This week @ seminars4worship (in Bradenton, FL), we tried out environmental projection for the first time ever. Not only was this my first time to VJ using this creative yet simple technique, but it was also my first time to see it first hand. i’ve seen lots of pictures…i’ve even taught on the concept. But experiencing it live and hearing the feedback from those with me, i’m still blown away.

For those of you wondering, i’ll break down the technology a bit:

- MacBook Pro running ProVideoPlayer (for all image playback)…

- …which outputs into a Matrox TripleHead2Go…

- …which is tied directly into three 5K projectors set up on a ledge in the back of the room.

- MacBook Pro running ProPresenter…

- …tied directly into the house video system, where white on black lyrics were run (hitting the house screens which were splashed with the environmental projection)

- lighting by ProGear Warehouse (Elation LED fixtures), LD was Greg Moore, one of the best worship lighting guys i’ve ever worked with.

In no way do i take full credit….we had an AMAZING production team & volunteers help in the set-up. I also have to give credit where credit is due, as i learned from the master.

If you are thinking about doing this in your church, tread cautiously. B/c if you don’t have the right content & VJ it tastefully, you can create the biggest distraction ever. i’ll blog more about that later.

It’s really exciting to do something that is really so simple and relatively cheap, which can transform a stark-white, boring room into a place of inspiration and creativity that hopefully draws people in and points them to Jesus.

Before.

After.

Colt Sammons, bravig the ledge.

p.s. sorry for the bad quality photos, my iPhone is cool but not that cool. the Canon 50D is being ordered this week!

Tags: CREATIVITY, EVENTS, Hardware, ProPresenter, ProVideoPlayer, Software, VISUAL WORSHIP, VJ COMMUNITY, VJ GEAR, WORSHIP, apple, conferences, environmental projection, integrity live, seminars4worship by proctor
5 Comments »

… can describe His all-powerful, awe-inspiring creativity.

Check this video out.

Thanks, Brandon for showing me this the other day.

Tags: CREATIVITY, WORSHIP by proctor
No Comments »

New friend and fellow VJ, Camron Ware, is the owner of VisualWorshiper.com and has an incredible blog. I check it every day and am inspired by his work. What he’s accomplished with what he has termed “architectural projection” is jaw-dropping. He also just bought his first Mac (one of the new 15″ MacBook Pros)…so let’s throw a party and welcome him to the Mac community!

Camron just posted an article on his blog that was very intriguing…concerning the use of iMAG (image magnification/live video) during worship gatherings. This was something i thought about blogging about at some point, but he did the topic great justice. so go check it out!

Tags: CREATIVITY, Hardware, STYLE, VISUAL WORSHIP, VJ COMMUNITY, apple, iMAG by proctor
No Comments »

i’m pretty much OCD and type-A when it comes to how the lyrics are formatted on the screen. like most creative people i’ve met, i like the lyrics on the screen to be clean and simple…having no more than 2 or 3 lines of text on one slide using a new contemporary font.

i hate it when the first word of every line is capitalized, like it’s a new sentence or something. i don’t get it. i’m also never a fan of lots of punctuation. if this was a report for my english class, it would be different. i also never capitalize anything except the names of God…even the word “i”.

i’ve gotten a lot of great comments and feedback over the years on this, except for one lady at a recent conference.

The names of those involved have been changed to protect both the innocent & the guilty. “Mr. Ren” is the conference coordinator i work with. “Ms. Stimpy” is the person who wrote the complaint.

Enjoy!

———————–

Dear Mr. Ren,

I want to apprise you of a concern I have. The issue is regarding an aspect of the music during the conference.

When the words to the praise songs are displayed on the screen, someone neglected to edit them; The pronoun “I” is ALWAYS capitalized. However, the pronoun appeared in the lower case consistently throughout all the songs.

Would you please advise those who are responsible for the words that are superimposed on the screen of this grievous English error? A lot of issues in America are under attack, not the least of which is the proper King’s English!

