Beyond the technical intricacies of crafting live production and filmmaking lie fundamental tactics for telling a stronger story—one that resonates more deeply with viewers of the in-person and online hybrid church experience.
Church Production Magazine enlisted two church veteran visual storytellers to tell you some of the strategies they turn to, so you don’t have to learn through trial by fire.
Storytelling in Filmmaking
1. Make-or-break camera placement
Master shots can make or break a scene. So camera positioning during filming must be all about “the why,” where the action is, where your subject is—the broad strokes of everything in the frame are of the utmost importance.
“These crucial shots serve to give viewers an idea of the setting of the scene. You have to understand what master shots are and what they’re telling the audience,” stresses church filmmaker Jesse Henning, founder of Henning VFX and Animation in Durham, North Carolina.
Church filmmakers can crash-learn to harness the power of these shots in three books, “Master Shots” volumes I, II, and III by best-selling author, director, screenwriter, and producer Christopher Kenworthy. The series covers 100 advanced camera techniques to get an expensive look on a low-budget movie; 100 ways to shoot great dialogue scenes; and 100 set-ups, scenes, and moves to drive home the director’s vision.
2. Music to move a film forward
Music must not be an afterthought in the overall filmmaking process, because a musical score conveys and declares a film’s overall emotional journey.
“You must make sure your score is hitting on what you’re seeing on screen,” as Henning puts it. He once had the luxury of working with an in-house worship leader who was also a film and TV composer who provided custom scores. Although this is a rare situation, it taught Henning’s church film team to think intentionally about the power of music—upfront and not at the tail end in post-production.
The good news is, every church film team has music scores right at their fingertips—oftentimes for free or next to nothing.
“Audio Jungle (audiojungle.net) is a very good start,” Henning recommends. “But they’re à la carte, so it can get expensive over time. ”Artlist.io is also an excellent resource for getting top music selections. A yearly subscription costs just $200 for unlimited usage of its library.
Another $200/year subscription service Henning turns to is Audiio.com—which he likes to mix with what he finds on artlist.io.
“Having unlimited downloads [from several companies] lets you put music selections together,” he says, so you can find just the right combination to reinforce the emotional journey of your film.
3. Lighting tricks can make all the difference
Four words you won’t want to forget: neutral density (ND) filter film. It allows you to shoot through a window and get it right the first time. “It’s an easy fix that has saved us on a lot of shoots,” Henning says. His team puts the film on car windows, for example, to make sure that the lighting on a car and inside a car that they’re shooting into is correctly exposed.
“ND film allows you to knock down the intensity of the outside light so that you can raise your camera exposure to see inside the vehicle,” Henning describes. “Mixing lighting temperatures is a big no-no if you’re not trying to for an artistic purpose.”
For shooting through the window of a building, optical filters are your ally too. Specifically, regular ND film or Color Temperature Orange (CTO) and Color Temperature Blue (CTB), as needed. These simple tools change the correlated color temperature of a light source.
You can put CTO and CTB film on a window you’re shooting through for an indoor scene, Henning says, and make the interior lights match.
Storytelling in Live Production
1. Master a fresh take on IMAG
For Shannon Boyer, creative producer of live production at Generation Church in Jupiter, Florida, the crafting of effective IMAG has changed for a hybrid viewing experience, which is on display both live and virtually.
"The point of putting the image in the room as IMAG is to provide a different vantage point than people can see from where they’re sitting,” Boyer reminds. The backline of the band is a different vantage point from what anyone else in the room can see, for example. Likewise, certain shots from up in the balcony where no one can possibly sit provide a totally fresh camera angle.
IMAG shot selection must also be considered for the virtual audience. “They can’t feel the music in their chest,” Boyer says. “So they need more information and data to tell the story, so they’ll get it.” Maybe it’s making sure to shoot and select macro details of the drums or keys, she suggests.
“I’m always asking myself how I can add more information to help someone get fully immersed through their phone or computer,” adds Boyer.
2. Listen to the music, really listen
For Boyer, camera position, movement, and velocity for creating impact in the physical space must transfer over to the virtual one—oftentimes a relatively tiny screen.
“I spend as much time listening to the songs as the audio engineer,” Boyer says, for example, “to see when the drum solo happens, or when the music drops down to a bridge. My general approach to technology is very emotional vs. mechanical.”
In tandem with the music, the velocity of speed of the camera movement in the live production setting can slow down or push forward a message in time with the song.
3. Capture hard-working b-roll for the hybrid worship experience
Shooting b-roll properly is vital to connecting a story. “It adds information and data that we don’t even realize that we have an emotional connection to,” Boyer says.
When a live message must communicate an emotional and deep message, for example, it’s important to capture b-roll of the landscape and even of the abstract. “Finding parallel things to the main story can help create a very engaging video,” as Boyer puts it.
Do you have tips that your team uses for stronger storytelling in the realms of live production and filmmaking? A great place to share them—or to ask questions—is on the Capture Church Filmcraft Page on Facebook, hosted by the Capture Content Creation + Filmmaking Summit and Church Production Magazine. Search it and join the conversation.
