Fourth Cinematic Arts student-produced Integrity Music video released Friday on YouTube

Students in Liberty University’s Cinematic Arts, Zaki Gordon Center have utilized their videography and filmmaking skills to produce four music videos for Integrity Music in and around Lynchburg, Va., over the past three fall semesters.

“This has been a strong working relationship that developed from my personal relationship of almost 20 years with Integrity,” said Stuart Bennett, Associate Professor in the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program, who has I worked with the label on projects both in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Bennett said Integrity Music endeavors to make its music catalog worship-centric rather than artist-centric. This focus presents a challenge when trying to create videos for these worship songs without spotlighting the band’s vocalists and musicians.

Every fall semester, juniors majoring in Cinematic Arts and others pursuing minors in the degree program have an opportunity to participate in a client project to create videos for songs that illustrate the theme poetically using visual metaphors.

“In response, the students have created pitches for the client, modified them through instruction, and realized their vision through carefully planned productions,” Bennett said.

The latest, produced by Bennett and Durrell Nelson and directed by Micah Kincaid, was released on Friday to accompany the song “Let It All Go,” by Corey Voss & Madison Street Worship and received close to 1,000 hits and more than 100 likes in the first five hours.

“What is most amazing for me as a professor is to read the comments people have written on YouTube,” Bennett said. “Some have literally brought me to tears as I have read them.”

“I can honestly say that the most wonderful rewards for me are two-fold: To see our students work placed in a professional arena, but also to know that their work is literally impacting people’s lives and bringing them closer to Christ.”

Last Friday, a video produced, directed, and edited by Hayley Norwood and Liz Mertz was released for David Leonard’s song, “Share This Burden,” which has already been viewed more than 1,800 times. On Jan. 16, the video to “I Speak Jesus” by Here Be Lions & Darlene Zschech, produced by Bennett and Gaines Roberts and directed and edited by Jacob Snow in Fall 2019, was posted on YouTube and has since received more than 900,000 views. A video to illustrate Lincoln Brewster’s “While I Wait,” directed by Daniel Carrai and Jayla Arthur at the Hydaway Outdoor Center in Fall 2018 and published on Jan. 10, 2019, has more than 200,000 hits.

“We are pleased to be finishing up our third year collaborating with the Cinematic Arts department at Liberty University,” said Jason Jones, Integrity Music’s Director of Visual Communication. “Professor Stuart Bennett and his students have been an absolute joy to work with. Some truly amazing work has blossomed from combining songs of substances and the students’ visual creativity. We look forward to this special relationship between our teams for years to come!”