Media

http://www.vimeo.com/18123119

http://www.vimeo.com/17899687

Many of you have asked about how we setup our interviews, particularly Baptisms & what gear we use.
I’ve created a Google SketchUp Model so you can literally walk through the room and see angles, gear used, and even framing from cameras.

First download,

Google SketchUp

Then download our Virtual Set and have fun!

BaptismSetup_NPCC.skp

Use these tools to easily look around and move in 3D space.  Your mouse scroll zooms In & Out

P.S. If you look close you may find some surprises hiding. (Look behind Black backdrop)

Another amazing story we get to be a part of.  Please say a prayer for Steve & his family as they go through this difficult journey.

http://www.vimeo.com/16391884

See more of our recent work at http://vimeo.com/northpointmedia/videos

If you didn’t know the North Point Campus is building a bridge to relieve our traffic problems… and it ain’t your GrandMama’s bridge either.  As a part of the campaign it has been Media’s job to keep people aware of progress.  We tag our videos with the web link to connect people from video to web. You can see more videos at http://www.letsbuildabridge.com

http://www.vimeo.com/15430077

Here’s our latest update.  Bridge Timelapse.
We had an interesting dilemma getting power to a camera where there is no power and let it run for 48 hours without dying.
Our Solution:
1)Outdoor Marine/RV battery
2)Power Inverter that connected to battery
3)SLR camera/tripod with remote switch to take pics every 30 secs.

Special Thanks to Matt Clark for helping make this happen.

You may have already seen this video floating around twitter via @AndyStanley.  This is one of the many stories our team gets to be a part of week in and week out.  Gretchen’s particularly was one of the most inspiring things we’ve ever seen around here.  It’s hard not to get teared up on this one.  Our team is blessed to be a small part of God’s BIG story in every person who walks through our doors at North Point Ministries.http://www.vimeo.com/14215310

If you’ve never been to TED.com, it is something I highly recommend everyone doing often. The TED talks that are available there are really amazing.

While there I found a talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. I haven’t read her book (or yet seen the movie), but I love this talk. It’s only about 20 minutes (so, you can watch it while you eat lunch).

One thing that always fills me with joy is seeing timeless biblical truth being discovered by living life naturally instead of just reading it in the bible. It demonstrates better than anything the relevance of biblical truth.

Anyway, what Gilbert talks about here is the role that the divine plays in human creative genius. The biggest take away for me was that long ago, people knew that creativity did not come from people–it came from the divine. During the Renaissance, however, people began to see themselves as the center of the universe and slowly began referring to people as geniuses. Before this, people were simply said to “have” a genius (a deity that inspires – like a muse).

If we could only get back to the perspective that creativity and inspiration comes from God, what an incredible difference it would make. We would begin to fully understand that we are part of something amazing, but that it doesn’t all rest on our shoulders. We show up for work, but so does God. I continue to think through this concept, and am constantly seeing the radical change that could happen if I always kept this idea at the forefront.

(Quick warning about the video – there is a bit of language in it… all of which could be see on primetime network television, but given that this is a church website I figured I would warn.)

Sometimes we ask other people, “What kinds of movies do you like?” But I think a more interesting and possibly uncomfortably personal question might be, “Why do you watch movies?” I was thinking about this question this past weekend, and it seems like however we answer this, it says a lot about the kinds of movies we like. As an experiment, I’ve paired some reasons for watching movies with the kinds of movies I think would you would like as a result. Take a look and see if you agree with any of these:

For excitement – Horror and thriller films

For amusement – Action and comedy films

To feel inspired – Artsy non-mainstream films

To feel more normal – Dramas

To feel good – Romantic comedies

To join the bandwagon – Twilight

I’m sure someone else could do a much better job at this list than I just did. The interesting thing, though, is that whatever the reason, I think our taste in movies has a lot to do with how we feel or want to feel. As a video producer, this reasoning gives me a litmus test for what does or does not make an impact on my audience. For a video to really communicate something, I think the most important thing is that it appeals to an emotion. Sometimes I forget about this when things get busy – but what use is putting information in front of an audience if they never really connect with it on a deeper level? I think every project deserves the question, “Why would someone watch this?” And hopefully it’s not just because they have to.

One of the things I enjoy most about producing is working on dramatic videos. Last month I had the opportunity to work on a short film for our Starting Point Department. Producing short films is not the norm for us here in North Point Media world, and as you can imagine we had to adapt a lot of what we know about production and transfer that into a new working knowledge on the fly.

As with any big, multi-day production, our crew put in some very long hours. Some of our night location shoots turned into mornings on more than one occasion. During one of those long nights of production I stole away for a few minutes to jot down some of the things that I learned on this production. Maybe some of you will find this helpful or possibly even therapeutic.

Random Things I learned….

In-town location

1-  Permits.

Getting a permit might be a good idea if shooting in a good-size town. Say Atlanta for instance. Especially if you want to control traffic or shut down a street for a while.

2-  Permits-part 2.

Please allow ample time for permit requests to be processed. I would suggest a week. Don’t bother trying to get a permit if you are not a week out from shooting–trust me!

3-  Security.

Security is a must for in-town shoots, especially at night. You can’t compromise on safety.

The crew

4-  Food.

Feeding a crew of 20 can really add up!
I found that $10 a person works for meals. Don’t forget snacks & drinks. Especially in the summer!

5-  Food-part 2.

If you can clear the budget, hire a person to handle food—do it! Better yet if you have a volunteer that is good at that type of thing that would be great.

6-  Parking.

Never forget—parking in town is pricey!

7- Vehicles.

Limit the number of cars your crew is using. This will help with gas $$ and the parking thing too.

Late-night location

8-  Location.  Location.  Location.

Really good locations add big time to believability in your production.

9-  Location-part 2.

The more remote a location the more logistically complicated it usually is to shoot there. Keep in mind the travel time for everyone, how bad cell service may be and then last but not least getting food to your remote spot.

10- Morale.

Never underestimate the power of a late night snack run or a smoothie run on the mood of the crew.

11- Food-part 3.

Special dietary requests should be considered ahead of time.

Mobile home base

12- Home Base.

a. Find out ahead of time how you will communicate from each location.
b. Think power, shade, food, drinks, restrooms, chairs and a table for laptops and hard drives.
c. Network connectivity = Bonus.
d. Rule of thumb… The longer your crew is at each location the more elaborate your home base.

13- Actors.

If your actor can’t deliver his/her lines correctly it can unravel your work—No matter how good the locations and technical aspects of the shoot.

14- Plan.

You must have a plan. Even an ill-conceived plan is better than no plan.

Setting up a shot

15- CASH.

There will ALWAYS be incidental expenses.
The bigger the crew / production the more $$ you should have on you.

16- Credit Card.

Get a work credit card. Enough said.

17- Paperwork.

We all love to hate it but have it with you. Don’t forget to have people sign it. It is maddening to come back to the office with blank paperwork! (Not that I’ve ever done that…)

So what are some of the things you have learned on your shoot locations? We would love your feedback.

(*Photos courtesy of: Mary Caroline Mann. Professional technical services: Whisper Productions.)