Funny I forgot that the message this weekend was going to be mission and vision.  So Mike talked about relevance and excellence.  I find it interesting that when I started this journey with this series of blogs I didn’t know where it would end, and then Mike talks about why we do what we do in the message this weekend. Coincidence, I think not.  Mike made the point that while the way the message is told changes, the message never changes.  Jesus did some pretty revolutionary thing to help get the message out; drawing in the sand, observing someone planting, getting out in a boat.
What has been will be again,
   what has been done will be done again;
   there is nothing new under the sun.      Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV


I think that is pretty clear, so my last argument in the technology debate is FOR again.   Using technology keeps the way the message is spread relevant.  Read that carefully, technology doesn’t make the message relevant, it is relevant regardless of technology.  Technology makes the way it is told relevant, and I would even go as far as to say; by making the WAY it is told relevant you make SOME people more receptive to it.

In this day in age where people are bombarded by information and technology these things have become part of who we are.  Honestly, while sad to admit I am not sure how I ever got along before smart phones.  I don’t know what I would do if I had to wait somewhere and I didn’t have access to angry birds.  The lesson here is, if you want to talk to me in a way that speaks to me then you need to play in my sandbox.  Otherwise I am probably not going to listen.  

FOR: While the message never changes the way it is told has to change, or else it will stagnate and die.  By using technology I think you present the gospel in a way people are comfortable hearing about it, and by doing that you remove barriers and make people more receptive to it.  


This goes hand in hand with my soapbox on lyrics on the projection screen.  I tell all of my volunteers THAT is the most important part of what we do, the lyrics.  Why? I am glad you asked.  Let me set up a scenario for you: You are not a believer, but you are interested and want to know more. So you go and visit a church.  This church uses hymnals.  

Let me stop right there and say I have no problem with hymnals… but this scenario isn’t about me it’s about this mythical non-beliver keep that in mind.


So when it comes to the worship some says turn to hymn 235, so you turn the hymnal (after you see everyone else pick up the BLUE BOOK not the BLACK BOOK) and you turn to page 235 and find hymn 243… quickly realizing your mistake you find the right page. By this time everyone is singing but you.  So you find the right page, however you don’t read music… So you follow along for a verse and see how the congregation is following the words… then it goes the the second verse and you get lost again.  Finally you figure out how this whole hymnal thing works … once you get to the bottom it goes back to the top of the page and you read all the NEXT lines…. ok great.  By this time they are finishing the second verse, but you are ready this time, you look to the third verse and you start to sing out…. only to discover … they skipped the third verse.  They skipped the third verse!?!  WHY?  Because NEVER NEVER NEVER in the 25 years the church has been around have they EVER sung the third verse of that hymn. 
Now, tell me in THAT moment, how worshipful do you feel?

Hymnals are not bad, barriers are bad.  If they aren’t a barrier for your people, keep them.  If it aient broke don’t fix it.  However, if you want to reach the seekers you have to REMOVE the barriers… and stay relevant.  

I spent all day editing a video for kid city.  Now if you know anything about HCC then you would know Kid City is the focus for the church.  HCC philosophy is if you win the kids, you will get their parents.  Like a lot of churches with very laser focused philosophy HCC does it REALLY WELL.  This coming weekend is all about family ministries so they get a video for the weekend.  Luckily Brett our college pastor did an AWESOME job of all the pre-production, he had a shot list, script, and talent all organized.  Which of course means it was easy for me to stay ahead of the shooting schedule. We shot all day yesterday and I spent all day today in FCP.  The video is pretty much done, but I still got some polish to put on it

This post is really just a little more info about me and my role(s) at my church. My main area of focus is the weekend worship experience. Live production is something I have spent a lot of time doing and it’s something that I think I am pretty good at. However as with most video people while my focus may be live production, I am also a competent videographer in my own rights. I am capable of shooting and editing footage and I like to think I can hold my own in this area. However, what I have spent the most time lately doing is motion design/animation. This is an aspect of my job that I REALLY enjoy, but unlike my live production experience this is not something I was ever trained for.  I am mostly self taught. I have watched literally hundreds of hours of tutorials, and I am a VERY novice graphic person, and I know even less about motion graphic design.

My problem, is like a lot of video people who work for/with non video people, I am expected to be very competent in this area as well. From live production to shooting and editing in post there are at least SOME correlations.  However, when it comes to graphics they are in no way shape or form related but since it’s all video I am suppose to good at it.  What is funny is typically this is not the case.  Most motion graphics guys can’t edit their way outta a wet paper bag, and most good editors start sucking their thumb at the thought of opening Motion or AE.  Now this is observation not a law… I know a few guys that can handle both pretty well, but those guys few and far between, and they bill A TON more per hour then me …. and are totally worth every penny.  

My point is I think their is a double standard here… and since it effects me my opinion on is it not biased at all.  There is a double standard of expectations that I don’t think exists in other places.  Video and graphics are not the same, if you have one guy doing both… get them some help.  Now!  Seriously GO!

Yeah that’s right you heard me.
We are doing a pirate themed sermon series for the next 4 weeks, so the TD decided we need to build a pirate ship set.  The sails were made out of spandex, so the challenge was to make the sails look like sails when they wouldn’t actually move. 
So I spent one day this week making sails to project on the spandex, I think the result looks great.
So my next couple of posts will be step by step how it was done. Hopefully by the end I will have better resolution video

Well we had a ROCKIN worship set this week, our guest worship leader (who will be leading at our multisite) did and AWESOME job.  We got to introduce “Rise and Sing” to the congregation, which was a first for the band and they did great.  Thus the 55, that is the number of shots the camera guys got together for this less the 4 minute song.  Now some of you big time TD’s are thinking 55 shots for a 4 minute song is not a big deal.  Let me set the table a little, 1 we only have 4 cameras; 1 of them is locked down, 1 is on a tripod, and 2 ninjas.  Also we use a presentation switcher not a production switcher… thus WE HAVE to go through preview before going live… no hot punching.  Lastly our genlock is not quite as tight as it should be so sometimes we are waiting for signal to catch-up.  So at this speed the hardware is the choke point…. which my switcher was none to happy about.  So my math says that 1 shot roughly every 3 seconds, that is as fast as we get.  Some of you non-technical types are just now thinking how can he cram so much talk into 3 seconds… easy, when I direct I breathe through my ears

Also today is my birthday thus the 31. My email exploded with facebook responses to my wall wishing me a happy birthday.  2 of my volunteers brought doughnuts and cupcakes with them to today.  Also I was not subject to one of the “from the on stage” pranks we have pulled on the worship leader and speakers before.   It’s good to be the video director.  So yeah I felt very loved today.