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,
Ms. Stimpy

————————-

excerpt from my response:

Actually, the ‘I’ is purposefully uncapitalized throughout all the songs….the only word ever capitalized is the names of God and the pronouns referring to Him.
This is a sign of reverence and also a reminder that ‘i am small and He is the Great I AM’.

Also, the proper grammar rules are kind of thrown out the window when it comes to displaying lyrics on the screens…its just understood.

————————-

Dear Mr. Ren,
Thank you for your prompt response. Yes, you are right; it doesn’t change my feelings, and I don’t know who says grammar is “thrown out the window.” If that is so, why capitalize the beginning of a new sentence, or put any punctuation in? There were a NUMBER of people who noticed the incorrect proper pronoun; I just happen to be the one to write. However, others did put it in their comments on the evaluation form.
I thank you for responding. May I have the email of the creative folk who make such decisions? As a teacher, I have to deal with students who never capitalize the proper pronoun - even in middle school. Now, I am seeing a sub culture that is PROMOTING that! I hate to think that it is a Christian mindset that is passing on such “stinkin’ thinkin’ “! Christians are to above reporach and to not be offensive.
In every church I have ever attended (including the great mega churches), I have NEVER seen the proper pronoun put as lower case. I disagree that “grammar rules are thrown out the window and it is just understood.” Instead, it appears this is someone from your conference who has unilaterally decided to do it this way.

Somcerely,(????)

Ms. Stimpy

————————-

wow. thoughts?

Tags: CREATIVITY, STYLE by proctor
13 Comments »

Well, so much for posting from Catalyst. We had 4 great, but very long days. Day 1 was load in and setting up the 26 LCD screens we had going around the stage. Day 2 was teching problems and rehearsal, and days 3 and 4 were the actual event. We had 9 main sessions in those 2 days, so it was a total whirlwind.

The conference itself was great…featuring a short bus, live elephant , worship by the Fee band , Kristian Stanfill , and Eddie Kirkland –excellent hosts Lanny Donoho and Reggie Joiner , and great teaching from Jim Collins , Dave Ramsey , Andy Stanley , Steven Furtick , Seth Godin , and many more.

The set was in the round due to the sell out crowd of 12,400. There was a cylinder LED with MiStrip ‘icicles’ below it. Above and surrounding that were the 4 main IMAG screens. The stage resembled the Chevy logo with thrusts going off into each area of the floor–the stage was framed with 22 50" LED screens, and the drum sub was wrapped with 8 50" LED screens. The cylnder and MiStrips could raise up and go down via motor control,and the opener featured a cool reveal of the drummer who was on the drum riser inside of the cylinder and strips.

Our tech set up was pretty intense–I had 3 PVP machines in front of me at FOH, and did my best of keeping everything straight. I had a machine running to the MiStrips, a main playback for the cylider LED and screens, and a master for the 26 LCDs that surrounded the stage. With me in the pit was Brad Weston running screen control through the Big Stuf Indigo, and Sarah running lyrics on ProPresenter.

I think the thing that amazes me most about that event is the depth of talent at every position. I don’t think we could come close to pulling it off with the talented people in every department. We get to work a lot with the guys from Majestic Productions, and they always do a great job getting everything in the air on time, and keeping it up and running. Kudos to Brian Pirkle at Big Stuf who produced the event and managed to keep us on task and not melt down during some pretty stressful moments. Jeff , Brian, and Brad at Catalyst have an almost impossible task of improving this conference every year, but continue to raise the bar.

Below are some pics…the bad ones are from my cell phone, the good ones are courtesy of Michael Henson from Majestic Productions.

Any of you make it to Catalyst?

Tags: CREATIVITY, EVENTS, GENERAL, ProVideoPlayer, TRAVEL, VJ GEAR, backgrounds, catalyst, conferences, video staging by gregdolezal
4 Comments »

Here’s some more pics from Integrity Live’s seminars4worship in Grand Rapids.

that would be Paul Baloche. “what-a you lookin’ at???”

————————————————————————–

These 2 below are from the first night for the Songs & the Stories.

Mia Fieldes: one of the great worship songwriters of our time.

