A Look Inside
I’m about to take you INSIDE the process we use to create one of the most complicated and most popular elements of the Dr. Wonder’s Workshop TV series – the Sign Songs. We spend a LOT of time on these little pieces and, though none of them will probably ever win an Emmy award, each one teaches something very important that every child needs to know in a fun and powerful way. So I thought I’d let you in on the how and why we do this. I think you’ll find the process both surprising and interesting.
We already have the theme of each episode determined in our master list. This includes the basic storyline and the primary point we want the children to take away from that program. Then we send the rough storyline to one of our story writers (usually a Deaf person), and I have a conversation with one of my Deaf friends who is particularly skilled in writing Deaf songs in American Sign Language (ASL).
Now I know that the idea of a “Deaf song” may seem very strange to you at first. It sure sounded strange the first time I heard about it, too. But it’s true! Many Deaf people do write “Deaf songs.” Typically these songs don’t have any melody or harmony. Instead, they have strict rhythmic structures that you can see in their hand claps or other body movements. They’ll often use a loud drum that sends strong vibrations through the room that everyone can feel in order to keep everyone together on the beat. But there is more to a Deaf song than just rhythm – there is also visual rhyme.
Now hearing people usually think of rhyme as two words that sound quite similar. Well, an ASL rhyme is two signs that look similar. For example, the signs for “hello” or “welcome” or “wonderful” all use the same hand shape but different movements. So using those three signs in a pattern would be an example of visual rhyme.
Every song in the Dr. Wonder TV series starts out in the
hands of a Deaf poet.
Through the years I’ve written MANY songs with Deaf people including Severa Trevino, Kimmie Casale, Elizabeth Beldon, LuLu Sorenson, and Holly Kalling. The picture you saw on the first page of this letter is from a song Holly and I wrote for Dr. Wonder episode 51 called “Face Your Problems.” Here’s how that process works . . .
First we get together and talk over the song. In this case, we chose two Old Testament Bible characters who had big problems but faced them in two very different ways. The first verse was about Jonah who tried to run away from something God had told him to do, and it landed him in the belly of a big fish and a big mess! The second story was about young David confronting the giant Goliath and how, by trusting in God, David saved the day for the Israelites!
A few months later, Holly sent me a video in which she acted out the ASL sequences for the song. They were great! I just knew kids would understand and love it. Then I wrote English
words and music based on Holly’s signs and rhythms. After she approved them, I sent my demo to our arranger and, once all the music charts arrived, we got the musicians together and recorded initial tracks for the tunes.
We first shot a practice demo of the song so the kids could practice their parts. A few weeks later we taped our lead signer for this song: Traci Ann Hoglind. She’s the oldest daughter of the woman who plays chemist “Paula Beaker” on theshow, and she was just terrific – just like her mom! It took a few more weeks to get the rest of the kids together with their costumes, props, and set pieces, but when all was ready we shot their scenes in the green screen studio in the Silent Blessings offices.
After everything was shot and edited in sync with the song track, we sent the video to our partners at Deaf Missions who created the dazzling background graphics and animations that really make the video pop! At last the song was finished!
I’ve just taken you through the creation of one song out of 13 we create for each season.
It’s a LOT of work and it takes months of preparation for each song we do. But when we’re finished we have a fresh new memorable way to tell the ancient stories of these two Bible figures through colorful, clear images for kids who sign but cannot hear, and for kids who hear whether they sign or not. But the song is just ONE element of an episode!
Each Dr. Wonder show also has a fun and funny conflict resolution drama with our colorful cast of main characters, a Bible story, an amusing skit or
object lesson, and several other elements, all of which work together to communicate a powerful Christian message in a fun, colorful way that can really make a lasting impact on little ones. Each one of these elements receives the same level of focus and the same involvement of the Deaf community that we give to the Sign Songs. That’s another reason why it takes our small team so long to complete new shows. But we’re faithfully getting the job done!
Now every Dr. Wonder’s Workshop show and more is available everywhere – for FREE!
Just download the free “God Loves Deaf Kids” app from the app store for your smart phone, tablet, Apple TV, Roku, or any other supported device. Never before have Deaf kids had such a powerful tool to learn about God’s great love for them. There are also games, other signed videos and a “Parent’s Portal” for moms, dads and grands.
Now I hope you have a better picture of how we do what we do, and why.
We’ve been on this journey with Dr. Wonder since 2004. But we’re finally able to see the end of this particular project. With your continued prayer and financial support, we believe we will be able to deliver the last 13 new episodes of the series to our broadcast partners by the end of this year!
But that doesn’t mean we’re quitting! Not at all. We have big plans to develop many new features to the God Loves Deaf Kids app. Also, we’ll finally have the opportunity to finish the revolutionary SignLab VBS curriculum – the first of its kind – that will enable almost any congregation in America to host a wonderful cross-cultural, bi-lingual, interactive Bible school experience that Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing kids will be able to enjoy together!
But all of this will be dependent on you, and our other financial supporters and prayer warriors. Please continue to stand with us. Renew or, if possible, increase your gifts to this important work that no one else on the planet is doing. Your gifts will make a difference in the spiritual lives of Deaf kids!
Bless you for helping to bless His children,
Rev. Marshall Lawrence, Executive Director
P.S. In spite of some generous church offerings and a major anonymous gift, so far this year our expenses to complete Dr. Wonder have FAR outpaced our income. Thankfully, we’ve been able to keep moving forward by using our savings, but we can’t continue that much longer! We really do need your help,
Please. Help us the finish these programs and get them out to the kids. Thank you so much!