Known for his quirky, laid back style and affinity for "happy trees," public television's most famous oil painter, Bob Ross, had an almost hypnotic presence as he created picturesque landscapes and nature scenes. His ability to create whole environments completely from scratch with no photo references made you want to watch.
Bob's name may or may not go down in history alongside Picasso, Michelangelo, and Dali, but observing his paintings and techniques can draw in even the most uninterested party. If you have seen his show, you may have noticed that he had a whole arsenal of paints and brushes at his disposal. Ross never just painted with one or two colors. He used his entire palette to create all kinds of interesting variations on color that, once applied to the canvas, matched perfectly.
We can learn a thing or two from Bob Ross about creating inspiring images. Of course this article isn't about a move to create oil paintings for worship (which could be really cool). It is all about the "paints" we use to create a picture of the gospel for believers and seekers alike.
Far too many churches use a very limited palette when it comes to media in worship. Rather than creating a visually rich experience with many types of media, they only use one or two types as an ongoing practice. For instance, many churches project song lyrics now and most understand that images behind the lyrics are better than solid colors. Others use movie clips on a regular basis, which can be very effective. But there is much more that can be done when creating a "happy painting" of the gospel.
Let's expand the palette some. We've compiled a list of media types and uses that will hopefully help you paint a more inspiring picture in worship. This list isn't meant to be comprehensive, although it contains a variety of ideas and styles to help you get going.
Graphic Images that Grab
1. Main image
If you want people who come to worship to "get it" and take "it" home with them, creating a single theme for the day can be very helpful. When it comes to the screen, this means creating a visual representation of the theme that will be present from the time people enter the sanctuary until the time they leave. The easiest way to emphasize your theme is by creating a single image that becomes the image of the day.
Ideally, this main image will be displayed even before worship starts. It will appear in between songs, before and after videos and movie clips, and any other time there isn't another image that makes sense. It is also very useful as a visual cue once the pastor has moved on from a particular scripture or sermon point. We think of it as a default image?rather than going to black or another random image when there is nothing else new to project, go to your main image for the day.
To really drive home the visual theme, consider placing it on the front of your program or bulletin for the day. It's less expensive and a lot cooler than cheesy bulletin art.
2. Sermon series
Many pastors like to preach sermons in series. This can be both good and bad when it comes to media. It's fairly common for us to see churches use the same main graphic for the entire series. This can become quite repetitive; usually, after the second week the congregation will begin to ignore the image on the screen.
Using the same image can also make the series feel as if it isn't progressing. Even if the pastor is bringing new ideas to the pulpit each week, if none are being brought to the screen, people can feel as if things are going nowhere. It's important to keep in mind that, in terms of communication forms, the screen is both ubiquitous and dominant. It often overshadows what is being spoken, for good or bad, so it's extremely important to make the visuals progress too.
You might consider creating variations on the theme graphic for the series. Make each week look similar but alter the design enough to make it stand on its own.
Next you might give each week its own metaphor or unique theme but have an overall series graphic or icon that ties them together.
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Figure 1 |
For example, a church did a series called "Divine Direction" where each week utilized a different direction-themed metaphor. The individual weeks were True North (a compass metaphor), Personal Navigator (GPS), Go West (cowboy riding off into the sunset), and Direction Unexpected (moss growing on north side of trees). Each week had its own look that kept momentum going and people engaged (Figure 1).
3. Slideshow graphic sequences
Commonly used for feature music, openers, drama, storytelling, and closers, these sequences are good for illustrating ideas presented through other mediums. This is a common use of media in local congregations-for example, a youth mission trip might be highlighted through a slideshow of camper snapshots set to live music.
4. Sermon illustration graphics
Illustrations are a great way to make a point, drive the message home, or just get a good laugh. We like to create at least two or three image-based illustrations for every sermon. It helps keep the pace going and breaks up oral monotony. This requires some degree of planning with the preacher, usually in going over sermon notes together during the week (or at least before Sunday morning).
Funny illustrations can get a great response, such as featuring the pastor's face in a variety of silly settings or manipulating photos, like the depicted migration in the opposite direction (Figure 2A).
They can also be stunning magazine photos, newspaper clippings, or other images that are poignant reminders of what's going on in the world. One pastor we worked with was flipping through the newspaper and saw an ad for a BMW car. Being an ex-BMW owner, he was still an interested fan and took the time to read about the latest features. After perusing the ad, he was taken aback when his eye caught an image of a malnourished child from Sudan adorning the opposite page. It stopped him in his tracks, and was cause for contemplation. This experience led to an illustration the following week (Figure 2B) in which the pastor talked about how we are more aware of the "Sedans" in our lives than the "Sudans." It was a very moving and memorable moment.
