A Not So Silent Night

For our Christmas project this year we decided to do a modern telling of the Christmas Story; a young, pregnant couple on a road trip, unable to find a room for the night.

Our project was used to set up our pastor‘s message in our Christmas Eve services at Seacoast Church.

• 5 different locations
• 4 days of shooting
• 3 great actors (+ one fussy baby)
• 2 cinematographers
• 1 great short film!

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Technical Specs:

• Camera: Canon EOS 7D (Lenses: Tokina 11-16 2.8, Canon 100 2.8 Macro IS, Canon 24-70 2.8, Canon 50 1.2.)
• Edited on Final Cut 7
• Color graded in Magic Bullet

I’m so thankful for the trust of my church leadership; they allowed me to take some risks and take the necessary time to put this piece together.

And since you were nice enough to read this far down, please enjoy the bloopers:

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Questions or feedback? Drop a comment below!

Video Story – Find a visual focal point

At Seacoast, we’re doing a short sermon series based on the Book of Jonah, so telling a story on video about someone running from God’s call would be great for a sermon illustration. Finding the story wasn’t difficult; it involves the wife of one of our pastors getting involved with helping people in human trafficking… I just didn’t want to do the ol’ standard testimonial video. After some discussion, it was noted that, while she never thought she could see herself doing anything like this, now it was all she could see. This not only became the closing line of the script, it also gave me a great idea for a focal point; I would have my subject walking around downtown Charleston with a camera.

Special thanks to my new partner-in-crime, Jack Hoey III, who put together a great voice-over script, and to Lisa Surratt who allowed us to tell her inspiring story.

Don’t just dive into a story and default to what you’ve always done; look at the details from different angles and listen for the visual elements. Don’t be afraid to explore new ways of telling the story.

Technical Specs:

• Camera: Sony FS100
• Edit: Apple Final Cut Pro
• Color Grading: Magic Bullet
• Music licensed through FirstCom

Uganda Highlights – Sony NEX-FS100

While I was not able to do much more than this highlight video from the footage I shot in Uganda, Africa last month, it is still a good look at my first time out with the Sony NEX-FS100. I’m still learning all of what this new camera has to offer and I’m sold on it!

Great functionality, easy to use, and beautiful pictures… Win!

For now, I just have the ‘kit’ lens that Sony includes; I’m hoping to add some good Canon glass soon.

Here is the piece I put together for those who were on the trip:

Special thanks to the amazing people at Palmetto Medical Initiative!

Quick review: Sony NEX-FS100

As we (Seacoast Church) were just about ready to make the jump to DSLR, we found out about the new Sony NEX-FS-100. While I had only limited experience working with DSLRs, everything that I read and saw about the Sony made beautiful sense; Take all of what makes a DSLR amazing and actually incorporate them into a real video camera. Rather then me blathering on about all of the technical points, this video will do much better:

The sad thing is that we ordered a pair, they arrived, and I assembled one… and it sat on my desk for the better part of two weeks. I had just found out that I was being sent to Uganda and had way-too-much to get done prior to my departure. Oh, and did I mention that I would be taking this new machinery with me? I finally had to block out a couple of hours just days before I left to familiarize myself with the camera.

It was love at first sight.

While it won’t win any beauty contests, there is so much to love about this camera:

• I love the view-finder screen; so much flexibility and beautifully clear.
• The ‘kit’ lens that comes with it is a little slow, but still does really well. I’m curious to see it’s capabilities once we add some good Canon glass (coming soon!).
• 1080/24p – Just GORGEOUS!
• Real XLR inputs – and it sounds really good! (One knock I’ve had on the HVX200 that we have been using for 3 years is that things sound one way while recording, but can end up clipping when you get things in the edit environment. Both the included shot-gun and my wireless lavs sound really clean)
• The image stabilizer is so good! Shooting hand-held stuff at the end of the 80-200 lens looks really nice. This was especially great while in Uganda where I chose not to drag a tripod around.

I shot a lot of footage in Uganda and I will eventually post some of that, but this is a quick (literally, shot and edited in one day) project that I had to knock out upon my return to the states. It was used as a ‘table setter’ for a message by Greg Surratt about hell:

A quick shoot and a little coloring help from Magic Bullet on this video

While I’m still getting familiar with all that this camera offers, I’m really glad that we chose to go this route!

Pursuing Christ, Creating Art

I haven’t done a ‘books worth reading’ post in a while, but I am really excited to share this with my readers.

I’m quite sure that I’ve never read a book like the one I’m recommending now; My friend Gary Molander has written a book for anyone who works in the production of church related media, Pursuing Christ, Creating Art; Experiencing Life at the Intersection of Faith and Creativity. I’ve had the honor of knowing Gary for a couple of years now, and his influence has caused me to change the way I think… the way I approach my own creative process, by simply helping me understand the proper order:

• Pursue Christ with all that I am
• Create my art as a response to who He is and what He means to me.

I must admit that I’m at a bit of a loss as to where to start on this little review; This book is so good that I might end up quoting everything in it and then Gary would make no money and his wife and kids wouldn’t eat, and no one wants that.

