by doing so, He also set an example for us today, that we should take time daily to spend time with God, one-on-one, away from worldly issues! By doing this we can find peace through the quiet assurance through God's presence. And that's definitely something that will definitely keep us going. So before Jesus comes again, let's get into the daily habit of spending time away from the worldly issues, and commune with God because it's through this and this alone that will solve our problems, our fears, and our stress with the world!

This is basically what I'll be teaching for Youth Sabbath School this Saturday! Apply this lesson to your daily lives! This is something I DEFINITELY need and I believe YOU need to!

God bless!

--Justin

David Jolly's First OFFICIAL Music Video

Hello again everyone! Justin here...

After 2 months of production (delays mostly because of unpredictable Florida weather -_-), I've finally completed David's very first music video of his original, "I Want You."



Before summer started, David contacted me and asked if we could do a music video for one of his originals and I eagerly agreed to help him out with this project.


David's really has a passion for music, and I believe that he should be recognized for it, which was one of the top reasons why I helped him create his first music video. He was definitely a great person to work with! ^_^



There were some downfalls to this video production and the main downfall is...yep....rain....This summer, I've experienced the most stormy summer season I've seen for Florida. For weeks the weather can stay cloudy, dark, and rainy. Worst of all, the weather here can be unpredictable. One moment the weather seems nice and decent, the next couple hours, a huge storm appears and the day is already over... This was the main reason why production on this music video was delayed for weeks. But luckily, there were a "few" days where the weather and the lighting outside is just right enough to at least do a video shoot. Fortunately, despite the weather conditions, we were able to take advantage of every opportunity.



On the last final day of the shoot, there was a HUGE storm system that seemingly was heading right for us, but we raced against time to finish up. But by the time we finished were about to leave, all of a sudden, the storm system moved in a different direction and the sun was finally out again. I couldn't believe it...right when we leave, the weather all of a sudden gets better. So we decided to turn back and redo the video shoots of the day, which turned out pretty good!

Ahh well I'm finally relieved that it's done, and now I can move on to my next video project, which happens to be another music video for one of my closest friends. More info about that coming soon.

Till next time!
--Justin

Recap of my family reunion & vacation

Hello again everyone!

Well today is my family's last day here in Maryland and were gonna fly back to Florida tonight. The past week and a half has been a pleasant experience for me. I took over 150 photos of my trip here (click here to view my family reunion/vacation album). Well for my second blog post, here's a short recap on my trip and what I've been doing these past couple weeks.

On June 18, 2009, my family and I flew from Tampa to Norfolk, Virginia to spend the weekend with our close family relatives from my dad's side (the "Llaguno" clan lol). Here's some pictures taken from our family reunion event:





After our reunion weekend, we went out to Laurel, Maryland to visit my dad's brother and his family, who recently moved here because a Filipino SDA Church here needed a new head pastor. During our stay here we went and visited Washington, D.C.





We also visited the Seventh-day General Conference World Headquarters as well!





During the week, some of my relatives from Virginia drove up to Maryland to meet us and we all drove up to Pennsylvania to watch "In the Beginning," a play performed by Sight & Sounds. I should say, it's one of the best play performances I've ever seen in my life!





Here's their website so you can learn more:
http://www.sight-sound.com/

Afterwards, we drove down to Baltimore, Maryland to check out the sites.





Overall, I really enjoyed my vacation here with the family. I enjoyed sightseeing here in Maryland, and ohh i just loved the weather and temperature here, much much better than Florida...seriously...lol well today we're getting ready to leave for Florida, and we should be back by tonight...late probably...

Going back to Florida means it's time to get right back to video production. I finally wrote up a story for an upcoming Christian-based drama short film which I now need to break it down into scenes and directions on how it needs to be done when it comes to the shooting of the film.

I'm also gonna finish up with David Jolly's music video, and it really needs to be done because it's been already a couple months since we've started on this project...and it really needs to be DONE! lol... No worries...it will be completed and out very soon because I'll soon be getting started on a completely new music video featuring another talented music artist.

Well that's all I'll say for now. It's almost time for us to leave. For all my friends back at home, I miss you all, but I'm coming home! See you all very soon!

--Justin

FIRST BLOG and I'm on family vacation!

Hey everyone! Justin here... Well I think its about time that I start posting blogs because I know for a fact that most of you like to be updated on things I've been working on during this Summer of 2009. So here it is, my very first blog post! ^_^

First of all let me just start off and say thanks to everyone who watched my latest short, "When Peace Came."

Took me about 2 weeks to produce this short, and yes, it's a very short one. Hehe that's because I'm entering a video contest sponsored by Target and Converse One Star called, "Challenge. Create. Change." where you have to create a short video that's at least 27 seconds long and no more than 3 mins in length. -_- When I first finished the first draft cut of the video it totaled 3 mins 30 secs...so I had to go over and trim out the footages till those extra 30 seconds were finally gone...tough because I had to make sure I leave in the critical footage that mainly tells what my story is about...but luckily, I was able to get that done!

Visit their website here for more details of the contest:

http://www.youtube.com/converseonestar

A few "behind the scenes" pictures...find more here

Okay enough of that for the time being lol...Right now, I'm out with my family vacationing in Virginia right now. Great place. The temperature here is just so...perfect...unlike Florida's temperature.....GG boyz LOL... Great place to be in the summer I should say!

Yesterday I visited my aunt's house here in Virginia, and my, she has a very nice garden! Here's some pics...

Well this weekend we have a family reunion here in Virginia and then the following week were off to Maryland to visit my dad's brother and tour Washington D.C. I'm gonna post up pictures here on my MySpace so check back here for new pics!

Oh and last night, wow, my mind became so creative at a very late hour during the night, and I actually stayed up till like 3 in the morning just writing up a story for an upcoming drama short film that I'll be working on when I get back home. Weirdest thing of all is that I first thought up these ideas while I was taking a shower...O_O... Afterwards, I wrote up a thousand word paper on this story...ahh I'm so excited to get started on it when I get back home.

I'm also gonna finish up on two music videos when I get back as well so stay tuned cuz I got a handful of short film and music videos coming your way!

Well okay that's all I'm gonna talk about for now! I'm gonna get back to getting ready for my family reunion this weekend...I'll get back to you guys whenever...okay peace and God bless!

-Justin