Simple and Striking - Morris and Proctor
Stacking Visuals
Kent MorrisTo modify a common phrase, "Taste is in the eye of the beholder." In other words, elegance or style is based on the perception of the viewer. In video imagery, however, there is a consensus on what works well and is visually pleasing in the worship environment. When MTV sprang on the scene a quarter-century ago, its novelty kept viewers enthralled. When, the newness abated, however, MTV was forced to improve the content to keep people interested in its channel. Part of the improvement involved segmenting the screen in a standardized format to maximize interest without cluttering the image. In the worship environment, we tend to divide the image into horizontal thirds with the lyrics at the bottom and either I-mag (image magnification) of the stage personnel in the top two tiers or a layered background under the lyrics and complementary moving backgrounds in the top sections.
Recently, I witnessed why segmentation and layering are vital to successful imaging. I was asked to engineer the video portion of a large gathering and had brought my usual assortment along: a Mac running PVP, a PC with PowerPoint, Easy Worship and Media Shout and two video mixers. After going over the set list and the sermon notes, I was informed the church had preloaded the lyrics. Expecting straight white text over a black background, I was confused to find someone had gone to great lengths to shower the words with elaborate static images under text made of complex fonts. When projected, the words became illegible and the backgrounds perplexing. I made several quick changes to blur the backgrounds and reformatted the fonts to simpler choices, but there was a limit given the time constraints. The results were acceptable, but if the layers had been given a simpler design, the impact would have been greater.
Simple is good and simpler is better. The combination of red, green and blue can build millions of colors. Success comes from the mixing of pure, fresh ingredients.
Stargaze
Stephen ProctorWith the rise in dynamic and beautiful worship songs comes an increasing demand for visual media for projection. Staid backgrounds in the vein of Hallmark greeting cards are no longer adequate; however, worship media production houses have emerged and met the demands for God-centered and thought-provoking media. In addition to dedicated worship imagery, there are many visual media resources available through secular channels. Not only are many of these visuals "off the beaten path," they are stunningly beautiful, usually available in wide-screen and HD format, and the best news is that they are extremely affordable.
A few years ago, I was having a conversation with Sally Morgenthaler about VJ-ing (Video Jockey-a visual DJ) during worship gatherings. She pointed me to a resource called "Stargaze," a DVD with breath-taking motion graphics pulled from high-definition images taken by the Hubble Space telescope. Currently there are two volumes available. "Stargaze II" includes an enhanced portion on the disc with an hour of true HD video files in WMV format with an accompanying soundtrack. These backgrounds are useful for songs such as "How Great Is Our God," "Indescribable," and Gateway Church's "Revelation Song." The images are able to transport the congregation off Earth and showcase the grandness of God's creation.
The official Stargaze Web site is
stargazedvd.com, and the DVDs are available on
amazon.com. Each title is priced at twenty dollars, a true bargain in light of the vast resources required to develop the discs.
