Music

Music can cover a multitude of audio mistakes…that’s from 1 Filmmakers 2:5. If you can get your hands on some stock music it will go a long way in making your production seem more professional. There are two things to keep in mind when adding music.

Make sure it sets the mood. Don’t put the music from “Halloween” behind a video encouraging people to take time with their families!

The next thing is to make sure that the level of music doesn’t dominate the level of the voices. This is really easy to do, but always remember that the music should come below the voices not above.

Burn baby, burn

Not that your film is complete it is time to figure out how to get it onto a DVD. Once again, find that 12-year old, bribe them with some pizza and ask them to burn it to a DVD. If you don’t know where to find a 12-year old, then it really isn’t that difficult because most PC’s these days come with the ability to burn a file to DVD.

The alternative to this is if you happen to use presentation software such as SongShow Plus, Media Shout, ProPresenter or a free software like OpenLP. In this case you will need to render your file to a format compatible with your software.

The debut

Wow, you are almost there! The service begins and your palms are sweaty. The pastor gives his cue for your video and your fumble for the “play” button and cross your fingers and hope it actually works! It does work! Whew! Everyone applauds wildly once the video finishes and the minister now proceeds to finish a life-transforming talk, which YOU played a part in!

Each time you make a video the process will get easier and your creativity will begin to flourish. At my church we began to think that if we enjoyed the video so much maybe other churches would find it useful as well. It is my belief that a video that has been developed by a church for use in a church will always be more effective than something that was created by a company that is just trying to produce videos.