One of the many quotes from the meeting that will be
remembered for a long time I think! Not to mention "Sister Proof" lol.
That was certainly a historic and monumental meeting and we
were so glad that everyone was able to enjoy it! We viewed the feed from the
Patterson Auditorium, but when they were passing out the bibles we figured they
would only be available at the Stanley theatre. We heard that most had the same
reaction initially, what a surprise new release! Our thoughts quickly went to
the friends in Guyana, since we knew they were tied in to the program, but
since literature takes sooo long to get there we never imagined that the new
bible would be distributed there too! But we called my sister Michelle in
Guyana that evening, and she happily declared that she was reading her new
bible! Apparently the bibles were delivered to a missionary home under cover of
darkness so as to keep it confidential. We spoke to a brother from the Art
department who worked on some of the illustrations in the new bible and he was
also amazed that they could get them all shipped out so quickly since he only
completed his work on the illustrations about a month prior.
Our reaction to the new Bible was sheer amazement! We knew
there would have to be some kind of revisions being made, especially with the
long build up, and hints from all the previous talks on the program. But we had
no idea there would be so many
revisions not to mention all the extra features! One sister even said that if
we are ever under ban and all our literature is taken away, we will still be
just fine with "only our bibles"
Truly we are "completely equipped".
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| Some were very excited! |
After the bibles were distributed and they explained some of
the new features, we were again blown away by the new JW Library Ap! When the
curtain first opened and they had all the pads and computers lined up I was
thinking, "Hey I didn't know Steve
Jobs was working with WT???" Didn't he look just like him? Especially
with the headset and all the tech on the table.
It's so cool to be part of such an up to date and
professional organization!
Gilead Goulash
Since most everyone was able to be tied into the program I
won't go into detail about the parts of course, but we did have a great time
after the program with the Fortuna's and a few other friends that they invited
over. The Fortuna's always like to have a gathering after the Annual meeting
and invite ones that are visiting the branch alone or don't have a group. They
always make the same dish and they call it "Gilead Goulash", they used to call it "Annual Meeting Goulash" but Tim
said that didn't roll off the tongue quite as well. =)
The first couple we met were Pioneers in the Italian
congregation, which has a lot of need in NY. They've both been serving there
for about ten years and they are loving it!
The second couple we met were recent Gilead Graduates from
England. They were serving at the London Branch for some years when they were
invited to attend Gilead. Most of the Graduates have been assigned back to
where they were, like the traveling work, or full time service at a Bethel
branch. The couple we met though were being re-assigned to the Cameroon
Bethel Branch in Africa! So apparently you still can't really say for
sure where you will end up after Gilead.
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Audio / Video Displays
After eating we all went up the AV Department of Bethel to
look at some special displays. They set up a really nice display for both the
"Prodigal" Video and the "Caleb" Videos! There
were even parts where you could pose and pretend like you were in the movie!
Speaking of the Prodigal Video, Tim mentioned that most of the cast were
workers right there at Patterson, and after walking around we started to see a
lot of them! My first inclination was to go up to them and get a picture but of
course we didn't since it would really embarrass them. But we did get to meet
the Couple who played David's parents. They were very friendly and told us how
they even did Traveling work in Oregon for some years but not in the Portland
area.
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| Sound Recording Studio |
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| Caleb! You're a Real Boy! |
A series of boards explaining how the Caleb Animation works. =)
Apparently they are working on Caleb the Ride....
The Car from the Police Chase in "the Prodigal"
The even mounted cameras to the car to get those awesome shots!
Super Professional!
Bad News Al? ... Meet Bad News Mike!
Art Displays
After that we went down to the art department which had
several amazing displays from recent projects and videos that have been put on
the JW Website!
The first was a white
board which they used to make the video about "Beat a Bully without
your Fists" and "What's a Real Friend?". They showed how the
Artist would draw the entire picture and while being recorded and then they
would speed up parts, and add animation later.
We also saw an amazing new device that the Organization has been using to get the aerial shots of the new Warwick project. You know how the recent videos on the website look so professional and hi-tech? Well this flying camera has made a big difference in capturing scenes and angles that would be impossible otherwise. So the next time you watch, look for flying video shots and remember what made them possible!
You know how in a lot of movies there are scenes where the person looks like they are flying in space, or underwater or with an alien planet in the back ground. Well in the next display we saw the "green screen" which helps to make this possible. But instead of adding space or planets they can also add a barren dessert, or maybe a view of an ancient city in the background to make the scene look more real. An example of this is in the Video "Walk by Faith, not by Sight". So while the person is in costume they act out their part in front of the "green screen" and afterward the brothers can remove the green and add whatever desired background they like! Cool huh?
Lastly we saw the rooms where the actors get their costumes, makeup and beards put on. Did you think the brothers just grew their beards out? Not likely, instead the costume hair gets pasted to their face, and then is trimmed just like real hair. And in some cases they have to put on a mask first to make their skin look old, parched, or even bloody!
It was a very eventful day, and one we will never forget,
but the fun wasn't completely over yet! We still had the privilege to join the
Bethel family for the Watchtower study on Monday. Plus we were right in time
for a Special Lecture after the WT study by Brother Jackson of the
Governing body. So stay tuned for our next post!
