Greg Atkinson

I’m in the process of coming up with a Video Request sheet for other church staff members to fill out when they have a need for us to create a video for their ministry. This sheet would have information like date project needs to be completed by, budget considerations, who it’s for, what they are trying to accomplish/communicate, storyboard, people to be involved and/or on camera, etc. I’m curious as to if any of you already have a document like this created. If so, I’d love to see it. Email it to me at gatkinson@btbf.org.

BONUS:

You (or at least your worship leader) is probably familiar with Worship Leader Magazine and their Song Discovery program, but have you heard of the new Song Discovery Community? If you’re a Song Discovery subscriber you can sign up now, if not, you can sign up in the near future. Our worship pastor, Scott Dyer, is the featured songwriter right now. His song, “Still Amazed”, is a great song that Song Discovery is featuring. I encourage you to check it out – it’s a great new arrangement of “Amazing Grace”.

Many have asked where I’ve been. Since my last post (on day 2 in California), my laptop, with all my passwords on it,  crashed. Yes, it crashed before my workshops at Saddleback, so I had to teach my classes without any visuals – hard to do when your subject is media ministry. My laptop is now being worked on and will hopefully be back in action next week.

I’m a member of a blogging network that reviews new products from various companies. I’m embarrassed to say that I should have reviewed this product months ago. I let it sit for a while and then forgot about it. I’ll try not to let that happen with the future products. This first product is the new LifeWay resource for 18-34 year olds entitled “Threads”.

The Bible studies are geared toward young adults, featuring flexible formats with engaging supplemental video and audio. The sessions are 4-6 weeks, which fit into busy schedules. Each member book comes with journal pages. The Leader Kit comes with a DVD featuring introductory and companion video segments, a CD-ROM featuring leader tools, music and emailable audio files. You can also find supplemental resources for members and leaders online.

This “Threads” product is called InTransit: What Do You Do with Your Wait? and traces the lives of Joseph, David, and Jesus as they waited, sometimes painfully, to see God’s promises come to pass. What was true for those men is true for young adults today – there is great purpose in waiting. This leader kit will help you in leading your group to focus on how God builds into us during these times of waiting.

POSITIVE FEEDBACK:

I think this is a cool new direction and much needed emphasis for LifeWay. I applaud them for attempting to address this need, which is needed in the Church across the world.

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK:

I think the videos could have had better lighting and better acting/actors. They weren’t horrible, but I think they could do better.

***You can find an introduction to “Threads” in PDF form HERE… or you can listen to a podcast about ministry to young adults using the “Threads” by LifeWay series HERE.

Yesterday was a great day at our church. Our pastor was speaking on AIDS. We did a video interview with Kay Warren (Rick Warren’s wife), when she was in Dallas. The Warrens are very passionate about AIDS awareness and ministry. What she had to say was insightful, inspiring and a great part of our worship services. We also showed a video entitled “The Straton Story”, about a pastor in Rwanda. I’ll be showing it at all my future conferences – it’s one of the most moving videos I’ve seen.

Speaking of the Warrens – I’m heading to California today to speak at Saddleback’s Worship Conference. I’ll be teaching 3 workshops. If you’re going to be at the conference, give me a shout. I’d love to meet you.

EXTRA:

I came across this guy’s music on Myspace. I’ve been listening to it lately and dig it. Check it out HERE and see what you think.

Our whole Worship and Arts staff is reading “The Worshiping Artist” by Rory Noland (author of “The Heart of the Artist”). So far it’s a great read. I encourage you to check it out and consider going through it with your staff and volunteers. This book isn’t just for musicians – it’s for tech, drama and visual art teams as well. What books are you reading with your team?

As you know, this Sunday is Father’s Day. There are a ton of great media resources for you to use in your worship service. New resources this year include media from Floodgate, eight20eight, Highway Video, FortyOneTwenty, Beamer Films and a Father’s Day Collection from Igniter Media. To sort through a ton of options, check out clearing houses like FaithVisuals, ImageVine, Meatloaf Media, SermonSpice, The Shoutable Store and WorshipHouse Media.

Last night “On the Lot” continued – now each Director was asked to create a 3 minute short film in 5 days. I enjoyed it. My favorite film was the musical. What about you – what did you like?

BONUS:

Have you heard of SermonView? Might be worth checking out.

Bill from MicroExplosion told me about Microsoft’s new Surface. Looks pretty cool. What creative uses can you see using it for?

I was pleased with the results of last night’s episode of “On the Lot“. I think America got it right and am excited about the remaining directors.

BONUS:

This just in from Jake Ludington: Roxio is well known for making video tools. Their Easy Media Creator suite is a popular solution for editing movies, photos and audio. For some things, like quickly preparing a file for upload to YouTube, a full-fledged editing suite can be more software than you need. Enter Roxio Buzz – an editing tool for quickly cliping a portion of video for upload to YouTube, GoFish, Silverlight, or all three at the same time. The free version of the software supports WMV, AVI, MPEG-1, and QuickTime MOV files. There are additional licensing fees associated with MPEG-2 and various implementations of MPEG-4, like 3gp and h.264, which is why these aren’t included as part of the free solution. For photo slideshows, you can add pan and zoom motion, apply transitions and layer a soundtrack underneath images prior to uploading. While Roxio Buzz does not replace traditional editing tools, it is a nice tool for people who prefer a quick solution for getting their favorite clips from a hard drive to the Web for sharing. It’s worth noting that Roxio Easy Media Creator users should refrain from installing Roxio Buzz at this point because the two have compatibility issues. [Windows 2000/XP/Vista $0.00]

It was a little bit of a sad Monday night with no “Heroes” and no “24″, but Fox came through with a good show to give me something to look forward to throughout the summer. The TV show “On the Lot” is something I’ve been looking forward to ever since they started promoting it.

I’ll admit, I like “American Idol” and even though my boy, Blake, didn’t win, I still enjoy watching the show and the interaction of the at-home audience. I’ve often wished there was a show like “American Idol”, but for filmmakers – now there is and again, you get to have a hand in the outcome by voting from home.

This week’s assignment was to create a 1 minute comedy. I think there a few really talented directors and look forward to seeing what’s to come. What did you think?