Video

Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to work with a person that has never run the video mixer before. As I was explaining the stylistic points of how we do what we do, I found my self saying over and over, “This is what people are use to seeing” or “That is what people are use to.” When I was saying that, I was talking about the difference between cutting between camera sources and using the lever to do a dissolve or fade between camera sources. Specifically, if you watch a news cast, you will always see that the camera’s cut between people when they are talking. Or, if you watch American Idol, you will always see slow or slightly faster fades between camera’s when the contestants are singing depending on the style of music that is being played.

Why do I bring this up? Our mission as a technical team, is to make what is happening on the stage work without being distracting. You guys and girls are awesome at that. Their are some way cool things we could choose to do during our services, but, most of the time, the conservative approach on our technique is the way to go.

Now for the fun stuff. Jim has been talking to me about a little bit of a style change for the second service. This will involve having the band kick off the service with a song while people are coming in the auditorium. What that will mean for us is an added opportunity visualy to enhance the experience with the cameras. I will be discussing the style we will be using soon with the video directors and posting it here when we get it all nailed down. What that means for the camera folks is we will need you to be on your cameras and ready for action about 7 - 10 minutes before the service starts.

I’ll tell you more as we get the details hammered out.

Christmas

Yes, Christmas, it will be here before you know it. Can you believe it’s already July? And, July is half over. Freedom’s Gift, written by our own Connie Beard, is right around the corner too. The conversations already a buzz with how are we going to do this, and how that will work. New ideas and improvements on last years performance are also being talked about. I cannot wait to see what God does with the Christmas production in 2007!

It’s time to begin planning for the technical staffing for the production. I’m going to ask Beth to send out a note getting the team’s availability for the month leading up to Freedom’s Gift and the weeks of the production. If you could let me know by replying to her note how involved you would like to be in the production it would be much appreciated.

I am soooooo looking forward to serving with you for this event in our church. You cannot even imagine the impact we can have on people’s lives. Not just the ones that attend the production, but, also other members of the Vale family that are involved in putting it on.

You guys are awesome!

Weekly Meeting

Every week, (Most every week) we have a 6 am meeting at the StarBucks by Vale. We talk about what works, what didn’t work the last Sunday, what is coming up next Sunday and what we need to do as a team to get ready for the weeks coming. If your up that early, or want to know whats going on, I would encourage you to come join us. The coffee is good, people are great and it’s fun to see the Staff when they just wake up…..

August Sermon Series

Hello all, I thought I would ask your ideas for the sermon series after Identity Theft. Starting in August, Ken will begin a series named Parental Guidance Required - Preparing Your kids for Life. Here are the topics for the series. If you come up with something creative to do, post a comment and we’ll take it to Ken and Jim for a decision.

PARENTAL GUIDANCE REQUIRED
Preparing Your Kids for Life

AUG. 12 SERIES: PARENTAL GUIDANCE REQUIRED
SERMON: The Three Dials (Introduction Sermon)
This message is an introduction to the series and examines the three relational dials that parents
have access to in the rearing of their children. Experiences in childhood are not as important as the relationships that accompany them. In fact, the value of any experience in life is directly proportional to the value of the relationships we encounter as a result of that experience. There are three specific types of relationships that determine how well a child is equipped to face life. Success in adulthood is largely determined by the quality and function of these three relational types. If there is a deficit in any one of these areas during childhood, there is usually a corresponding deficiency in adulthood. During the fleeting window of time called parenthood - parents have a unique opportunity to influence the quality of these three relationships in the child’s life. In reality, no one else can provide the guidance in a child’s life like their parents. The dials are:
” Child’s relationship with God
” Child’s relationship with parents
” Child’s relationship with others outside the home

AUG. 19 SERIES: PARENTAL GUIDANCE REQUIRED
SERMON: 10 Things Kids Need from Caring Adults (Part One)
The message examines the qualities we want our kids to possess when they take wings and leave
the nest. The five qualities are: confidence, character, conviction, compassion, and competence. This message also examines the first three things kids need from caring adults:
” Belief (The belief in the value of being a parent. Understanding that you are the greatest influencer in the life of your kids)
” Presence (Time. Healthy kids point back to present parents in their lives)
” Memories (Healthy kids have good memories. Make memories through traditions, capture memories, prioritizing vacations, and creating adventures)

AUG. 26 SERIES: PARENTAL GUIDANCE REQUIRED
SERMON: 10 Things Kids Need from Caring Adults (Part Two)
This message examines the next three things kids need from caring adults. They are:
” Encouragement (Most language directed at kids falls into two categories - shame oriented or performance oriented. But what kids need is encouragement that is beyond performance - encouragement that says “I love you” regardless of your performance - good or bad)
” Role Models (Parent role models and other role models. They need models of integrity, deepen faith, etc.)
” Discipline (Kids need boundaries - but not a lot of rules. Biblical discipline is guidance not punishment. Disciple must be delicate and wise)

SEPT. 2 SERIES: PARENTAL GUIDANCE REQUIRED
SERMON: 10 Things Kids Need from Caring Adults (Part Three)
This message examines the next four things kids need from caring adults. They are:
” Affection (Emotionally healthy kids have been given proper affection and lots of it)
” Responsibility (Kids need to develop responsibility. Lack of responsibility manifest itself in three primary ways: apathy, blame, care-for-me mentality)
” Fun (The reason kids need fun is because of the fast pace lifestyle of their parents - and the stress they experience. Laughter and fun ingested into their life helps them relieve some of the anxieties they feel. Lighten up and schedule fun.)
” A Peaceful Home (Not a perfect home but a peaceful home. The reason a peaceful home is so important is because kids are at battle all day long. They are battling an X-rated culture, language and values. They’re battling peer pressure and temptation. And they can handle it better if they know pretty soon they’ll be coming home to peaceful and safe place.)

Jim Henry’s Blog

Just wanted to get a link to Jim’s Blog here for those of you that have not checked it out.

Resisting No More

Hello all,

I’ve resisted Bloging since the word was created. However, after a very good meeting with our good friend Jim Henry, and discussing different ways to get good and helpful information out to Vale’s audio visual team and other churches, here I am. Jim said this would be easy, but, I didn’t know they were going to ask such tough questions in the set up. Blog Title??? How many techies can just pull that out of their hat?

Anyway,

The purpose (yes we must have a purpose) of this blog is to discuss technical, stylistic, team and general Vale A/V topics. If you’re a Vale A/V team member, I’ll try to add meaningful information here for you talking about the how’s and why’s of what we do. As we get new equipment, and procedures written for how we do things, I’ll add them here too.

If you’re a Vale A/V team member….. lets talk about that for a sec. If you’re a Vale A/V team member, you’re actually a Vale A/V family member. I cannot even begin to tell you what an honor it is to be a part of this family and serve with you. You guys are awesome! You’re the best of the best. I appreciate all you do.

I’ll try to keep you all on the cutting edge of what the Vale A/V team is up to and future plans. But remember, as in any Church team, plans get made, re-visited, changed, ditched, and sometimes even followed through on. So, buckle up, hang on and get ready for the ride! God’s got great plans for us, all we have to do is look for what he is doing and join in.