Simply put, Gary understands us. He’s done his time as a church pastor and knows first-hand what we as producers and artists go through as the weekends keep showing up right about the same time every week. After 17 years in pastoral ministry, Gary resigned from his church to what was initially an unknown future. He eventually formed Floodgate Productions, a video production company that produces short films and other visual media for churches all over the world.

We don’t create art for God. He doesn’t need it. We create art in response to God because the world needs it. -Gary Molander

Gary’s words will challenge and encourage you. He isn’t trying to prescribe a new “how to” on creativity, but rather what might be a new thought process where we all need constant reminding that we are not our ministry, we are not what we produce, and that our relationship with our Creator is much more critical than anything we could ever create.

At the core, being an artist is a heart condition, not a job. And art created from that place is intended to be more mission-related than we’ve ever dreamed.

I also love that he enlisted the help of some other folks who do what we do to get several different insights on faith and the creative process.

Get this book. Read it carefully. Read it and mark it up with a highlighter and a pen. In six months, go back and read it again.

He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:3

Echo 11 – Wrap up

I’ve just returned home from 2011 version of The Echo Conference, and I am so tired. Good conferences have a tendency to do that, and I’m OK with it. Because, in truth, even though I’m dead-dog-tired and have a weekend of church services to get through… I can’t wait to go again.

Once again, the crew from RT Creative Group put together a great event where artists can come together to worship, learn and mingle.

Much can be said about the speakers, the breakout sessions, the times of worship… but those are the the kinds of write-ups that most people expect; I’d like to go a slightly different direction:

The “Now what?”

When you leave a conference like Echo, your head is swimming, you’ve met countless people whose names you may or may not ever remember, and you hope that the notes you scribbled during the keynotes make sense when you go to read them again. You picked up countless ideas; some you want to try right away, some you will shelve until you have more time to figure them out, and a few that you know would make your pastor’s head explode (but you might try them any way).

For me, the now what part that really fires me up is that I don’t have to do what I do alone! The community that I have access to is unrivaled. The easiest thing to do is to search the hash tag on twitter (#Echo11); there you will find people from all over the country (Canada too) who do what you do. People who know the value of someone a little ahead of them lending a helping hand. For you, the now what means you need to:

• Reach out.
• Make contact.
• Be available
• Participate.

This odd community needs your involvement, no matter what you do. We swap ideas, we critique, we encourage… it works! I believe the on-going spirit of Echo is that we are all working for the same King and for His glory; we’re much more effective when we work together and support each other. (If you work in church video or live production and need help with something, drop me a line (murphy24p at gmail dotcom)

See you next year.

Fuel

I drive a 2000 Ford Explorer with mileage north of 140,000… to say that this is the point in ownership where the parts start to go south would be a bit of an understatement; less than a month ago, I had to forfeit nearly the equivalent of a mortgage payment to replace the radiator and associated pump, hoses, and gaskets. Yesterday, as I hopped in for a short trip, I found myself listening to the never-fun sound of an engine that, try as it might, had no chance of turning over. Once again, I was stuck… going nowhere.

I’m blessed to have a AAA membership, so I called for a tow truck. When asked about the problem with my vehicle, I told the operator that it simply wouldn’t start; I was nearly offended by the next question:

Does the vehicle have fuel, sir?

Are you kidding me? I’ve been driving since 1982! I know what I’m doing! I’ve had some mishaps along the way, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I have never run out of gas… not even close!

While my driving sense was mildly insulted, I answered that I had just filled it up the day before and we proceeded to make the arrangements for the towing and visit to the repair shop.

If I’m writing about this, there must be a teachable moment in here somewhere, right?

I think that those of us who work in and around churches can make the dangerous assumption that we are properly fueled, if only by osmosis. We get to hear the sermon multiple times on any given weekend, even to the point that if the pastor were to fall suddenly ill, we could probably grab his notes and preach it ourselves! We might pray with our teams just before the service… We can tap our feet and maybe even sing along with some of the worship while still doing our appointed jobs; we are masters of multi-tasking, but

…are you out of fuel?

or more importantly, are you offended that I’m asking?

Are you doing and doing, keeping the creative and technical aspects of your church life going, but not having any time where you can unplug and read God’s word for yourself?

Do you have a sabbath? …a day when you aren’t doing church? …a day when you can find some quiet, some rest, a true re-fueling?

I’ve seen some of the smartest, most talented, and best intentioned people crash and burn because they filled every possible moment with their tasks, but left no margin to seek God on their own. I’ve come to believe that we can be crushed under the weight of all we have to do if we don’t have proper time to seek the One we claim to do these things for.

First and foremost, God wants my heart. Not my art, not my technical know-how… he simply wants me, and I need to make time for that.

What are you doing, intentionally, to re-fuel?

It’s about us – Echo 2011

That title will probably rub some people wrong, but if you go to the conference website, you’ll see that it is “an event for artists, geeks, and storytellers”… so it’s about that ‘us’.

Let me start by saying that I was not asked to post something about Echo, I’m sure that no one there even knows who I am. It just so happens that I recently made my reservation to go and I wanted to let anyone in church media know that this is a great gathering of like-minded people, well worth the time and money that it takes to attend.