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Figure 2A |
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Figure 2B |
5. Scripture graphics
Most budding designers think of text when they think about scripture on the screen. While text laid out well can be a nice way to present scripture, there's a much more powerful and enlightening way to handle scripture that some are just beginning to discover.
It's pretty simple, actually; find an element, character, or environment present in any given scripture and illustrate it with an image on the screen-without ever typing a character. It becomes the visual representation of the scripture to communicate in tandem with the written (bulletin and Bible) and spoken forms.
Notice two examples of this: The first is a representation of the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch on the road to Jerusalem (Figure 3A). This one image captures the story in a much more effective way than simply spilling the story's text from Acts on the screen (creating the ping pong effect where worshipers follow each word as it is spoken).
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Figure 3A |
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Figure 3B |
The second example is Lot's wife (Figure 3B). This humorous illustration fit well with a sermon making light of her morbid curiosity in wanting to look back at Sodom and Gomorra. Rubbernecking highway drivers could be another example.
Vivacious Video
6. Announcement videos
Many churches beginning to use video start here. Announcement videos are a great way to exercise some creativity in worship and aren't threatening to people leery of media.
For style tips, reference simple but effective broadcast commercials. For example, one church was having a food drive and wanted to let the congregation know in a way that would make a lasting impression. They created a spoof of a Saturday Night Live sketch in which two guys rapped about canned food and parking lots. It was a riot, yet contained all of the information people would need to participate. It was followed up by a live announcement from the stage to reiterate the particulars of how the drive would work. In our experience, it's always a good idea to show the video with a follow up announcement of some sort. Sometimes people get caught up in the experience of the video announcement and miss all of the info. Using multiple media for the message is much more effective.
7. Countdown videos
3… 2… 1… worship! Countdowns are lead-ins, with a real-time counter embedded in the video, used to literally count down the minutes and seconds until worship begins. Any video prior to the official worship start time is a great way to draw in people that tend to straggle in slowly to worship. Countdowns work especially well for these types of groups, as they give people warning to end their conversations and train them to realize that worship has a definite beginning point.
8. Looping video/animations
Loops can be effective before, during, and after worship, behind song lyrics and featured music, and most anywhere that you want to add to the visual experience. Their most popular use is behind song lyrics in the service, but they can be particularly useful before worship to set up the theme and provide ambient eye candy as people enter the sanctuary.
9. Movie clips
The perfect solution for many churches, ranging from a fledgling ministry with no money to a church with vast resources. Bring in millions of dollars in production value to your church for the cost of a rental. Relevant film clips from Hollywood studios can bring immediacy to any message. And by relevant, we mean resonant, not just current. An older film with just the right story can capture a congregation in both context and memory as well, if not better, than the latest new release.
Coming up with good film clip ideas can be the challenge. There are a number of books published full of clip ideas, such as the Videos That Teach series and Blockbuster Movie Illustrations. Subscription-based websites such as www.movieministry.com and www.screenvue.com are also helpful.
Our new favorite search method is to use the Movie Keyword Analyzer at The Internet Movie Database. Simply type a word such as "compass" (one of our metaphors from spark volume 1) in the search field and then click on the keyword result than comes up. As of this writing, compass brought up 15 movies with good potential such as "Out of Africa," "The Client," "Message in a Bottle," and more.
Often, the best source is a movie buff sitting next to you in a worship design meeting.
10. Testimony videos
Testimonies are great for compressing a long story into a concise summary, with the added emotional benefit of music and images to illustrate. They can also make people sound more articulate than they really are-anyone who has ever squirmed through an interminable live testimony in worship can appreciate that.
11. Theme/metaphor setup videos
Think of these as digital parables. Much of what we have produced our first few years as a ministry has been thematic in nature, including our flame series of thematic intro videos. Usually, they are short and are not designed to stand on their own but rather as part of a multi-sensory experience in which many different elements all work together to communicate a single idea. For example, a service about direction, using a compass metaphor, can use a spinning compass video to begin worship.
12. B-roll behind the speaker
Just like on your local news. B-roll is a term for the background footage with or without sound that plays while an anchor reads the story on air. It can also reinforce the power of a preacher's message.
Once, a preacher we were working with wanted to talk about a local college basketball star that had tragically died in a car accident. So we called a network affiliate in town, and they were happy to provide us with a minute of footage of the young man on the court, which we ran during the sermon while the speaker talked about the incident.
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Figure 4 |
In spite of the sterile title and reference point in the world of news, judicious use of b-roll can be very evocative. One preacher, while using a metaphor of ripples to describe the effect we have on others as Christians, showed a few minutes of recorded footage of rocks hitting a pond and creating ripples, along with a soft soundtrack underneath (See Figure 4). With a little practice, adding simultaneous audio and video to a sermon can create a powerful, emotional moment.
