Church and Slate: How Houses of Worship Can Become Media Companies

Preproduction and Preparation: You are What You Stream

As with non-worship media studios, you need to plan for every production. One good way to start is by creating a storyboard or shot list detailing how you’re going to frame the live stream in camera.

Prepare a run sheet for the crew and have a meeting or rehearsal prior to the event. A run sheet is a breakdown of events or tasks organized in a chronological sequence. A typical run sheet would include, for example, the start and stop time of when a person will be speaking, when a graphic will be displayed, or when audio cue will take place. It can also list which crew member is responsible for each task during the production.

Before each event, you should compile a checklist of everything that needs to be prepped and tested. Turn on all the equipment and spend at least an hour testing each piece of gear. Run test audio through mixer, play back video animations and graphics through the playback computers and video switcher, and make sure that the internet connection is working properly. Also make sure that you are receiving a clean feed from the cameras and that your cameras are properly shaded and color-matched. You should send out test streams to your content platform while monitoring the final audio and video output of the stream as well.

Create a Production Bible (pun intended)

To maintain consistency and best practices across all your productions, you need to create an operational manual or “bible” that covers the list of equipment being used as well as file formats, production standards, graphics formats, signal formats, as well as mezzanine files needed for uploads. This will standardize all operations and create an efficient workflow.

Shoot with Multiple Cameras and Professional Gear in the Highest Resolution Available

Shooting with a single camera is fine when you’re just getting started with worship video production, but it isn’t an option when your production needs to look professional. Having more cameras increases your production values exponentially. Your cameras should have HD-SDI output, which allows for longer, more reliable cable runs than HDMI.

Always shoot and record in the highest resolution possible since you will be using these files for delivery on multiple platforms. The digital master will be converted to many different quality levels and specific media formats to be delivered to devices such as smartphones and tablets, laptops/desktops, smart TVs, and other devices. Also be sure to record the individual camera feeds (ISOs), given that you may need this footage to be used for future re-edits and archiving.

Use Graphics and Animation When Necessary

I’m a firm believer in keeping things simple in worship and other live productions, especially when it comes to incorporating graphics or animations. You can also use still and motion graphics to help punctuate certain ideas, concepts, or moods which help viewers visualize what you’re trying to communicate during the streams. This also may include various visuals such as lyrics, verses, special charts and graphs, as well as any type of photos that can enhance the overall experience.

You no longer need a graphic design team or motion graphics designers to incorporate high-quality visuals in your productions. There are many resources online where you can purchase stock video graphics and music, which will give you a great starting point for delivering a professional-quality production.

You can find stock photos, logos, animations, video, and templates to enhance your productions on the following sites:

• www.motionelements.com
• www.veer.com
• www.pond5.com
• www.istockphoto.com
• http://market.envato.com/
• www. shutterstock.com

I also recommend two sites that provide stock graphics designed specifically for worship use:

• https://centerlinenewmedia.com/
• www.lightstock.com

There are many different programs that will play back graphics and video. One program used extensively in churches is ProPresenter, an application for displaying lyrics and videos that works with both Mac and Windows. Playback Pro is great at playing video files, and has established itself as a standard in the corporate market.

Improve Your Sound Quality

Investing in high-quality mics and mixers is a sound investment since good, clean audio should always be a top priority. It’s always preferable to send a post-fader audio mix to your live stream. This will enable the online audience to experience the same mix that the on-site audience is hearing.

The very nature of sending an auxiliary mix rather than a mix off of a matrix will enable the audio engineer to tweak the gain of a specific channel (if the need be) for mix that goes out to the internet. Let’s say in a panel of six presenters, one presenter has a softer voice, this person may sound loud enough in the house but needs a little more gain streaming out to the internet. The audio engineer can gain-up just this channel while preserving the integrity of the overall mix of the other five presenters.

Conversely, it’s not a good idea to send a pre-fader mix out to stream since a microphone may muted in the house, while the audio from the same microphone is still being sent to the internet.

Use Technology to Make Processes Easier

Don’t be afraid to use new technology to address some of your staffing or budget constraints. Technology can be on your side if you choose and use the right solution. Automating production processes can simplify your workflow as well as save money.

One way you can save on labor costs is to use Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras. Some churches simply don’t have the budget to hire multiple camera operators, but with PTZ cameras such as the Panasonic AW-HE130, Datavideo PTC-150, or the Sony SRG300SE, a single person can operate many cameras. If you’re extremely limited in staff, you can take automation even further with the 1Beyond AutoTracker camera that automatically tracks a person with no camera operator required.

Provide Support

Providing a great customer experience is something that you must strive for, so I recommend having tech support staff on-hand to address any technical issues that may arise during the stream. Having a chat window available on the same page as the streaming player enables the audience to give you real-time feedback on the stream itself. This allows you to make any adjustments and corrections during the stream, and puts both you and your viewers in a win-win situation since they can get instant support while you get instant reports of the stream.

In addition, you may want to provide a direct phone number to your support desk for individuals whose internet connection may not be working, or folks who simply aren’t tech-savvy enough to diagnose any technical issues they may be experiencing.

Postproduction

Postproduction allows you correct or add anything after the stream has occurred. You can perform color correction, add graphics, animations, logos, voiceover, music, and create highlights from the source material as well. There will be times when a shot switches to an image that isn’t set correctly, the audio is noisy, or certain graphic is missing. Addressing these issues in post will allow you to clean up some mistakes since you want everything to look as pristine as possible for the final, archived output.

The last few years have yielded major technological advances for media creators. With the advent of new hardware and software, it is now easier and more cost-effective for houses of worship to quickly build a wide audience and community through content creation and online delivery. Only recently could a small organization or an individual have the reach of the global mass media company.

As long as their broadcasts are professional in quality, any small-to-midsize house of worship can have the same online impact as any megachurch or media network. With a clear vision, faith, and persistence, you can build your house of worship into an organization that is able to share its ideas and values with viewers on a grander scale around the world.