- NOOMA
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Flannel Type 501(c)(3) Nonprofit organization Founded 2001 Headquarters Grandville, Michigan Website http://www.flannel.org/ NOOMA is a series of short films produced by Flannel promoting spiritual perspectives on individual life experiences. The name NOOMA comes from a phonetic spelling of the Greek word pneuma (πνευμα) meaning "wind," "spirit," or "breath."
Contents
Format
Each film is about 10 to 14 minutes of teaching related to real-life situations. Each short story covers a specific topic, usually by relating various experiences from a Christian perspective. Each NOOMA video features the teaching of Mars Hill Bible Church teaching pastor Rob Bell. The NOOMA videos are subtitled in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Mandarin, and Korean.
Notable locations
Most NOOMAs featuring are shot on location in Western Michigan or the Chicago area. However, NOOMAs "Today | 017" and "Name | 018" 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. "Shells" was filmed primarily at the Pew Campus of Grand Valley State University with several shots of Rob Bell sitting in the Steelcase Library.
The public can register to be an extra on the Flannel website.
History
NOOMA premiered in November 2002.
Production and distribution
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 Grandville, Michigan. [1]
Since November 2002, Flannel has distributed the films through their website, NOOMA.com. 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.
New distributor, new packaging
In March 2005, Zondervan 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.
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?" (May 2008)
- 021 | She: "When we omit the feminine, are we missing a very fundamental part of God's nature?" (August 2008)
- 022 | Tomato: "Do we try so hard to live the perfect life that we miss out on how to truly live?" (November 2008)
- 023 | Corner: "Why is it that often when we get what we want, we still feel empty?" (April 2009)
- 024 | Whirlwind: "What do we do when there aren't nice, neat answers?" (July 2009)
Soundtrack
Most of the music from the first ten NOOMA videos were released the soundtrack NOOMA Soundtrack | Volume 001 in December 2005. The soundtrack is available from Flannel.org 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 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 References
External links
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