The holiday season is a special time of year--and also one of the most hectic. In this issue, our experts discuss how to best capture your holiday event for future distribution.
Chris Gille
Willow Creek Community Church
If the event is important enough to capture on video, the audio should match up in quality. A separate engineer, working at a separate, isolated console, is needed to mix a split. This mix position should also have access to ambient mics. Ideally, there should be two sets for the audience: shotguns, for rejecting the PA and room acoustics; and another set for ambience. I recommend finding the sweet spot for these mic levels and leave them set – because they represent the “air” in the room, moving them up and down is distracting. A cough in the audience is O.K., and should be there in the ambient mics as much as that person should be in the room.
A video monitor is required at this mix position to allow the engineer to maintain perspective, and have the ability to cue off the action and anticipate mutes. Close-up and lock-down wide shots are effective. A separate person in the room is helpful to track the cue book and manage any communications traffic.
If remixing is not possible – or necessary – the FOH (front-of-house) will do. If there are open channels, get a couple of ambient mics in there and pipe them to video with an aux. It is rough, but one can stand with the FOH engineer and reach over to make their own aux mix to video with intercoms to video and closed headphones.
Doug McClement
President, LiveWire Remote Recorders
Here is what is absolutely necessary to properly record your event, in terms of the audio systems: professional quality microphones, some outboard compressors to help keep recording levels from overloading during loud passages, and a recording space with minimal outside noise (traffic, aircraft, sirens, etc.). Some churches have noisy furnaces or clanking radiators, which could pose a problem when recording during the winter months. The recording gear requires clean, adequate power – preferably on the same source as the church’s PA system. It’s also necessary to conduct a sound check of every element in the service (choir, spoken word, band, playback from CD, etc.) so the engineer can set proper levels.
Here are some extremely helpful, while not really necessary, components: an acoustically isolated room in which to set up the recording gear; a written program outlining what will happen and in what order; and a microphone with a switch that is connected to a talkback speaker via a 100-foot cable so that the engineer can talk to the people on stage during sound check.
It’s a good idea to run a reference CD or cassette while the service is taking place, so the musical director can check performance quality on their home system without having to book time in a studio to listen to the multiple tracks.
I usually put up four ambient mics around the church – on either side and at the front – and a stereo pair at the back. That way, if one mic fails during the service, I still have a working pair of ambient mics.
It’s a good idea to hold a dress rehearsal in the afternoon and record it so that you have clean takes of everything, with no coughs or babies crying. It might come in handy during the editing process – especially if, on the night of the show, someone has a sneeze attack, ruining an otherwise beautiful song. Before the service, be sure to ask that everyone turn their cell phones and pagers off for the same reason.
For editing purposes, everything has to be the same each time, otherwise any edits will be obvious. For example, if someone was playing tambourine with the choir on the first take, they have to be doing the same pattern on the second take. Since most church music is not played live to a metronome click, tempos can vary from take to take. When two takes of the same song, played at slightly different speeds, are spliced together, even the most amateur listener can spot the edit.
David Martin Jacques
Professional Lighting Designer and Architectural Lighting
Consultant
At a minimum, you should have a good camera and a decent computer system. Make sure that the camera can adjust to the lighting easily and has a color temperature (white balance) adjustment. White balance to the stage lighting (usually 3200 Kelvin) and use the camera’s auto iris (if it’s a good one).
Make sure that the lighting is sufficient for recording. Changes in lighting intensity can be disastrous for cameras, forcing their auto iris and auto focus features to go nuts. The lighting should be set to illuminate both foreground and background with sufficient intensity and balance to create a good depth of field.
The secret to good editing is consistency. Make sure that all of the cameras are set to the same color balance, focus, etc. The sound should be consistent too, without drastic volume changes. Also, avoid too many cuts from camera to camera – this can get tiresome to the eye.
Some churches will choose to work with a rental equipment company or a mobile video production company to capture their holiday events. If you go this route, get references. Ask to see some of their past productions and judge for yourself. Make sure they are totally committed to your production. A good outside director will come to view a few of your rehearsals and meet with the creative team so they are fully prepared for the live shoot. Don’t be shy: if there is something you wish to emphasize, make sure you let the director know. Communication is the key!
Paul Phillips
Director of Technical Ministries, Mount Pisgah United Methodist
Church
Probably the main factor to consider before recording an event is purpose. What is the reason for recording an event?
Many times churches neglect copyright issues. This can be disastrous if you are selling recordings of musical events. Be sure to check copyright requirements when recording. It is important to obtain CCLI (music) and MPLC/CVLI (motion picture) umbrella licensing agreements each year to ensure compliance with laws governing these areas.
Obviously, adequate staff is essential for recording special events. Having a good volunteer base makes the recording process much easier. Lead technicians should have technical skills, but there are many jobs that can be handled by eager, creative volunteers. Utilizing volunteer talent is an excellent way of being a good steward of God’s provision in your church.
With video you have to remember that what looks good on stage may not look good on tape. Be certain that your camera shots adequately capture the action. With live performances, the audience has a much wider field of vision; the camera has a much smaller eye. Multiple camera shots may be necessary to capture the action, which is then pieced together during the postproduction process.
When using rental equipment, be certain that all equipment is compatible. If interfacing with existing equipment, make sure end product quality is the same. Combining tape of noticeably different quality will give an unfinished and unprofessional look.
Judd Brannon
Video Engineer, Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church
When you are making high quality recordings, it’s important that the equipment you are recording to is of the best quality. A component level (or S-VHS at minimum) signal is needed to supply the deck. You should also have high quality tape – don’t underestimate the importance of good quality media. People often make the mistake of buying inexpensive tape to master onto. I find that this is one of the most noticeable areas of production. My video staff for a large event consists of the following personnel: video director, technical director, graphics op, shader, camera ops, PA, and tape op. The tape op monitors the records, changes tapes, and monitors the audio feed received by the video decks.
I always record to two decks simultaneously. Where there is a large event, something is bound to go wrong. Having two record decks gives me the comfort of knowing that if a tape fails or a deck malfunctions, I have a back up.
I record live-to-tape as well as isolated feeds on each of my cameras. Having separate record feeds for each of your cameras allows you the freedom to go back and edit the video almost any way you like. Be sure to use timecode for some frame of reference so you can sync all of your tracks back together during post- production.
Judd Brannon is a video engineer at Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church in
Alpharetta, Georgia.
