Over the last 10 years or so, I have had to do a lot of flying… not as much as some, but well more than others. When it comes to airport security, I know the drill: get in line, have your boarding pass and ID ready… take off your shoes, no liquids, gels or aerosols in your bags, laptops & camcorders must be removed from your bag for inspection… it can be a little unnerving! And while I’m quite familiar with all of this, it never ceases to amaze me that every time I fly there is someone near me in line that seems to have no idea how this process works. They’re not prepared, can’t seem to find their driver’s license, and are ready to walk though the metal detector wearing their shoes! Don’t they know how much they’re slowing down the process? The rest of us have places to go, coffee to buy and gates to wait at!

You know I have to spin this…

Over the past 25 years or so, I’ve been going to church a lot. Not as much as others, but well more than enough. When it comes to church time, I know the drill. Get up, get ready, get the kids ready, get everyone in the car, get through traffic, get the car parked, get the kids signed-in, get greeted for the third time, get your bulletin… sing along and have your bibles out. And while I’m quite familiar with all of this, it never ceases to amaze me that every once in a while, we get someone at church that has no idea how this process works. They don’t know where to park, they don’t know how to get their kids checked in… they don’t know the words to any of our songs. Don’t they know how much they’re messing up our routine? The rest of us have to fill in all of the blanks on our sermon hand-out and get to lunch before the Methodists get there!

When was the last time you helped a first time flyer?

In the spirit of the Dirt Conference, I’m going to start posting things here that that would be of value for churches in the way of free (or cheap) media (videos, motion backgrounds, stills, etc).

A great resource, if only because they make several pieces available for FREE each month) is Floodgate Productions. Cool thing is, once you sign in to take advantage of the free stuff, they will email you to let you know about other new resources. This is a great site to check regularly for your sermon or series needs and you’ll rarely pay more than $20 for a quality video. They have some cool pieces available right now to help churches with their Christmas media needs. Check them out!

Moving pictures can be beautiful… but let’s face it, telling a good story is almost impossible without some good sounds as well. My college video teacher (yeah, I did a little schooling for this gig of mine) once gave a great dissertation on the difference between sound and noise… and while I’m sure he added all kinds of useless but impressive-sounding words to convey his thoughts (he did have the better part of a 2 hour class and a subsequent lab to kill), the bottom line is this: Sound is what you want, noise is what you don’t want. Simple enough. What you will find as you do more video productions is that you are rarely able to control as much of either piece as you would like:

• SOUND: Your mics will die (well, the batteries will anyway), people will hit the mic while talking and will talk too loud or soft for you to be able to adjust for it on the fly.
• NOISE: Regardless of how inadequate you may think your mics are, you’ll be continuously amazed at how long you can hear a passing plane overhead. The wind will only gust when you hit ‘record’ and no matter how far away from civilization you think you are, there is always some one using a leaf-blower close by.

While we may never be able to control everything we would like to in the way of audio, there are a few things we can do to minimize the potential mishaps.

-Buy some good mics: I know that most churches/ministries operate on tight budgets, but this is an area where you get what you pay for. Make sure you get something that suits your needs for a while. If you’re looking at getting a wireless mic, make sure the receiver is something that will integrate easily with your camera.

-Windscreens: Wind is inevitable, even indoors (air conditioning for one, and try as you might to stop it, people will continue to breathe through the entire shoot!). Side note: Don’t lose your windscreens… the companies that make them are counting you doing this and are ready to charge you handsomely to replace them.

-Fresh batteries: Seems like a simple thing, but having to stop an emotional interview to change batteries can be a real buzz-kill. Start with fresh batteries and have fresh ones standing by in case of emergency.

-Headphones: Just because your camera may have a cool display that shows that you’re getting audio, constant monitoring is the only way to truly know what that sound is.

-Know your camera: This may sound odd since we’re talking about sound, but it’s vital to have a good understanding about how your camera processes sound. You need to know if your meters are telling you the truth about your sound levels so you can adjust accordingly. One thing I love about the Panasonic HVX200 is that I can set both audio channels to mic input 2; this allows me to set one high and one low to help in post production with low and loud sound.

-See what you hear: This might be the most important element of control. Since some noises are inevitable, do what you can to incorporate the origin of that sound into the piece. For instance, traffic noise is acceptable when you have some one telling a story near a busy intersection, and wind isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as you can see something blowing in the wind.

-Be patient: Sometimes waiting just a few minutes can be the difference between bad noise and good sound… that leaf blower can’t go on forever! (or can it?)

From the “Man, I hope this NEVER happens to me” file…. enjoy!

I’m sure that there are those who would lump all Christian conferences into the same category… I used to be one of them. After two days in Little Rock, Arkansas, I can’t say that anymore. This conference was an amazing gathering of people who are passionate about media, methods and the madness that sometimes drives us to do what we do. While many may have thought that this would be a great opportunity to hear about new technologies and techniques, for me the biggest surprise was just how deep we were drawn in spiritually.

Wait a minute… you were surprised by the depth of spirituality at a Christian conference?

Yes… I knew that it would be a chance to meet great people and to talk about what we all do and how we do it, but the corporate worship and main sessions just blew me away! On day 2, the early labs were nearly interrupted by the extended time of communion and worship. We were privy to teaching from Rick Bezet, Neil Greathouse, Anne Jackson, and Dino Rizzo that was challenging at a level that I think most people were taken back by. They all hit us right in the heart..

• Don’t lose the confidence of your calling
• God wants us to experience HIM for ourselves
• God wants your heart so much more than he wants your talent
• Don’t let the potential for many keep you from your passion for one
• Bottom line: None of us gets a free pass into God’s presence simply because we work or volunteer for churches!

I made amazing connections with some incredibly talented people… I had my head rocked by some innovative thinking… but nothing compared to the reconnection I had with my God, the One who gave me the desire to make videos and tell stories in the first place. For me, at the core of Dirt was a call to not rely on our talents but to always press deeper into God.

I’m sure that the top minds at Dirt are still evaluating all that happened in this inaugural event, but if they choose to do it again, get your whole creative team there… you won’t be sorry.

Oh come on… you knew there had to be some cheesy video…

I’m heading out for Little Rock, AR this morning… time for the Dirt Conference! While there is much to be discussed in the way of technology and methodolgy, I’m most looking forward to the connections with others who do what I do! I’ll be posting updates as I am able. If you’re attending, track me down… I’d love to meet you! Watch for twitter updates with the hashtag: #Dirt09

Sometimes, they need no set-up at all… this is just FUNNY!

Don’t get stuck in a rut.

I remember the first time I heard about a church using a clip from a movie as a sermon illustration… I thought it was a brilliant idea! There are a lot of very good moments in countless movies that will preach, so why not? In the years since then, I’ve seen movie clips used very well… and I’ve also seen them miss the mark horribly. I worked at one church where, as we would look at the week’s sermon topic, inevitably the pastor’s assistant would turn to me and ask, “What movie clip do you think we should use?”

Umm… didn’t we just use a clip last week… and the week before that too??? (I didn’t work there long)

There’s a problem; when something is perceived as “cool in church”, it can just as quickly become an over-done pattern of irrelevance. I’m not saying that churches should stop using movie clips, I understand that in some places that those clips might be all the media that is available. In those instances, pick and choose your clips wisely… just don’t default to it because you’ve done it in the past.

Using movie clips is a great way to get started at thinking “visually” …now how can you start to do your own illustrations, sermon bumpers, and stories?

This one is just RICH! Enjoy!