Church Video: Lights, Camera, Worship (page 2)

Worship Team Meeting

Establish a regularly scheduled weekly team meeting and include all those with input to the worship service: the speaker, the music leader, special drama or other resources. Greg has his meeting on each Tuesday, which leaves plenty of time during the week to assemble all of the necessary ingredients. As much as possible, he tries to use that meeting to project into the future as well. Again, this helps him secure props and make other arrangements within a reasonable timeframe.

This Worship Team Meeting will nail specifics: the order of events, the location of the action, the specific spellings of names and so on. If the service is being projected overhead, going out to the Internet or being saved to a master tape, you may want to banner information, scriptural texts and key quotations in real time. Any on-screen graphics, illustrations, photographs, stock video (such as shots from the Holy Land) or the lyrics to songs must be determined, built and scheduled well ahead of time.

Can you hear me now?

The director has to talk to his people during the service. Therefore, you have to be where you can view everything that is going on and you have to be able to communicate without disturbing the congregation. A glassed-in control booth might be your first choice, but it may be totally impractical in your location. Of course this is where your up-front planning and training truly pays off. Your "shot-list" and call terms mean the same thing to everyone on the crew. There isn't any room for discussion or clarification and you won't be able to walk across the altar during the service, so work it out before.

Rehearsal

It is amazing that for something so important, where there's only one chance to get it right, that so many houses of worship are willing to proceed without rehearsal. Rehearsal is a must in Greg's world. No, the speaker doesn't have to run his or her lines, but dramatists, musicians and singers probably will. Rehearsal prepares the director and each technician for the live event and it serves as a sound check as well. It will also reveal where lighting may be an issue or where backgrounds may be distracting. With the wrong background or lighting, the priest in a white robe or the pastor in a black suit can literally disappear if uncorrected. Few things can destroy an otherwise majestic message from the pulpit than a misplaced drumstick or microphone stand that seems to be sticking out of the speaker's ear (or worse). Some degree of rehearsal can help avoid those kinds of problems.

The Flawless Production

Whether you are adding an element to a live service or providing critical coverage to shut-ins, video can be an important part of your religious expression. Surrounded by a trained and cohesive crew, placed strategically in the auditorium and properly rehearsed, you (the multicamera video director) are now in a position to perform your magic. We don't usually mix magic with worship in our minds, but there is something transcendent that you create when the team is focused.

Bill Mauger is an Emmy award-winning producer, award winning videographer/editor and author.

Sidebar: Added Value

Once a media capability is established, others will want to use it for weddings, funerals, concerts and special activities. To avoid any further burnout, and as a way to reward his volunteers, Greg's church agreed to charge those events for media services. This way, all tech team members receive a stipend when they go beyond the original call of duty.

Sidebar: Copyright

God probably won't strike you down, but the RIAA might. With music royalty fees an issue, some churches are not capturing to tape any of the songs -- even special music presentations -- so as to lock out any possibility of a lawsuit. Yes, even a heartfelt but tuneless rendition of a song by your tone-deaf congregation can be grounds for legal action if you redistribute it in any way.