Presenter Alex Schwindt of Alex Schwindt Media teaches a packed educational session at Capture 2019.
On average, “middle schoolers check their phones 85 times each day,” states filmmaker and media consultant Phil Cooke. “The digital world is changing us. And as church filmmakers we must be able to tell our stories and cut through the clutter.”
These words from Cooke, Day One keynote speaker at Capture Summit 2019, founder of Cooke Media Group in Los Angeles and executive producer of 2016’s “Let Hope Rise,” the Hillsong movie, sum up the urgency and great potential surrounding church film ministry today. When there’s so much digital content to choose from, how do church filmmakers get their message through?
“The digital world is changing us. And as church filmmakers we must be able to tell our stories and cut through the clutter.” Phil Cooke, Filmmaker & Media Consultant, Cooke Media Group, Los Angeles, CA
The starting point, Cooke said in his keynote address, “10 Things You Need to Know to Lead Creative People,” is to lose the fear. “Unleash the hounds. Let them go. Many of you won’t let people do their things because you’re afraid they’ll make a mistake. I have a creative team that sometimes does better without me around.”
Sessions snapshot
It’s easier to let people do their thing when their skills are polished. So Capture Summit 2019 offered classes geared toward helping church filmmakers hone theirs.
Sessions hit on writing, casting, location scouting, shooting, handling lighting and audio, and a thousand other tasks. And they struck a balance between education and hands-on training for experienced film team members and those just starting out.
In the Aug. 6 Day One session, “The Pre-Production Process: Planning for Success,” presenter Alex Schwindt, owner and creative director of Alex Schwindt Media in Raleigh, N.C., began with the nuts and bolts of creating any film—the story.
There are three questions to ask when creating a life change-type video, he shared. “No. 1: What’s the crisis? Why is a person’s story interesting? No. 2: When did they come to a point of decision on when their life would change? And No. 3: What’s it like today?”
“Content should be entertaining. And the fastest way to entertain someone is to tell them a story.” Alex Schwindt, Filmmaker & Creative Director, Alex Schwindt Media, Raleigh, NC
In another Day One session by Schwindt, “Finding the Right Digital Camera for Your Film Team,” he shared his experience shooting with DSLRs, handycams and mid-range digital cinema cameras, and when one option might work better than another.
But he also touched on why the camera types matter in the first place. “Content should be entertaining,” he reminded attendees. “And the fastest way to entertain someone is to tell them a story.”
In the Aug. 7 Day Two session “Unique Angle Shots and How to Achieve Them,” four church filmmakers (Katie Horton, Colonial Baptist Church, Cary, N.C.; Jesse Henning, Newhope Church, Durham, N.C.; Colin Wells, Point Church, Chapel Hill, N.C.; and Cody Pyper, Newhope Church, Durham, N.C.) shared stills of visually arresting shots achieved using 9.Solutions’ camera clamps and mounts. But an important piece of wisdom they all reinforced was not to be creative simply to be creative: always consider a film’s context, its story, and get shots to support that vision.
“… what are some shoots where you’d want more creative angles? [But] don’t push it too far for simply the sake of pushing it [unless it’s] going to help you get the message across.” Cody Pyper, Film & Media Director and Producer, Newhope Church, Durham, NC
As Pyper put it, “Not every video you shoot will require creative angles, dollies, etc. [Ask yourself,] what are some shoots where you’d want more creative angles? Don’t push it too far for simply the sake of pushing it [unless it’s] going to help you get the message across.”
Attendees learned from a lighting demo on a live staged set.
A large part of getting a message across is making sure you know who you’re talking to—who is your audience? In Day Two’s “Secrets to Producing a Great Podcast,” Dr. Josiah Way, director of multimedia services for California Baptist University in Riverside, Calif., told creatives to relentlessly ask the question, “Who are we trying to reach and who are we trying to impact for God?”
Hands-on education & film festival
While Capture gave film team attendees a chance to learn the principles behind strong content that connects with an audience, it also gave them an opportunity to practice what was preached in the sessions.
Hands-on action at Capture 2019.
Sponsors Cannon, ARRI and Sennheiser, for example, brought their gear together on a live staged set. Here, attendees got to demo a camera, lighting and audio equipment and spark conversations with vendor reps and peers—getting answers to their questions in real-time on the set.
Attendees also got their hands on Sony and F&V wares in a lighting demo on a live staged set. They played with the variables, changed up elements on the set, and talked to peers and vendor reps about the results they need to achieve at their churches.
Capture Summit 2019 sponsors also put their gear (cameras, lenses and more) on display at booths that attendees visited between educational sessions. And some sponsors let attendees sign out the gear, take it around the event, and test drive it.
After learning in sessions, asking questions, networking with other filmmakers, and trying out gear, Capture attendees sat down and put eyes on the work of other church film teams. In total, filmmaking ministries submitted 45 films, with Church Production Magazine Editor Brian Blackmore selecting a handful for public viewing as part of the 2019 summit’s Church Filmcraft Festival.
Brian Blackmore, editor and publisher of Church Production Magazine, leads the line up at Capture 2019.
Blackmore then sat with a panel that included Cooke, Schwindt and producer Laura Tapp of Living Word Studios in Raleigh, N.C., as an auditorium full of attendees watched film submissions on IMAG screens. Next, the panel weighed in on the short films, ranging from sermon bumpers to life-change videos and testimonials.
God’s-eye point of view
Capture’s big-picture concept of reaching people for Christ and digitally transforming lives was the topic of Day Two’s keynote presentation by Way, “Producing Worship Through This Current Age of Digital Transformation.”
Josiah Way, Ph.D., shares the day two keynote presentation at Capture 2019.
“Who are we trying to reach and who are we trying to impact for God? Look and anticipate the way God can work through us.” Josiah (Joe) Way, Ph.D., Director of Multimedia Services, California Baptist University, Riverside, CA
Way encouraged filmmakers to consider that digital technology is most transformative at the intersection where the message of salvation reaches those who need to hear it most.
Pointing to scripture, Way noted that the basic seeds of digital transformation appeared long before their time, citing Hebrews 2:12.
12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.”
Digital transformation may be its most powerful, Way shared, when a film team’s content reaches those outside the walls of the church—those who aren’t the familiar faces church filmmakers see in the halls each Sunday.
“… we need to reach the person in the back row, the person who may only come one time, who’s afraid to come forward,” Way closed. “Look and anticipate the way God can work through us.”
After all, the person in the proverbial back row could be an impressionable middle schooler, about to look at his phone for the 85th time that day.
10 Things You Need to Know to Lead Creative People
From Day One Keynote, Phil Cooke, Filmmaker & Director, Cooke Media Group, Los Angeles
1-Foster an environment of strong communication.
2-A great creative leader will defend the team’s work.
3-Learn how to give constructive feedback.
4-Be specific when talking to creative people.
5-Create an atmosphere of stability.
6-Know when to get out of the way.
7-Let the creative team take credit.
8-Learn how to motivate creative people and learn how to fire them.
9-Learn to walk the factory floor (get to know everybody you’re working with).
10-Your creative team is not your family--don’t treat them like one. Develop structure.
By the Numbers: Capture Summit 2019 at Hope Community Church, Apex, N.C.
Attendees: 206
Sessions: 43
Presenters: 30
Sponsors: 14
Church Filmcraft Festival Submissions: 45+
States Represented: 22
Largest Church Team Present: 14 members (RockFish Church, Fayetteville, N.C.)
Priciest Gear in the Day 2 Giveaway: $2,245 – JVC GY-HM250 4k Camcorder
