AF Creative has done a lot of work for local churches over the years. Here are five kinds of videos that we have seen churches using for their ministry.
Website Welcomes – a welcome video welcomes visitors to your website and tells them a little about your church. Although there are no set rules, most people seem to value a personal welcome from the pastor, as well as showing footage of Sunday mornings so visitors have a better idea what to expect when they come. Click here to watch an example of a welcome video.
Video Testimonies – allow a changed life to tell their story with a “talking head” interview. Many churches will play a recorded testimony before a baptism or put interviews with church members on the website to share what the church has meant to them.
Promo “Trailers” – a fun way to promote an event or ministry is to create a promo video in the style of an epic movie trailer.
Vision Videos – cast your vision for your church plant or ministry campaign with an inspiring documentary that informs and compels people to action. A vision video is designed to strengthen your message and extend your reach. Click here to see an example of a church planting vision video.
Lead-ins – a lead-in is a thematic introduction for a sermon series that plays before the sermon starts.These can be illustrations or just a stylish animated graphic. For more about lead-ins, see the post Branding Your Church’s Sermon Series.
AF Creative’s Justin Rossbacher has posted a storyboard comparison of his 2006 film Focus. This is a good look into the storyboarding process and how it sometimes changes by the finished product.
We refer to an intro video that plays before the pastor starts his sermon as a lead-in.
Creating a thematic lead-in that plays every Sunday during a message series is a great way to “brand” the series and generate buzz about the story you are trying to tell. An affective story or creative metaphor in your lead-in can make the message more memorable for your church.
Here is an example of a sermon series lead-in. The creative team at Brentwood Church in Lynchburg, VA chose an obvious metaphor for symbolizing things that weigh us down in life.
I recently had a talk with one of my business partners about idea generation. We agreed that the one thing we desire for AF Creative to be known for is innovative thinking.
On May 1st we launched this blog to post behind-the-scenes content and news on productions. As we learn and grow through our business and develop this philosophy of innovative thinking, we want to share some of the things we learn along the way.
So we are now extending the purpose of this blog to include ideas, information, and tips on how you can use creative video to strengthen your message .
As we publish more information, please let us know if it is useful to you, and for those of you who have experience in the industry, feel free to leave comments and contribute your insight.
Today’s technology has given everyone access to the equipment and resources to produce videos.
Even the smallest company has the potential to create a decent production. Whether you are planning on producing on your own or hiring a production company, here are five tips to keep in mind while developing your project.
Don’t compromise on quality. Quality not only deals with production, but with story and content. How intentional are you being with your video? If you’re producing on your own, are you seeking out professional advice and evaluating your skills and resources critically. If you don’t have the time, hiring professionals is a valuable investment. Don’t compromise. A bad video can do more damage than no video at all.
Break stereotypes. Think carefully about how others perceive your organization. Use your video as an opportunity to break those stereotypes. Be creative.
Watch out for using copyrighted music. Depending on what you’re using your video for, there will be various royalty fees for copyrighted music. I recommend purchasing royalty free music for your project, as it is just less hassle. Shockwave Sound and Digital Juice are two great resources for purchasing royalty free content.
Shorter is better. Strip your message down to its bare essence and keep your video short and sweet. Don’t try to be Peter Jackson. Keep the videos short or people will not finish watching it (or if your audience is captive, they’ll just mentally check out). Short is good.
Take risks. Don’t be afraid to try something original. The best ideas and breakthroughs happen when you step out on a limb and try something new.
We jumped the gun on our self-appointed Wednesday deadline. The new AFCreative.net is up and running, and the new promotional reel that will be featured on the home page will be up tomorrow. Our favorite part of this site is the new portfolio page . WebRevolutionary’s design is spectacular and works perfectly for presenting our work.
We’re really looking forward to The Whiteboard Sessions, a conference in DC on May 22 that is all about the power of ideas. AF Creative will be there, with our table and demo reel, passing out cards and soaking up the knowledge.
This week we will be launching our new website. We’re using a Wordpress theme called Sharpfolio, which was designed by WebRevolutionary specifically for portfolios.
This time, we’re keeping it simple. The center piece of the home page will be the new AF Creative promotional reel. The site also contains terrific features for presenting our video portfolio.
The new site will be here soon. Clients, feel free to let us know if there are other features you’d like to see on the site. We’ll see if we can make it happen…
The Copy is a three minute satire that was created for an online film contest at iStockphoto.com in 2007. It was the first short film produced by AF Creative. The following is a behind the scenes look, from script to screen…or eh, internet.
“If you watch it, seven days later…”
The theme for the contest was the future of technology. Obviously paying homage to the 2002 film, The Ring, starring Naomi Watts, The Copy gives a slightly different scenario over what happens when you watch a forbidden video. The script was written a few weeks prior to the shoot, and everything was produced and shot over the course of two weekends.
Weekend One: Test Shots and Pre-visualization
The first Saturday, we met on location, did some test shots and filmed a pre-visualization…
Storyboarding and Direction
After meeting on location, we storyboarded the film using freeze frames from the pre-visualization…
Since our office location was only available half of the day, the entire shot order had to be streamlined as efficiently as possilbe…
The actual Copy…
While Justin Rossbacher and myself were storyboarding and planning for principle photography, Won Novalis was working on the DVD video that Brandon’s character would watch. You can watch the stand-alone piece here.
Weekend Two: Principle Photography
The Results
Though we didn’t win the grand prize, it was a good run. The Copy won the popular vote and made it to the final twelve selections in the comedy category. If you haven’t seen The Copy yet, you can watch it here.
