We first saw the concept for this video at Granger Community Church during their “Innovate 2007″ Conference. They had gotten the idea from a foreign political ad (unfortunately I can’t remember what it was or where to find it!). Allison Harrell wrote the script and Markus Lloyd gave some fantastic narration to the piece.
The script is quite mind blowing when you realized it can be read both backwards and forwards. Believe it or not, the challenge of writing such a piece doesn’t seem as daunting when you realize there is a pattern to it. It goes something like this:
State a negative fact
Phrase with a negative implication (not a full sentence)
State a positive fact
State a negative fact
Phrase with negative implication (not a full sentence)
State a positive fact (and repeat as necessary)
Stating a fact in this piece would be something like “I am lost in Blindness” or “Simple grace triumphs over utter darkness”. The negative phrases are things like “I refuse to believe that” or “There is no truth in the saying” and are never complete sentences. The reason this works out is because on the way down they come before a positive fact, which make the sentence negative. But when read backwards, the negative phrases are canceling out the negative facts, leaving the positive sentences to stand on their own.
Give it a shot! I would love to see what you come up with!
I have been so inspired by this. Thank you. I used your model and your directions to reflect on my own journey since the death of my son, almost five years ago. I have posted my version of this format on my blog.