Worship Media Arts

As a graphic artist, I’m always looking for ways to be creatively inspired. When I’m scouring the web looking for inspiration, I sometimes encounter things created by other designers that I know I could never pull off. One might think this would leave an artist discouraged. For me, the exact opposite is true. The inspiration that comes from studying mind-blowing design is priceless.  I look at things beyond my reach and feel a strong desire to reach further, do more, and learn techniques I’ve never used.

In the last few weeks as I’ve been recovering from surgery, I’ve occasionally found myself looking for new inspiration. I’ve found some great sites that I thought I’d share here on the blog. In no particular order:

www.motionographer.com – A great site for motion graphic artists to find inspiration. Amazing stuff here!

www.behance.net – This site features all sorts of creative inspiration from users all over the globe. It appears to be a great way to get connected too.

www.graphic-exchange.com – An amazing collection of inspiring designs.

www.redgiantpeople.com – The parent site of this site sells After Effects plugins but there’s lots of cool stuff here to check out-especially in the Guru section.

www.theinspirationroom.com – Several categories of inspiration to choose from. You’ll lose hours here.

So how about you? Where do you go for creative inspiration?

In our book Design Matters: Creating Powerful Imagery for Worship, we look at several rules for good composition. One of those rules deals with leading the eye through a finished composition in an orderly and interesting fashion.

Today I ran across this article that did a great job of illustrating different ways the eyes can be lead through a photograph by way of good composition. Of course the rules apply to graphics as well.

Check out the article.

There’s no doubt that we live in a visual culture, and that culture has become less and less interested in the institutional church. While we have the most powerful story to tell, the way in which we tell it is often the least powerful way for the time in which we live.

Quite often, the reading of scripture in worship is the least engaging moment of all. Rather than approaching scripture as story, scripture is often shared in a dry, emotionless way or done as a broken, monotone, congregational reading. With screens so prevalent in worship now, the most common approach to scripture in worship is to just put the text on the screen and hope that people read along. Are any of those methods really very effective for our visual culture? Probably not.
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In the current climate it is really difficult to make a case for the need for new technology in worship. You need funds? There’s a single best strategy to follow: demonstrate don’t debate.

We’re not implying that you don’t bother with the philosophy and the big picture stuff. To the contrary, it is vital you are able to exactly articulate why you want to do what it is that you want to do, and are able to communicate that clearly and succinctly. Because what will happen is that the conversation with your money people will at some point turn to the why, and it doesn’t stay there long. As soon as it does, you have to be able to pounce on it with your brand of biblical, theological and missional backing.

But this is all secondary. If you lead with the why you will lose them. Instead, lead with the wow. Create an effective demonstration that models the possibilities of your new technology in worship, using a message to which they can relate. Pick imagery that will appeal to your “target audience”.

See, most pastors and decision makers aren’t antagonistic to the power of your new idea in worship; they’re just ignorant to it and don’t want to allocate funds to something that doesn’t make sense. In general people tend to confuse Jesus and the horse he rode in on. In other words, they get caught up in the methods and culture of what worked for them at one time. In the process, it becomes easy to develop an unhealthy attachment to specific methodologies. Sometimes, it takes a “wow” moment to help these people see what is new. This mistake can happen to anyone, and if you’ve been in ministry long enough, it has probably happened to you, too.

This means as an advocate of digital media it is your responsibility to provide an opportunity through which your pastors and decision makers can experience God by your new vision. One effective demonstration will do more than untold amounts of describing. It must be seen to be understood.

For example, say you have caught a vision for environmental projection in worship, so ably demonstrated by Cameron Ware. The majority of the startup cost is in 3-4 new projectors. Find people in the congregation with business connections who can secure you units to borrow and use on an assigned Sunday four weeks from now. Since they probably won’t match, try to get equal lumens on them.Buy the Matrox TripleHead2Go unit, necessary to create a “video wall” of three side by side images, with your own money – it’s $200 or so on eBay. (Hopefully you’ll be able to submit a receipt on it later. Hey – we never said being a change agent isn’t without personal risk.) Set the projectors up with a Mac laptop and the Matrox device. If you don’t have the correct software, use any kind of software like QuickTime just to get the image outputted to the second display. Shoot it on anything – you can get special scrims, fabrics and screens later once you’re shown people the possibilities. Make sure and choose images that fit the direction for the day, whether that is by matching the main idea, theme, look, color scheme, etc.

Once the worship service is done, you can either choose to be aggressive and pursue your targets for feedback, or passive and let them come to you with their excitement and enthusiasm. That depends on your people and situation. One change agent we know without much political cache did a video projector demonstration in worship once without commentary, waited two months to let the fury die down, did it again, waited two more months, and did it a third time. After the third service, a benefactor approached him and said, what will it take to do this every week?

One of the most popular destinations on our website is Nevan Hooker’s Countdown Creator 2.1. This handy little application turns any video into an instant countdown with this nifty and easy to use little program.

Countdown Creator 2.1 gives you freedom to make customized video countdowns using your own video, picture, and music files. The possibilities are endless. It works with any standard definition video (720 x 480). Easily control the clock placement, time, font, size, rotation, fade, and shadow. Export, and you’re done. Use it in PowerPoint, MediaShout, EZ Worship or any other presentation software that supports video playback.

Click here to learn more:

Countdown Creator 2.1