13. Drama setup videos
Drama can be a very effective way to share the message in a different creative form. While many churches don't have a budget large enough to build elaborate sets, most have screens now. Rather than relying on physical sets alone, consider creating a video intro to your drama.
One Easter we created a drama in which three guys find themselves on the side of the road, where their truck have just broken down. We didn't have the means to drive a truck on stage, so we created a video introduction with the three guys driving down the road when their truck begins to sputter. They stop, open the hood, and smoke pours out filling the screen. In the live setting, at the appropriate time, we blasted smoke (using a fog machine, acquired at a party supply store for under $50) stage left. The same guys entered through the cloud, making the transition from screen to stage seamless. It was the perfect setup.
14. Dramas on video
A lot of congregations beginning to use video will try to create video-based dramas. This is actually very difficult to achieve, as the medium is harder on actors, and other elements such as lighting and sound have dramatic impact on production quality. While we don't want to say never do dramas on video, realize that they are going to be much more difficult to pull off than one might realize. Usually, the cheese factor is pretty high.
15. Live satellite videos
If you're in a large church with multiple simultaneous services or other special activities going on, you might consider cutting to someone on camera (a roving reporter) somewhere else on campus to show other ministries in action.
One church we visited had a weekend called "Blessing of the Bikes" where motorcyclists from the region rode in choppers to be prayed over. During the announcement time, the person on stage giving the announcements checked in (via satellite) with an associate pastor who was out with the bikes. It was a creative way to let people know what was going on that day outside, during and after worship.
16. Mission moments
Labeled in various ways, this type of video is a one- to two-minute interview and montage that highlights various activities in the life of the congregation. For reference, think about a local news segment featuring a reporter's voice, sound bites from people on the scene, and footage to illustrate. (In industry terms, these are called "packages.")
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Figure 5 |
Watch this "Mission Moment" in your preferred video format by clicking the link in figure 5.
People don't want to give to pay the utilities as much as they want to give to fund "frontline" ministry where lives are changed. (Of course, paying the light bill enables more visible ministries to happen, but that's another story.) Showing a video that features the real world efforts of a congregational ministry can generate enthusiasm and giving far beyond a long-winded description of the same activity from behind the pulpit.
At a church we served, mission moments became so popular and frequent that we created a special bumper, which is a term for a short transitional segment of video that is often motion-effects and animation-driven (see below). This same open led every mission moment video, which effectively branded the idea of missions to the congregation. After a while we got sick of the same open so we began to create thematically specific introductions with the name "Mission Moment," such as the one in this example (Figure 5).
17. "On the street" videos
A format that has been around a long while but made popular (again) on late night television, these are an effective way to set up a theme and get a feel for real-world opinion on a topic. We wrote an entire article devoted to this format that explains tips and techniques in great detail.
Maybe it's because we've done these pieces for so long, but our feeling is that this format can get old quickly. A good rule of thumb is not to use any one of these types too often, but try to vary them as much as possible.
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Figure 6 |
18. Scripture videos
These are visual representations of scripture and can be driven by voiceover, text on the screen, or both. Break out of the scripture-reading rut and present the same stories in another medium. It will likely make the Bible more connectional for your congregation.
This is a favorite of ours because it brings Biblical story into contemporary worship (as opposed to single verses extracted from their context to prove doctrines and concepts).
Figure 6 demonstrates this concept using the scripture of Jesus calming the storm from the boat.
19. Transitional video/animations
One of the keys to worship that connects to the digital culture is moving away from a linear format where one element ends, then another begins, often after an excruciating 20 to 30 second pause in which whatever awareness of the Holy Spirit the congregation has is lost. More tightly connected worship flows create the sense of one seamless worship experience. One of the best ways to achieve this is by overlapping elements and using visual imagery to fill gaps. Fifteen- to thirty-second videos and animations can bridge from one element to another, creating a smooth worship experience.
In the industry, these are called bumpers. For reference, think about the short pieces with the corporate logo that come up during commercial breaks on network television. The same thing can be done in worship; even better than the church logo, however, is using a thematic element for the day. This transforms what was once a negative gap in between other elements in worship into a new and different way to further drive home the main idea.
Worship is a big blank canvas, and you are an artist responsible for helping to paint the picture. Keep your palette fresh. Experiment with different combinations until you have a picture that helps people see the truth of the gospel in fresh, meaningful ways.
Jason Moore and Len Wilson are Midnight Oil Productions, a ministry designed to help churches tell the Story in a new light through worship resources and training. They may be reached at www.midnightoilproductions.com.
