A Believer Looks Up at the Cross

Prompt

Colossians 2: 'Having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us... and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.' A forgiven Colossian man stands large in the foreground on a bare hill at sunrise, seen from behind and in profile, looking up in wonder at an empty rough wooden cross, on whose upright a torn sheet of papyrus, a record of debt, is nailed with an iron nail, its ink washed away and blotted out, blank. Golden dawn light breaks through the clouds behind the cross. Reverent and peaceful. The man wears a wrapped head-cloth over his hair. Style: a blend of photo-realism and cinema, like a still from a big-budget film. Bright, rich, saturated, luminous colour, clear daylight or glowing golden light even in dramatic scenes, never murky or muddy, crisp detail, real human faces full of emotion, shallow depth of field, subtle film grain. Simple, uncluttered composition: ONE clear scene from this chapter, with the chapter's main character or characters large, close and central in the upper and middle frame, and a simple background. No montage, no collage, no inset vignettes, no crowd of small figures competing for attention. Historically accurate ancient Near Eastern clothing, architecture and landscape. Keep the bottom quarter of the frame simple and uncluttered (ground, water or sky) so a large chapter number can be set over it. Absolutely no text, no letters, no words, no numbers, no logos, no watermark, no border, no frame.