Creative expression through art has always been a part of the church. From the first temple Solomon built with the 200 hand-carved pomegranates at the tops of the pillars to the Sistine Chapel, “art” is always present in some way. As the church modernized and embraced technology, the forms changed—but the expression didn't. We have traded stained glass and ornate cathedrals for black boxes that can be transformed into whatever the imagination can create. The biggest factor in the transformation has been the addition of video projection.
Video projection seems to have broken through many barriers, becoming available to churches of all sizes and worship styles. For more traditional church environments the video may be subtle and unintrusive. While another church may engulf the entire room in a sea of moving graphics. There is not a right or wrong with any of these: the end goal is finding a setup that works for your church.
Considering origins
As churches grew in seating capacity, the need for more people to see the pastor grew. This is where image magnification (IMAG) comes into play. IMAG can be a hard thing to write about because there are as many opinions on how to do it as there are manufacturers of equipment to do it with. The actual art of directing this live video is an art form in and of itself. I have seen a skilled director tug at heartstrings with well-called cues that add to a worship song. But how do you get there?
I am often asked by church staff members, “When should we go to IMAG?” That is a great question; I wish more churches worked through this before dropping big money on a live camera production rig. Using a church I have a lot of experience with (that is not Northview, where I currently work) as an example. This congregation meets in an 800-ish seat room that is set up in a semi-circle arrangement. There is a large retractable screen directly behind the middle of the stage, and 50-inch TVs mounted throughout the room. Sitting in the back of the room one can easily see the pastor on stage. They currently use full-screen lyrics with solid or motion backgrounds on all the TVs and [the] projection screen. With the exception of baptism or an intricate illustration by the pastor, they don't utilize IMAG—and it's perfectly fine. It's okay not to use IMAG; I feel many churches feel it's a rite of passage for growth, and that's just not true.
I am often asked by church staff members, “When should we go to IMAG?”
At my church, we are very video-driven, using sermon bumpers, pre-service countdowns, and video announcements. To present this we have two front projection “side screens” that measure roughly 22 feet by 12 feet, and these are used primarily for IMAG, lyrics, and videos. These screens function as the main source of information, and are where the congregation's attention gets directed a majority of the time. It amazes me that, with using IMAG, how strong the draw is to watch the screen vs. what is live on stage.
Culture and inevitability
As a culture, for better or worse, we are conditioned now to look at video screens. Whether it is our TV at home, our i-devices, or even the laptop I am working on right now, watching a screen is natural for us. Now, every room is different and every church is different. I know megachurches that don't use IMAG during worship because they don't want that to be the focus. I know of churches that have a worship leader from another campus lead another campus via live video.
I wish more churches worked through this before dropping big money on a live camera production rig.
Our satellite campuses, however, do not use IMAG. They have a live worship band and service host (campus pastor) but more than 50% of their service is spent watching some sort of video. This is why the push was made for them to have HD video. Since so much of what they watch is on the screens, it has to be good. For our campuses the design is one that has been used by many other churches, but it works. The three-screen scenario helps dissolve the illusion that you're watching a video. The two side screens show the program IMAG feed that the main campus watches on their screens. Then there is a much larger center screen that comes to the stage floor. There is a static full body shot on this screen with the idea [of creating] a lifelike image of the pastor. Now it's not a hologram (I wish), but it is effective.
For a church starting out, I don't believe you have to go high definition—we didn't. Now, if you're just getting into live video, I would try as hard as you can to invest in HD. It is hard to justify buying into standard definition when the cost of HD has come down dramatically. But don't be too quick to knock SD; I have seen many churches, including megachurches like WIllow Creek, make standard definition look good.
When you're not using IMAG, what do you do? Again, back [to] my church (sorry, but I have the most experience of messing up to pull from here). The back of our stage consists of a giant rear projection screen measuring 80 feet by 30 feet. This screen allows for larger than life imagery, but makes for horrible live action video. We learned this early on with an announcement video. We filmed our intern that summer outside in our early days of video announcements. She did a great job, but on the back screen it was not shot properly to format on the screen well. It ended up looking like the intern that ate the world.
Now that was a canned video, what about live video on that screen? We have tried it, but it incorporates a whole new issue of time delays getting through the processing servers to reach the screen. What we typically use are motion backgrounds, static images that continue to the stage, or turn it off for a change. Turning off the projection seems to be a sin in some churches these days. I know it is weird for a production director to broach the subject of less production. I don't mean every week, but an effective use of something is to maybe not use it for a weekend and cleanse people's palettes.
There are so many intricacies when it comes to producing live video. Whether that is for a campus, the web, DVD ministry, or IMAG, I could go on for days. If this is something you're looking at doing at your church, I encourage you to jump on some of the many tech/production forums on the Internet and get some hands-on advice. Find out what others are using and what you need. It's more involved than just a camera and a projector.
