Why Your Music Ministry Should Be Producing Videos
Tim Eason
It never fails…. The final session of my seminar is on video production. Every time I start this session, half of my audience glazes over and looks at me in disbelief. “You want us to what? Make videos?”. Yes! Yes! Yes! Here’s why….
If you have been keeping up with broadcast technology lately, you knowthat all television signals will eventually be transmitted digitally. If you have been keeping up with company mergers, you have noticed that broadcasting, cable, Internet, and telephone companies are all trying to get together. There is a reason for this phenomenon.
Inevitably ALL communication will end up traveling through the same medium. Your computer could eventually act as your television, VCR, phone, and web access. The industry has given this movement a name–convergence. It’s going to happen. It’s only a matter of time.
So why should the Church be aware of this trend? Because there will come a day when every other house on the block will be editing their own videos and broadcasting them on the web. And I’m not talking about cheesy 8 frame-per-second videos in a tiny window.
I’m talking about full-screen playback. Everyone is gearing up for it. Video editing “appliances” are making their way into homes everywhere. And what is one of Windows Millennium Edition’s main features? You guessed it– video editing. It is becoming a prevalent form of communication in our society.
If you have a projector in your church and are only using it to display lyrics and sermon notes with PowerPoint, you are quickly becoming an “average” church. Several years ago, a projector in a church was considered cutting edge. Now, most of those churches are stuck at what I call the “fancy overhead” level. Churches are realizing that it takes more than a projector to communicate effectively. Media ministry is ultimately about content. Many times the equipment becomes the ministry, and it’s back to church as usual. Video production changes all that!
The reason that PowerPoint alone becomes mundane is because of its static nature. A few things may be animated or a transition may be applied, however it looks less like television and more closely resembles a video game. Using movie files as moving backgrounds in PowerPoint is not possible because any text placed on top of the movie will not be visible when the presentation is played. The solution is to use a video editing software to create a more dynamic presentation. By using stock animations for backgrounds you avoid the boring business software look and communicate at the CNN level of quality. You may also utilize stock nature footage specifically shot for background use as a moving backdrop for worship lyrics. This technique is great for demonstrating God’s beauty as shown through His creation and helps to enhance the worship experience.
Video vignettes may be produced to emphasize a point. “Man on the street” interviews help to bring the average person’s perspective into the Church. Editing video from a camp serves as a lasting testimony to what was experienced there. A visitor’s video may be given to guests so that they may know more about the vision of your church and what it has to offer. Musicals and dramas may be relived through video. Event promotions…announcements…teacher recruiting… the list goes on and on.
I hear all sorts of excuses as to why a church does not implement video editing. “We don’t have the money”….”We don’t have the manpower”….”We don’t see the need”….All of these factors may be eliminated with one attribute vision. I believe that God has given a specific vision to media ministers worldwide. It is up to them to help other church leaders seek out that same vision so that the Church will utilize more effective means of communication.
On the financial front, the cost of the equipment needed to produce great videos has never been lower. Since the consumer market is being targeted so aggressively, video production equipment prices have dropped considerably. Now you can buy broadcast-quality equipment for less than what you probably paid for your projector. With a three-chip digital camera and a computer configured for editing, you’ll have the necessary tools to create videos at a quality level that once would have cost tens of thousands of dollars.
It is also becoming easier to edit videos. Even young teens are doing it. I recently spoke with the marketing manager for a major video production equipment manufacturer. He told me that it takes an adult 1 hour to show a young person how to edit video with their product. That same youth can then teach another young person in 15 minutes!
If you think that media is the “language of our culture” now, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
That is why it is imperative that the Church starts to master video production NOW. We are known for being behind the times. Let’s be prepared for a change! With a strong web presence and finely tuned production skills, we will be ahead of the game and ready for the real communication revolution.
Tim Eason is president of ChurchMedia.net and travels the country training churches to use media in ministry. Media ministry resources are available at Tim’s web site, www.ChurchMedia.net.
The above article, ‘Why Your Music Ministry Should Be Producing Videos,’ is written by Tim Easton. The article was excerpted from www.churchmedia.net website, where it was posted in August of 2012.
The material is most likely copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.
