» Tagged 'newsletter'

Changes, New Sites, New Info

Foldback, Media - by - August 10, 2009 - 10:56 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!

As part of our ongoing upgrade, we have completed another set of changes in some of the websites related to this blog (mediaartsdad.com), the High Pointe media ministry and where you can expect what information to show up. Full Story

So what is Foldback?

Foldback - by - May 19, 2008 - 17:33 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!

Okay, so I jumped in and never really explained what “Foldback” is or what I am doing with it here.

First, a quick bit of history. Back in the dark ages of audio reinforcement, one of the cheapest audio consoles (mixing boards) that was available was the Yamaha MC series. Several churches I worked with back then had these consoles (8, 12 or 16 channels), so I was fairly familiar with them. Yamaha used the term Foldback for the stage monitor sends, but very few other manufactures use that terminology. The idea is that you are folding back some of the audio from the musicians back to them so they can hear what they are doing.

So the idea of my “foldback” for my blog is to fold back some comments, observations and planning information to those who served on the media team for the weekend that we might all grow in excellence in our service of worship. All this to further our purpose to glorify Christ, help spread the gospel and provide tools of training and encouragement for the church.

Behind the Seen

Excellence in the Arts, Media - by - January 28, 2008 - 21:18 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!


Learning from others
As I have been reading this book all about Walter Murch’s experiences doing the editing and audio mixing on the movie “Cold Mountain”, I have tried to pick up some hints and ideas that would help us improve our quality and craft on our media projects. There is not room here, nor can I verbalize all that I have picked up, but here are a few lessons I would like to share.

Take time planning and getting familiar with the project. Instead of just jumping in and shooting or editing, take time to study each element, listen to the audio, watch all the clips, re-read the script, make check list or drawings and lay out exactly what you want to accomplish.

Even when you think you have it together, spend a little time exploring other angles. What happens if you lengthen or shorten a shot? What difference does changing the music make? What about changing the order of the elements? What does it look like if we set the camera over there? It is fairly easy to “UNDO” changes with all the digital audio and video methods we use, so take a minute to explore, you might find something that works better.

You will never have enough time. I don’t care if you have a year to edit that video, there will still be work to be done to it when the deadline rolls around. So make the best use of the time you have and don’t assume you can get it done in the last hour. Also, you will never have enough channels / tracks!

2008

Excellence in the Arts - by - December 22, 2007 - 15:16 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!

Where Are We Going
As we approach a new year it is natural to look back over previous years and look ahead at what is to come. So what does the new year hold for the media ministry? While somethings never change and there are a lot of unknowns, there are a few specific areas I would like to challenge us as a team to strive for in 2008.

More Media, More People. In keeping with our mission, the first goal is to make even more media resources available to even more people. This may involve releasing media in more formats, making the media more available or even making the resources better known through marketing and advertising.

Increase the Quality. From the technical standpoint, push down the noise floors, increase the bit-rates and sampling rates, improve the compression, improve the resolution. From an artist standpoint, improve the mix, smooth the shots, capture the moment, up the expectation.

Become More Flexible. By finishing up some of our infa-structure projects and carefully planning future purchases and installations we can make our systems and equipment more flexible to meet the changing needs of the ministries we serve while at the same time decreasing the amount of time and work it takes to meet these needs.

What are your thoughts?

Branding

Media - by - September 11, 2007 - 01:31 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!

Making it stick
I am not a marketing expert, but I have learned a few things about effective marketing over the years. One element of the marketing trade is branding – that is, making an association between a product or service and a logo / slogan / identity. The purpose is to make the product or service more recognizable and memorable, usually to get you to buy it more often.

Where does this branding fit in with our media ministry? While we are not out to sell anything, we are trying to make a message more memorable, and branding the media is one way to accomplish this. We also work on promoting worship series, classes, ministries, events and even our church, all of which can benefit from a “brand” recognition.

Branding message series helps create a whole out of the parts. It ties them together and helps connect the pieces in our mind. This includes media covers, bumper, flyers, posters, fonts and even the worship song backgrounds. In the future this may include the “feel” of the services – lighting, room decor, color schemes, screen elements, foyer layout and many other components.

Branding our media ministry also gives us a method of reminding people of the resources that we make available. By having our media logo on everything we “produce” it reminds people that there is more than just this one item they are holding available. It also serves as advertising for our team, reminding people that someone put this media together. This can help us recruit new team members among other things.

It is important that once a brand has been established to stick with it and use it faithfully and repeatedly. Corporations understand this and spend large amounts promoting and protecting their brands. For us this means making sure all of our media has our team logo on it. For worship series we need to remember our theme and stick to it (graphics, looks, feel). Finally, we need to look for ways to brand and market more effectively.