This is the notebook that I received at Echo last year. It’s full of notes that I took at various breakout sessions and the keynotes, and I’ll be honest, a lot of ideas that I got while flying home on the final day. You see, an experience like this leaves your head spinning, in a really good way. Being around so many great thinkers and artists will have a great affect on your own personal creativity. You will leave with a few new ideas, which is cool… but I think that, even more-so, it will spark a whole new level of creativity as you head back to your church. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve pulled out this little notebook for inspiration in the past year.

The times of worship are great, as one might expect at a Christian conference. But I love the atmosphere at Echo simply because it’s a time of worship for people who are usually doing something during worship at their own church. There is something really special about a room full of people who are finally released to worship without having to worry about who is running the lyrics or what the next camera shot needs to be. It’s a beautiful thing.

Finally, the opportunity to meet so many great people is priceless. You’ll quickly realize that most everyone you meet is looking for the same things: good ideas and great connections. A bonus: The speakers aren’t shuffled off into private rooms; they’re permitted to roam freely amongst the common-folk. (I was this close to meeting Jon Acuff last year; this year, it WILL happen)

I know that budgets are tight, but if you have any chance to get to a conference that is specifically for us weird, church-creative-types, get thee to Echo (July 27-29, 2011)… and if you go, track me down; I’d love to meet you!

(embedded video HERE)

Confessions of a Church Video Director: Run Over

This post will start with a visual aid, a moment from my career as a TV camera operator back in 2003 when I was covering an NBA game in Phoenix, AZ.

(Embedded video HERE)

That was my job. Right on the court, just inches from large athletes moving at top speed.

This clip shows just one of the many times that I got run over while on the job.

My hat and glasses went flying. I rolled backwards like a turtle. But the show must go on… so I dusted myself off and got back to work. Just another night at the arena.

Here is where I spin that story into a blog post:

3 years ago, I was working at a church that had hired me to “take them to the next level“. Early on everything was fine; the next level often means changes and the folks there seemed to embrace the changes I was making; sometimes reluctantly, others with a little more vigor.

Taking the job was not easy for my family as it meant moving about 2,200 miles… Moving my wife away from her mother, sister and friends… Moving my daughter away during her junior year of high school.

And then I got run over.

I didn’t realize that I was being run over until about 8 months into the assignment. My character began to be  questioned, my work was minimized, and all of my next level thinking was rebuffed. It was much different than being plowed by a point guard… Rather than being struck, I found my self stuck.

Stuck in a job that was giving me ulcers.

Stuck in a job that was making me seriously question my faith. My calling. My ability to lead my family.

I was completely run over.

One big problem here: This wasn’t the sidelines of a major sporting event, this was a church. A place where people are supposed to be gracious, kind, and supportive. Perhaps I will go into more of the details of all that happened there another time, just understand that by the time that I knew I had to leave, I was near ready to call it quits with church-work and do something else. Fortunately, I found a new job with an amazing church that I love to this day.

My confession: While I love God’s Church with all that I am, some of the wounds that I incurred in my previous position still sting a bit. Much the way an old injury will leave you with a scar or a slight limp, I wonder if I will ever be able to shake all of what happened to me. I want to be all that God wants me to be and I don’t want my past to define my future. People let me down, God didn’t… I can’t ever lose sight of that.

Rather than this muse being just another indictment on the inner-workings of the Church, I’d rather have it be a step in the direction of healing and forgiveness. Maybe you have been hurt by a church’s leadership… maybe you’ve questioned God’s calling…

Maybe you’ve been run over too.

Be encouraged; You will heal. You may lose your hat and your glasses, but you can dust off and go back to work.

For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn. Romans 11:29

Taming the Chaos

As much as we might deny it, the first church service of the weekend, whether it’s Saturday night or first thing Sunday morning, often times really is a dress rehearsal.

There really is no end to the possibilities as to why… The bottom line is that this is the first time that we’re doing this service and there can be bumps in the road.

In one recent Saturday night service, it seemed that Murphy’s Law was going to play out in every possible way… everything that could go wrong, just about did. All of what went haywire really isn’t the point of this post, just know that it was a tense evening in the booth.

The point is this: After it was all over and I had some time to process things and talk to people about how we might avoid some of these snares in the future, I sent out a tweet that said,

“It will never cease to amaze me how chaotic things can be behind the scenes.”

A friend of mine, who is a Technical Director at another church, responded back to me with:

“We just love to tame the chaos.”

Thanks, Rick… That about sums it up!

As I thought about that some more, I realized that it’s a choice to tame the chaos. I’ve worked in the production of live television and events for many years, and in that time I’ve been around some leaders who seem to actually thrive on the chaos and it rarely made things any easier for anyone.

Our gear will fail… people will make mistakes… stuff will happen…

Whether you’re a staff leader at a church or a volunteer who runs the Power Point slides, you must choose to be a chaos tamer. Be quick to do what you can to remedy the problems and even quicker to speak peace over those who you are working with. When things seem to be falling apart, choose to be a strong part of the solution.

A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.

The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

Proverbs 15:1-2