Ideas for Catholic based films

[Michael_Neal]

I am interested in making short films, documentaries, and possibly TV-like series to showcase on youtube as well as other sites. All of this with evangelization in mind, showcasing Catholic subject matter. This of course would be low budget but could still be good with decent scripts and imagination.

Anyone have any thoughts/ideas on this?

I have one idea for a film, it may be a good or a terrible idea I don’t know.

Basically it is a post apocalypic scenerio where 90% of the population has been killed and the remaining are ravaged with plagues, extreme poverty, disasters, and constant harassment from demonic influences. The main characters are a small group of monks/friars who daily deal with the incredible difficulties of the times in order to save as many souls as possible through acts of charity as well as spiritual warfare against hidden evil influences.

 

[TOP]

On the same note, a film about the “3 days of darkness” as described by Catholic mystic’s as Bl. Anna Maria Taigi, St. Padre Pio… Wouldn’t need much of a set because everything would be dark.

 

[Michael_Neal]

I like that idea, maybe focusing on a few characters and their different experiences during this time.

 

[Michael_Neal]

I was also thinking of short films based on events in Saints lives, for example; Saint Francis receiving the stigmata, St. Dominic converting some heretics, the death of St. Maximilian Kolbe, etc.

 

[rpp]

Michael,

Your idea in your OP has actually already happened.

Get a couple of books, How the Catholic Church Built Civilization by Thomas Woods and Triumph: The 2000 Year History of the Catholic Church by Harry Crocker.

In there you will see that it was Catholic monasteries the preserved and carried on the faith when barbarians attacked and caused the fall of Roman. They fed people, taught people how to farm, kept literacy alive, help carry on the rudimentary medicine at the time and so on.

I think there is a good deal of material there about the self-sacrifice. There are many saints from that period too. There is no need for fictional situations. The words “Based on a true story” as a lead in for a movie carry much weight.

 

[Michael_Neal]

That sounds great, thanks for the great ideas.

The only thing is that it would be a lot more difficult and expensive to film a movie in a historical setting like that. It means alot of costumes, traveling overseas to film at medieval locations or building sets etc. This is low budget; a good camcorder, Adobe Premier Elements editing software, and some inexpensive props and costumes will have to do for now.

Carrying the same concept of monasteries preserving the faith after a modern day disaster, and making sure to show the connection to those historical facts, would be more feasible.

I could build in dialogue between characters and/or monologue that recalls the times of the barbarian invasions and how the monks rallied to the aid of the population.

Again, thanks for the ideas, this is really helping me start to build a rough idea in my head of a script.

I also think the modern day setting will also serve evenglization better since it will help people relate the film to the contemporary world they live in.