It's not immediately apparent that when you direct video, there are potentially three audiences with different needs that you're potentially reaching.
While not every church does it, many churches will do IMAG (image magnification) where live video of what's going on in-person is shown in the same room. The purpose of IMAG is to eliminate bad seats so people in the back can see as well as people sitting closer.
It's tempting to take that same video and send it to the live stream so that people online can see what's going on from various angles, but doing so, without any adjustment won't give people watching remotely the information they need.
It's tempting to take that same video and send it to the live stream so that people online can see what's going on from various angles, but doing so, without any adjustment won't give people watching remotely the information they need. Instead, it might cause an unsettled feeling that they don't quite understand.
Likewise, when you're putting video online, it might stay for years and years, so it's worth considering the people watching it not only today, but those watching in the future.
So, how do you make allowances for each of these audiences? It all comes down to planning and forethought.
Let's assume we're talking about a multi-camera set up here. While it's not impossible to shoot for three audiences with one, it's more difficult and the quality won't be as good.
The needs of each audience
People that are on-site have a distinct advantage over those watching remotely. For all intents and purposes, they have a separate "camera" that the other two groups don't have. They can look around the room and see things that the director hasn't chosen to highlight and can do so at any time.
As such, most of the time, they don't need a wide shot to give them context. Their eyes do that naturally. The exception to this is when something is happening in an odd spot where a quick wide shot might show them where it's happening so they don't feel the need to scan the room to find it.
Reestablishing where things happen in the room constantly is a disservice to those watching in that same room. They've got their eyes for that, so you're keeping them from getting information they wouldn't otherwise have.
By contrast, the other two groups are not in the same room--they consist of people watching from another room or venue, and those watching from a smartphone or other device. They don't have context for where things are happening, the size of the room, etc. Even if your entire service takes place on a raised platform (or stage), it's still nice to see others in the room and feel included in that larger group.
So, they DO need wider shots to give them context. This is further complicated by the fact that they may, depending on your distribution, be watching on any size screen.
Maybe they're watching on a smartphone, so a wide shot, while providing context, shows so little detail as to make viewing difficult.
Maybe they're watching on a smartphone, so a wide shot, while providing context, shows so little detail as to make viewing difficult.
Maybe they're using a ChromeCast or you've got an app on AppleTV or channel on Roku and so, instead of watching on a 6.5-inch smartphone, they're watching on a 65-inch television with a viewing distance of just a few feet. In that case, a wide shot can feel like it's showing exactly what the person in the room is seeing and closer shots show details which stand in for the function of IMAG in the room.
Finally, there's the audience that is watching days, weeks, months, or even years later. How are their needs different from those of the live-streaming audience?
First, consider what overt references to time do to their "suspension of disbelief" (here, we're talking about the ability for them to fully enter into what's happening, not anything related to their faith journey).
Imagine it's the dead of winter. Where you are, there's a thick blanket of snow on the ground, and you haven't ventured out for days.
Now, imagine you watch a church service from your church (or another in your area) and they have an announcement time where they remind the students that the annual trip to the nearest water park is tomorrow. It reminds them to bring their swim suits, a change of clothes, a towel and, of course, sun block.
... with so much content available, perhaps an hour-long sermon is just too much for people to watch later. Is there a way to distill the message down to its essence while removing unnecessary elements?
Sure, you know this was prerecorded. You know that this church's Sunday morning service isn't actually taking place on a Tuesday afternoon, but, you'd just forgotten. You were so moved by the worship and engaged by the other elements that you'd forgotten that you were actually stuck at home.
Additionally, with so much content available, perhaps an hour-long sermon is just too much for people to watch later. Is there a way to distill the message down to its essence while removing unnecessary elements?
Plan for how you'll accommodate each audience's needs
So, these audiences have different needs. That's certainly the case. But how do you accommodate them all?
Ideally, you'd direct two different versions of the live video. The IMAG feed would almost never include wide shots. The live streaming feed often would.
Ideally, you'd direct two different versions of the live video. The IMAG feed would almost never include wide shots. The live streaming feed often would.
Perhaps you've only got one switcher and it only has one MLE bus, but if you've got an aux, you could, occasionally, change from sending the IMAG feed to that AUX and cut in a wider shot or a reaction shot of the congregation. This version is mostly the same, but includes a little bit of what the in-person congregation doesn't need and what might be distracting to them (if they see themselves on the big screen in person).
An alternative to this is to do a hybrid version. Sure, IMAG won't normally show wide shots, but a few thrown in to the feed won't cause a problem if it's done sparingly for the online congregation.
Avoid the temptation to have a wide shot that you take several times during each worship song and even more times during the message.
Avoid the temptation to have a wide shot that you take several times during each worship song and even more times during the message.
Each shot needs to have a purpose and be meant to help someone in some way. If you've got an ultrawide shot of the sanctuary, perhaps from the balcony, you might want to use it once or twice during the service to establish the size of the congregation and where everything is located, but using it more often, given that most of your online congregation is watching on 6.5" (or smaller) screens is potentially distracting, even if you're not doing a hybrid IMAG feed for the live-stream.
For those watching at a later date, removing announcements and time references (within reason) will be a much easier task if you have alternate angles to work with. So, ideally, you'd want isolated recordings, with reference audio, from all the cameras.
If this isn't possible, try these two tips. First, as you're directing the live video, plan for the shots that bookend announcement time to be different enough that you could easily cut between the two, simply removing that portion of the service. If possible, cutting the video while keeping the audio playing during the transition, will "sell" the idea that the second portion takes place immediately after the first.
The purpose of cutting out the time-based content IS NOT to fool anyone. We're not lying. It's to remove distractions.
The second way to smooth the transition between two segments is with b-roll.
I used to edit the Saturday evening service at my church to be replayed at a satellite campus the next day. Our pastor had a habit of saying things like, "C'mon Saturday night," or, "I know you're more awake than the 9 am will be tomorrow."
What was frustrating was that he also wanted the sermon scrubbed of any mention of time so that people wouldn't be distracted from the content of the message. That made things harder than they needed to be.
So, while I wasn't directing the Saturday service (and we didn't have isolated recordings of each camera), I did get help from the director. He'd cut from one shot to the other whenever he heard the pastor make a reference to Saturday night. That way, I could go back to the previous paragraph of his talk and cut before he'd said it and find a good spot after he'd said it, easing the transition.
If you cut to a reaction shot like one of these, then the jump cut or awkward transition between the moments that the pastor referenced something time-based was hidden.
Sometimes that wasn't possible, though. So, we started having one of the handheld cameras take a few shots during the message of people listening, nodding in agreement, or taking notes. If you cut to a reaction shot like one of these, then the jump cut or awkward transition between the moments that the pastor referenced something time-based was hidden.
You could imagine doing something similar with the announcement time. If the transition would be awkward if you just cut it completely, perhaps covering the gap with some b-roll of the "meet and greet" time or of people sitting down after worship would do the trick.
You could also do this if you're distilling points from the message for easier consumption. Cut out the fluff and cover it with appropriate b-roll to get the meat of the message across in 10 minutes, instead of 60.
It's likely that one of the three audiences of your weekend service has been neglected in the past. So, use these tips to raise the bar on your production to eliminate distractions--so they're remembering more of the message and less of what took them out of it.
