When I started my television career, the most popular television camera crane on the market (maybe the only professional one) was a Chapman crane. You couldn’t buy it – only rent it, and many studios rented one for decades. It was huge, and the camera operator sat on the end of the crane and operated the camera from there. Which meant that you needed a second crew member to move the massive crane arm around and a third one to drive it.
It was not subtle.
Camera cranes (or jibs today) are remarkable tools to enhance capturing a television program, live stream, or video. But I also remember the controversy when we moved camera cranes and jibs into churches. Initially, they were naturally distracting, and although they helped tell the story for video or TV, they really only worked in a large church, with a congregation big enough that their presence wasn’t so prominent.
I’m sure it was a fantastic shot, but was it worth distracting the congregation from the purpose of that service?
But in the intervening years, hundreds of churches have adapted, and today, they use camera jibs, dollies, and other gear to help extend the service and become more compelling online or through broadcast television. But just as congregations finally accepted that distraction, some church media teams are starting to unleash cable cameras and drones during worship services.
I’m all for innovation, but I think it’s time for a serious conversation about those drones and cable cams.
I remember long ago when Ampex launched a video effect called “ADO.” It could shrink a picture into a picture and fly the box around. ADO was an amazing effect at the time, and for at least six months after its debut, every show on TV featured flying boxes. It was human nature for every director to play with it to the extreme until people finally got sick of the effect, and things calmed down.
I worry that will happen to cable cams and drones in church.
Kathleen and I attended a Sunday Christmas service this year, and right in the middle of a serious, powerful worship song, we suddenly heard the “buzzzz” of a drone. We looked up, and sure enough, a drone was flying around the sanctuary. Despite being in the middle of that worship song, I can testify that at least a third of the congregation was looking up and pointing at the drone. I’m sure it was a fantastic shot, but was it worth distracting the congregation from the purpose of that service?
As a church or ministry media director, we should be more concerned about the story we’re telling than having fun with the latest technology.
I think it was legendary film director John Huston who said something to the effect that if a director creates a shot that’s so amazing the audience notices it, that director has failed because he’s distracted them from the story.
That was exactly what came to mind as that drone was flying around.
XL2 Cable Camera System by High Sight.
It’s the same with a cable camera. To my knowledge, only a few cable cams have been installed in churches, and my thoughts are pretty much the same.
To be fair, if you’re filming a worship or other musical concert – particularly something contemporary, you can probably get by with these tools because the live audience knows the event is something special and not a typical church worship service. In a similar way, perhaps if the congregation is in their twenties and used to a media-driven service, I imagine that could work. But outside of those specific situations, I’m highly skeptical about cable cams and drones in church. As a church or ministry media director, we should be more concerned about the story we’re telling than having fun with the latest technology.
Remember that as a video director in a church or ministry setting, you’re there to enhance the service, not distract from it. That boundary will change with the size, attitude, and experience of every congregation, but as a general rule, we should always be asking, “Is it worth it?” “Is what we’ll capture for video or television worth ruining or, at minimum, distracting the live congregation who came to focus on God, not cameras flying around?”
The answers to those questions matter.