Tags: CREATIVITY, EVENTS, TRAVEL, VJ-ing, conferences, integrity live, seminars4worship, video staging by proctor
2 Comments »

PVP + rat’s nest @ 12:15am = whoa…we actually pulled it off.

Tags: CREATIVITY, Hardware, Software, TRAVEL, VJ-ing, video staging by proctor
5 Comments »

Well fall is officially upon us and that means my schedule is packed with conferences.  I’m pretty excited to be running visuals in a few weeks at the Catalyst Conference.  I’ll be working a with a lot of great people, with the crew at Big Stuf Events leading the way.  Leading worship will be the Fee boys–great friends and even better worship leaders.  Speaking of the Fee boys, I did hit the small white ball with Steve Wednesday, and we should all be glad he’s a musician  Can’t say I did much better…

Seriously, though, if you’re not attending Catalyst, I’d recommend it–the set and visuals are going to be great and unique (lots of LED, LCD, Mac Minis and more)–but the conference of the content is always stellar.  Lanny and Reggie do a great job hosting the event, and pull out more creative elements than most every other conference I attend combined.  I’ll be sure to send a few live posts from the event.

After that I’ll be making the rounds to Youth Specialties, WfX, CMS and many others.

What conferences are you attending? 

Tags: CREATIVITY, EVENTS, GENERAL, TRAVEL by gregdolezal
4 Comments »

another great motion lyric project by Brandon Horner.

to read more on the art of motion lyrics, read my previous post.

have you created any cool motion lyrics? links?

Tags: CREATIVITY, VJ COMMUNITY, custom content, motion lyrics by proctor
1 Comment »

In the context of a message (whether it be a song, sermon, etc.), visual media can be either directly or indirectly related to that message, as well as can cause a cognitive or emotional response within you. Visual media that is directly related is more or less a literal translation of what is being sung or talked about. Indirectly-related media is more of a “cousin” to the message; there’s no direct correlation but there is a link that can support the message. When a visual causes a cognitive response, it activates something in your head; you see text or an image and it causes you think. Or the visual can cause any type of emotional response…excitement, energy, reverence, adoration, awe…this list goes on an on. Text-based media tends to lean more on the cognitive, while image-based media usually stirs up your emotions; however, it can go both ways.

(A) Direct/Cognitive: A great example here would be lyrics to a worship song. Projected lyrics are directly related to the song itself…I mean, how more literal can you get? And when you see lyrics on a screen, it triggers a cognitive reaction; you see the words and sing along. Another example of this would be keywords from the lyrics that fly across the screen.

(B) Indirect/Cognitive: Have you ever decided not to project lyrics because everyone knows the song by heart? I do this with “Breathe”, “Awesome God”, and “Agnus Dei” all the time. Instead of lyrics, I’ll scroll through various scriptures that support what is being sung about. Or I’ll play a video that has the names of God (“Names of God” from Highway Video’s Vibe Vol. 4).

(C) Direct/Emotional: Try singing “Draw Me Close” and using a silhouette of someone kneeling down and praying. There is a direct and literal translation, and the image can stir something in you. Maybe you aren’t in a position to kneel down yourself in worship, but you can wrap your heart around the image on the screen, letting it express what is in your heart. In concert settings, an example of dir/emo would be singing along with a music video.

(D) Indirect/Emotional (‘indie/emo’ as I like to call it): here is where most of us lie in using visuals, especially as backgrounds for lyrics. These visuals have little or nothing to do with the song itself, but evokes emotions that are appropriate. Using colorful, abstract animations to an upbeat song can support an energetic and celebratory atmosphere. For many, candles can represent a closeness and intimacy with our Creator. The use of creation/nature imagery or a video of a galaxy or nebula that stretches 15 million light years while singing “How Great is Our God” is another great example. You’re obviously not singing “How great is our galaxy, sing with me…”, but being reminded how big God is and how small we are sure does echo the anthem of God’s glory louder than a blue background.

Knowing why and how visual media affects us will help us in selecting visuals that will speak truth to us on multiple levels and help us to engage our people in a purposeful way.

~proctor

Tags: CREATIVITY, VISUAL WORSHIP by proctor
3 Comments »