NOOMA
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| Flannel | |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3) Nonprofit organization |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Website | http://www.nooma.com/ |
NOOMA are a series of short films produced by Flannel promoting spiritual perspectives on individual life experiences. The first series features storyteller Rob Bell. The name NOOMA comes from a phonetic spelling of the Greek word pneuma (πνευμα) meaning 'wind,' 'spirit,' or 'breath.'
Contents |
[edit] Format
Each film is about 10 to 14 minutes of teaching related to real-life situations. Each short story covering a specific topic - usually by relating various experiences from a Christian perspective.
[edit] Notable Locations
Most NOOMAs featuring Rob Bell are shot on location in Western Michigan or the Chicago area. However, NOOMAs "Today | 017 Rob Bell" and "Name | 018 Rob Bell" were both filmed in the Jacksonville, Florida area.
The Amway Grand Plaza Hotel is prominent in "Trees". A restaurant called The Rainbow Grill in Grandville, Michigan was used for "Sunday". The Gerald R. Ford International Airport is featured in "Luggage". The Van Andel Arena is featured in "Bullhorn". A beach along Lake Michigan is featured in "Kickball". "Breathe" is shot in the Lake station on the Red Line in downtown Chicago. "Open" was filmed at the new Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming, Michigan three months before the hospital opened its doors.
The public can register to be an extra at NOOMAextras.com.
[edit] History
NOOMA premiered in November 2002 at Mars Hill Bible Church, where Rob Bell is the teaching pastor.
[edit] Production Company
A non-profit company makes the NOOMA films. The company was originally called Fringe, but later changed their name to Flannel. The company is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with the distribution and customer service center located in Grandville, Michigan [1]. Flannel is not officially affiliated with Mars Hill Bible Church. [2]
[edit] Self-Distribution
Since November 2002, Flannel has distributed the films through their website, NOOMA.com. This didn't change when Zondervan started distributing the films to retailers.
A soundtrack featuring music from the first ten films (plus "Flowers" from 013) became available in December 2005 through NOOMA.com and digital music outlets.
[edit] New Distributor, New Packaging
In March 2005, Zondervan has also started distributing the series, making it available to retail markets.
The entire look of the NOOMA series changed when Zondervan began distributing the films.
Previously, the first 10 NOOMAs had been available as DVDs in clear and light blue plastic packaging.
New packaging which accompanied the re-release of 001-010 and all subsequent episodes features a paper case and a 32-page discussion book. The books feature Scripture, stills from the film, questions related to the film's topic, and a single fun fact for each episode, usually about some production aspect of the film.
[edit] Other Media
Because Rob Bell is the featured teacher and storyteller in the first series, his other projects naturally become connected to NOOMA in many ways, as explained below.
[edit] "Love Wins"
In "009 Bullhorn", a "Love Wins" sticker briefly appears posted on the wall of a glass elevator. A free sticker was included in the original release of this episode. It is no longer packaged with the Zondervan version. The phrase is based on a sermon by Rob Bell given at Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan in 2004 entitled "The Cross: Part 1 - Love Wins."
[edit] Sex God
In February and March 2007, the fifteenth NOOMA, titled You, was screened as part of Rob Bell's Sex God book tour [3].
[edit] Velvet Elvis
Content from "008 Dust" is extremely similar to parts of Rob Bell's book Velvet Elvis.[citation needed]In "009 Bullhorn", people in the crowd can be seen wearing t-shirts which say "Velvet Elvis".
[edit] NOOMA Series
- 001 | Rain: "Things don't always work out the way we want them to."
- 002 | Flame: "What's up with the word love?"
- 003 | Trees: "Do our lives really matter?"
- 004 | Sunday: "Why do we do the things we do?"
- 005 | Noise: "Why is silence so hard to deal with?"
- 006 | Kickball: "Why can't we always have what we want?"
- 007 | Luggage: "It isn't always easy to forgive."
- 008 | Dust: "Does God believe in us?"
- 009 | Bullhorn: "Can we separate loving God and loving others?"
- 010 | Lump: "A lot of us have done things in our lives we are ashamed of."
- 011 | Rhythm: "What does it mean to have a relationship with God?"
- 012 | Matthew: "Suffering the loss of someone we love can be the most difficult thing in life to deal with."
- 013 | Rich: "Maybe God has blessed us with everything we have so we can bless and give to others."
- 014 | Breathe: "Our physical breath is actually a picture of a deeper spiritual reality."
- 015 | You: "Some of the central claims of the Christian faith are the source of many discussions and heated debates. But are we always debating the right things?"
- 016 | Store: "We all get angry about things from time to time."
- 017 | Today: "How much time and energy do we spend wishing things were how they used to be?"
- 018 | Name: "Why are we so concerned with what other people think, say, or look like?"
- 019 | Open: "What if there’s more to prayer than just God listening and answering?"
- 020 | Shells: "What are we really doing with our time?" (June 2008)
- 021 | She: "When we omit the feminine, are we missing a very fundamental part of His nature?" (September 2008)
[edit] Soundtrack
Most of the music from the first ten NOOMA videos were released the soundtrack NOOMA Soundtrack | Volume 001 in December of 2005. The soundtrack is available from NOOMA.com NOOMA and on iTunes. It features Brie Stoner and David Vandervelde, both independent artists that are not employed by NOOMA.[1]
| Track # | Name | Artist | NOOMA Video |
| 01 | Rain | Brie Stoner | 001 | Rain |
| 02 | History | David Vandervelde | 001 | Rain |
| 03 | Indiana | David Vandervelde | 002 | Flame |
| 04 | Yum Choi Bo Ram | David Vandervelde | 002 | Flame |
| 05 | All My Prayers | David Vandervelde | 003 | Trees |
| 06 | Son of Gold | David Vandervelde | 004 | Sunday |
| 07 | Slaves | Brie Stoner | 005 | Noise |
| 08 | Can You Love Me | Brie Stoner | 006 | Kickball |
| 09 | Instrumental | David Vandervelde | 007 | Luggage |
| 10 | Wait | Brie Stoner | 008 | Dust |
| 11 | Cheap | Brie Stoner | 009 | Bullhorn |
| 12 | Heaven Weeps | David Vandervelde | 009 | Bullhorn |
| 13 | Flowers | David Vandervelde | 013 | Rich |
[edit] Music from other NOOMA videos
The later NOOMA videos feature music that is not on the soundtrack:
| NOOMA Video | Artist | Name |
| 010 | Lump | The Album Leaf | Over The Pond |
| 011 | Rhythm | David Vandervelde | Moonlight (Instrumental) |
| 012 | Matthew | The Album Leaf | Window |
| NOOMA Trailer | Aphex Twin | Girl / Boy |
[edit] Subtitles
The Nooma are subtitled in the following languages:
