Project #1 - Documentation

I change the light bulbs in the sanctuary attic where I
attend church and have taken a few pictures in the attic
with my 35mm film camera. However, the 35mm rig is
too bulky to take with me when I have to climb the rebar
ladder to change the lamps at the top of the net. The
view of the sanctuary is spectacular, but also difficult to
share with the regular church members.

So, with 3 lamps to change, a new (small) camera, and
a Blackbox project to be presented, I decided to
document the adventure. I bought a small LED video
light and a bar to mount it to my digital camera. I had to
dangle the camera rig from a lanyard and a cloth bag
with replacement lamps and tools from my arm to safely
make the ascent to the top platform. I wanted the
camera to be recording while I climbed the ladder.

The two big unknowns were that I did not know how long
the batteries would last in the video light and how much
time I would have on a 500 MB memory card. I also
carried a single LED flashlight. For safety, I always tell
someone else in the building when I go up and when I
get back down, as well as carry a cell phone.

I think that architects should be required to personally
go into every maintenance space in every building
they design. There would be some radical changes in
architectural designs. Some black boxes have to be
designed with maintenance in mind, and must be
opened from time to time. (Escuse my peeve.)

I found out that the light source batteries outlasted my
memory card. Fortunately, I captured the view looking
down into the sanctuary. However, the camera ran out
of memory (what you see in the video is the end of it).
When I reviewed the footage, I realized that did not
point out the cross (quite small from that angle), the
most important symbol in the sanctuary!

A "cold" front had lowered Texas temperatures slightly
for the morning I was up there, but I simply was not
going to go back up to reshoot in the afternoon!

My narration was unscripted and off-the-cuff. I had
originally intended for it to be a reference to recut and
replace (not knowing the quality of the audio from the
camera), but I thought the original soundtrack gave
hints to the amount of fun I was having!