For the past year, the This Is Our City project has been releasing articles and videos that highlight the ways Christians are pursuing the common good in their home cities. Nathan Clarke is the Video Director of this project, and his work has documented the efforts of Christians across the country doing the work of the Kingdom to love their neighbor and spread the gospel. He shares more about his experiences with film—how he got into it, how it challenges his faith, and how it helps tell a story in a way no other medium can.

How did you get into film?

It's not an amazing story—I was never one of those kids who dreamed of making movies. I started making some silly films with friends after college just as the technology was getting cheap enough that you could use a consumer video recorder and a computer to edit together interesting videos. I liked it enough that I found a place that would teach me on the job. I was a history major so I didn't know the first thing about editing or production other than what I thought looked cool. So that first 3-4 years at that production company (twentyonehundred productions, part of InterVaristy) was a major education for me.

How did you end up at Christianity Today?

Through my work at twentyonehundred I started to get more and more into documentary production, and eventually this led to a partnership between CT and twentyonehundred on the Christian Vision Project. Together with Andy Crouch, we produced a number of documentary shorts on subjects like Mako Fujimura and First Nations tribes on Vancouver Island. That began a rich partnership with Andy that also included Round Trip Missions and the Global Conversation.

How has the This Is Our City project changed your faith?

This Is Our City has been filled with amazing moments behind the scenes that most readers and viewers will never get to see. People have been so hospitable to us and welcomed us not just into their homes, but into their lives. There have been many moments when John Harrison, our Director of Photography, and I have left a house saying, "I can't believe we got to share that experience with that family!" Nine times out of ten, this was after we finished filming. This hospitality has been good for my soul.

It's easy to become cynical in media work. You always feel like people are trying to present an angle to you or get something from you. In the case of This Is Our City, many of the people we have filmed were in fact not looking for press or more notoriety. They were people just trying to figure out what it means to love God and love their neighbor. Their quiet faithfulness and love of their neighbors challenges and encourages me.

What does film add to a story?

Well the first obvious answer is moving visuals. I would be remiss to talk about This Is Our City and not mention the excellent work of John Harrison (and a few others including Chris Sinclair) in capturing the visuals on video. Early on, we were filming a mobile bike repair shop that worked with and for the homeless of Portland. A fight broke out among a couple of guys and John captured the moment in a way that didn't feel voyeuristic or cheap but rather honored the men and the story that we were trying to tell. It is so hard to find collaborators like John who can capture these moments in a way that is beautiful and dignifying. John is amazing in that way and brings so much to This Is Our City.

Film can come alongside some of the careful reporting and (hopefully) add appropriate emotion and feeling. In fact, in my opinion, video that is bogged down with details and information just doesn't lead to effective story telling. I'm always cutting out details to distill the message down to the most core elements. A great example of this is Christy Krispin's careful reporting on George Zaloom and the important work he had done with Superstorm Sandy relief in Staten Island. Compare that to what we created with video. The organizational details of his relief work would have made for an overly complex story on video. So instead we went a different direction and captured some of the heart and emotion of the work that he does in his day job.

One of the reasons I love working at Christianity Today is the organizational commitment to thoughtful and intensive journalism. It challenges me in the work that I do. But if we are not careful, we can become so obsessed with finding "the facts" that we can lose the heart (we also need to make sure we don't make the opposite mistake). I think that we've found this balance between head and heart with This Is Our City because of our commitment to various types of storytelling.

A few favorite videos:

Yes, I'm the Mechanic
Auto-repair shop owner George Zaloom says there's no reason why every Christian shouldn't find joy at work.

Forging the Future with the Tip of a Pen
How Jake Weidmann, one of 11 master penmen in the world, uses ink to link the past and future.

With Liberty and Justice for All: Inside the Occupy and Tea Party Movements
How can people who share the same faith embrace such different politics?

Laura Leonard is associate editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com.