12 Tips : How to Conduct an Interview

// September 30th, 2011 // 3 Comments » // How-to, Tutorial, Video

I get to make films and videos at a church. Our videos get used in our worship services, in student ministries, on the web, and get shared with lots of other churches.

Though the videos we do fall into a number of categories from animation to drama to documentary, I often find myself doing some kind of interview. There are lots of reasons to do an interview, too. It’s the “satisfied customer” who becomes a great spokesperson. It’s the powerful story of a changed life. It’s the Ph.D. who has studied language development in children. Interviews are with real people, and can bring authenticity to a sermon’s message.

But conducting an interview isn’t as easy as it looks. I’ve conducted them for years, and I’ve discovered some techniques that help me get the most compelling stories. (more…)

Ten Years Later: Free Media Resources for September 11 Anniversary Observances

// August 15th, 2011 // No Comments » // Faith, Video, Worship

This September 11, a Sunday, is the 10 year anniversary of September 11, 2001. Many churches will hopefully be doing something to acknowledge this awful day in American history. Scroll all the way down for links to versions of media you can use in your worship services. (more…)

Video: The Final Words from the Cross

// June 25th, 2011 // No Comments » // DSLR, Video, Worship

I’m way behind on posting projects I’ve been working on. One of the main reasons I set up this blog was to share video projects and some “how-to” info for students of my Leadership Institute workshops. So I’ve got three or four videos in the hopper that I’ll be blogging about in the days to come.

The video above was the promo video for our Lent series on the final words of Jesus, spoken from the cross. The sermons were also character studies, looking at the crucifixion through the eyes of those who were present at his death. (more…)

2010 Year in Review Video

// January 29th, 2011 // No Comments » // DSLR, Faith, Video

Church of the Resurrection 2010 Year in Review from Rob Webster on Vimeo.

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Friday Inspiration for December 31, 2010 – The Chapel

// January 1st, 2011 // 1 Comment » // DSLR, HDR, Timelapse, Video

I’m getting this Friday inspiration in just under the wire… and not just getting it in by Friday, but by the end of the year!

THE CHAPEL is a remarkable short film I discovered today. It has things I love: Church architecture, time-lapse photography, excellent film making, and HDR video (!). This guy’s whole portfolio is amazing. More and more tools are being developed for film makers, especially in terms of tools that allow someone to move a camera smoothly. A number of these tools, as you can see in the video below, also allow a camera to move very very slowly, which makes for some really amazing time-lapse movies. As a side note, I’ll add that I love great typography, and you can tell just by looking at the thumbnails of the videos at lookycreative.com that type choices are important to this film maker. Watch the video below, with a bonus video after that…

TheChapel. A short film. (HDR timelapse) from Patryk Kizny on Vimeo.

(more…)

Advent Conspiracy Video Available

// November 17th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Faith, Motion Graphics, Video, Worship

Download the Advent Conspiracy Video

In 2009, our Church of the Resurrection resident animator Jason Watson put together a video for the Advent Conspiracy. Is your church doing anything to join the Conspiracy? If so, feel free to use/steal/propagate the video Jason put together. (more…)

Friday Inspiration for October 15, 2010

// October 15th, 2010 // 5 Comments » // Inspiration, Video

It’s Not About the Tools!

Hello, dear readers.

I just saw this video on the Internets and had to share it. It only has a few views, but I can’t help but think this video is going to climb pretty fast. (more…)

The Making Of… the Church of the Resurrection LipDub

// October 2nd, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Faith, Video

For our church’s 20th Anniversary, I got most of the staff together to shoot a LipDub video. (A LipDub video is a lip-synched video shot all in one take, usually involving lots of people and props.) While ours isn’t the best LipDub out there, I’m proud of our staff and my team of helpers and what they pulled off! We had a blast making it. And now, both of you who read my blog can see how it all came together, and almost came apart. (more…)

Follow-Up to Shooting the News Anchor

// October 1st, 2010 // No Comments » // DSLR, Faith, Video

At the end of August, I did a blog post about shooting video with a DSLR. The sample clip I posted was very brief. My co-worker Alex and I filmed a local news anchor / church member who agreed to be the host for the video. The blog post was more about the technical lessons learned when shooting with a different camera. For the final video, we meshed DSLR footage and HDV interview shots with some SD historical footage. After all the content-gathering was complete, I left town on vacation, leaving the project in Alex’s capable hands. This was one of 5 videos the poor guy prepared for the first weekend of our Capital Campaign, all of which required the input and sign-off of the church leadership. I’m grateful for all the members of my team, any one of whom I could trust with a project. Alex pulled triple duty to get it all done that week.

For those of you that are curious, here’s the final video and how it turned out:

Capital Campaign video from Rob Webster on Vimeo.

Friday Inspiration for Friday, Sept, 17, 2010

// September 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Inspiration, Timelapse, Video

BACKWARDS!

My friends Rhett and Link came out with a new video this week. Their creativity and excellent execution never cease to amaze me.

This reminded me of some other “backwards” videos I’ve seen. Running things in reverse opens up a world of startling creative possibilities. (more…)