Let’s face it lighting without haze is the equivalent of looking at your Christmas tree lights from across the living room… they can be pretty, but nothing to write home about. However, when we add haze to a room and shoot some lighting beams through it, we can make an entirely different, immersive, amazing, mind-blowing, awesome, 3-dimensional experience. Our auditorium seats around 700. We use some decent lighting gear along with IMAG. However, our old, water-based hazer produced something more…
And if yes, what? No, I am not suggesting there are obscure or hidden Bible verses mentioning digital audio consoles, DMX, or large sensor camera imagers. But I’ve heard (usually from church tech-arts brethren) that the Bible has little to say about technology. Maybe that assumption should be challenged? In 1st Samuel the Bible reveals to us a story which has technology at its core, throughout, from beginning to end. It’s a story about the longing for better technology ……
Last week was a perennial event called “Bridgefest” hosted by a regional radio station the church I attend operates. They typically have Christian artists and presenters in a historic 125 year old auditorium seating 6,250, located in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. This year Pastor Pancho Juarez spoke, Matt Schuler and Big Daddy Weave shared the stage with … well … me. You see, I volunteered to run camera and that turned into me operating handheld, so at times I was…
No, this post is not about identifying cables. We who are involved in technical arts are taught to label everything. Run a cable, label it. Pack a roadcase, drawer or storage shelf, label it. Have a broken piece of gear, put a huge warning label on it. You get the idea. But there is a downside to our propensity to label everything. Volunteers who are always late or do not respond to Planning Center requests may get labeled. Band members…
Things I Like: IPEVO document camera Your pastor comes to you and says, “for this Sunday it would be really helpful if I had the ability to draw something out during the sermon and everyone could see what I was drawing.” Short of having a NFL style telestrator or figuring out a way to interface a tablet and stylus into your production switcher; how would you accomplish his request, both easily and inexpensively? You could just offer the pastor a…
Alan Lockwood, live Video Director & production junkie shared the following video on Facebook, “Mastering Composition + Cinematography with Will Smith.” I thought it was interesting and helpful. So here you go! Or, for more in depth information on church multi-camera shot composition check out this controlbooth.tv post.
Have you ever seen a behind-the-scenes video from a feature film and the movie Director is walking around with what appears to be a film camera’s viewfinder attached to a film lens with a pistol grip? That’s called a “Director’s Viewfinder.” It allows the Director to see for himself/herself what a particular lens’ focal length will produce in field-of view. They use this to visualize a scene, insure that the lens will capture the view needed, as well as to…
One of the best skills you can develop as a live video director is the ability to clearly and concisely communicate your wishes to the rest of the crew. The pressure of a live performance or a church service – in the moment – or “calling the show,” makes things that much more stressful for directors as well as potentially unclear for the show technical staff listening for instruction. If you come out of a legitimate theater or AV background…
This past Monday through Thursday was NAB 2019, held yearly in Lost Wages Nevada, the trade-show of trade-shows for all things video and broadcast production topics related. For three days prior to NAB I attended a meeting in Reno with senior level network executives from Disney/ABC/ESPN, AT&T/Warner/Turner, NBC/Universal, CBS/Viacom, etc., discussing the future of video production, OTT (over-the-top web based content delivery), streaming, cable and broadcasting. Prophetically, one technology executive was heard to say, “in the next sixty months we…
Advice received from tech conferences, magazines, websites, discussion boards and even from fellow technical-artist friends can be wonderful; but have you ever wished you could get your hands on scientific research regarding competencies using video communication technology? I have. Recently a DeGroote School of Business research study regarding the effectiveness of conducting job interviews via video-conferencing was published. While admittedly not identical to producing a multi-camera broadcast or I-mag presentation at your church, I am impressed by how similar the advice the…