I love this extract from TSO's Christmas in Sarajevo.  Because of the colors, a lot of viewers tell me they think this is going to be a Hannukah song until they see the "Reason for the Season" message scroll up on the monster matrix.

Segment Information

Show: Christmas

Introduced: 2014

Author: This segment is 100% Stuart

Duration: # Minutes

Song: Christmas Eve in Sarajevo (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen portion)

Atrist: Trans Siberian Orchestra

Color/Theme

The song was originally done completely in Blue and Cool White. By exception the organic elements (Bethlem Star and Deer) bring a touch of warm white to the segment.  

After a few years I added the "Jesus is the Reason ..." message in a light blue.  I received a lot of comments about how folks liked the light blue so when I added the snowflakes to the matrices (a few years later) I used two blues and cool white on them.  In 2019 and 2020 more elements received the light blue color.

Sequencing the Segment

I hear from a lot of viewers that they appreciate this segment because it seems much calmer than other segments and gives your brain a moment to "calm down."   That makes me feel good because that was exactly my objective when I sequenced this segment.  

I accomplished this by use of the limited color palette (described above) and by using a limited number of different motions repeated across the yard.  Here are the motions:

• White dots moving around otherwise static props.

• White dots moving to fill some props (look at the large spinners on the far right/back of the yard or the half spinner up high on the left side).

• Two position movements (back and forth) to the music - primarily in the second half of the segment.  Usually a swap between two colors but in the ten pixel trees (left yard) the two steps are the trees and the stars separately.

The Message Change

We've all heard the message "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" and that's what I originally put on the matrix.  One day I watched a sermon by Andy Stanley (Northpoint Community Church) where he shared a different perspective.  He suggested that "We are the Reason for the Season" might be more accurate.  If we had not needed a Savior, Jesus would not have needed to come.  With that new perspective, I updated the matrix to include both the "We are the Reason for the Season" and the "Jesus Came to Save Us" messages.  I display the first message completely to give the viewers a "Wait! What?" moment and then the second message displays to answer their question.  

So the real reason for the season is about two things:

1. Us recognizing the fact that we were hopelessly lost to sin but God (our Heavenly Father) loved us so much that He provided a "way" for us to be restored to a relationship with Him.

2. Us celebrating Jesus,  the one who loved us enough to be the "Way" to fulfill God's plan for our salvation.

The reason for the season is for us to celebrate Jesus  and His entire story including Christmas (His birth), Easter (His death), and our hope (foundational knowledge) that He will return to restore the original plan of creation.

Interesting Things to Observe

Here are a few things that might be fun to watch in this seegment:

The Monster Matrix

Because I wanted to scroll the "Jesus is the Reason ..." message up one line at a time, but end with the entire message showing, I chose to use five separate images ("Matrix | Jesus Is ..." in the images section below).  I scrolled each of the images up to a certain point and then made them static to show the entire message.

The Garage and House Matrices

I used 16x50 images of snowflakes for both the garage matrices (16w x50h Vertical) and the house matrix (50w x 16h Horizontal).  Watching the show you may notice that the snowflakes on the house appear much larger, that is because the garage matrices have 1.125 in spacing and the house matrix has 2 inch spacing.