I decided recently to branch out from journalism, just as an exercise for myself. I wanted to write, produce, and direct a fictional short film, and I somehow managed to do it in a weekend. (Even with the most amateurish of films, getting all the right shots in a weekend can prove pretty challenging, especially if there’s plenty of scripted dialogue.)

What follows is an attempt at comedy. I won’t give away the plot–the film is less than seven minutes long, so it’s not exactly Citizen Kane–but I will tell you what inspired it. The idea came from a conversation I had with my husband, Steve, while we were on a flight to Memphis. He commented on the still popular pre-worn clothing phenomenon and said that while he liked the look of faded jeans and could tolerate off-the-rack old-looking t-shirts, he was completely shocked at seeing a pre-worn Bible at Barnes & Noble, stains and all.

When he told me this, I too was flabbergasted. Pre-worn Bibles? Seriously? Isn’t that kind of ironic in how anti-Christian it is? (I’m a little rusty, but I’m pretty sure that attempting to look more pious than you are is probably a no-no.)

But enough back-story. I now give you my one-camera, no-mic, no-lighting, no-budget (no-talent?) film!

Note added December 8, 2008:
I recently read “The Year of Living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs. It looks like he, too, ran into some strange Bibles when he began research for the book. Apparently there’s actually a Bible available that looks like a Seventeen magazine. I guess people really do want to hide the fact that they’re religious.