1. First shot of presenter:
The first camera shot of a presenter needs to be framed and ready before it is taken. Avoid on air adjustments or “porpoise-ing” (moving up/down on air).

2. Lighting:
Lighting needs to be fully up on the on stage presenters before the camera shot goes live and before they talk. Video directors need to give feedback when needed in order to get a fully lit first shot.

3. Following standards:
If the presenter is rocking back and forth or swaying, the camera can stay static. If the presenter takes a step, then the camera can pan.

4. Look room:
When getting an off-axis (angled) shot, the subject must always be positioned where there is plenty of the space in front of them. If they move, adjust so they don’t end up “looking” outside of the frame.

5. Framing:
See field of view notes. We primarily use mediums and medium wide sots. Medium closeups can work, but anything closer is going to be too close. Wide and extreme wide shots should be mostly reserved for the broadcast campus to help people outside the room get perspective of the space.

6. Headroom:
Wideshots should have more headroom than close ups. See field of view notes for examples.

7. Extreme angles:
Extreme up angles do not translate well to a viewer outside of the room. It’s an unnatural perspective that can throw off the focus of someone at a video venue. An example of an extreme angle is an “up the nose” shot.

8. Extreme close ups:
There are some extreme closeups of keyboard’s hands or a kick drum pedal when those instruments are dominant which can work, but an extreme close up of a face can be distracting.

9. Define loose and close follow cameras:
You may find it helpful to define field of views for each camera. Cam 1 closeups, medium close ups and medium shots and camera 2 medium wide shots, wide shots and extreme wide shots..

10. Make room for next shot:
Consider moving a subject to the right or left to transition to a shot of another subject that is centered, or transition from a center-subject shot to a shot of the subject on the right or left.

11. Room:
Avoid capturing wide shots of audience, empty seats, or reverse shots with audience or exit signs. Send a motion background to PGM after meet and greet since we aren’t set up for a good audience shot because of low house lighting.

12. Zooming in and out (pushing/pulling):
Not every shot needs to move, not every shot needs to be static. There’s a happy balance. When zooming, it needs to stay at a consistent rate that matches the tempo of the song. Consider using a tripod when zooming on a handheld camera.

13. Rotating:
Avoid rotating shots as it can be a distraction.

14. Protecting shots:
Know where your roaming camera operators are. If they are in the shot you want to transition to, have them move or get a different shot.

15. Transitioning from off-angle to on-angle shot:
When transitioning from an off-angle to an on-angle shot (or vice versa), having the field-of-view change by two or more framing designations is preferable to avoid the appearance of a jump cut.

16. Cutting vs. Dissolving:
We suggest not using the T-bar to transition between shots, because it’s too easy to go too slow and end up with distracting shots of two people overlaid over each other. We should be cutting between shots during campus hosts and the message and during music. We should dissolve using the auto trans button when going from graphics or videos to live shots and back, and during some slower tempo songs.

17. Anticipating vs Chasing:
A common problem with live video is “chasing the song,” which simply means reacting to the content on-stage after it happens versus anticipating what will occur. If a guitar solo starts and they aren’t already on camera, it is late. If s worship leader or campus host starts talking and they aren’t on screen, it’s late. To
accomplish this, camera operators and beds directors need to be familiar with the songs and service both from reviewing planning center, and from rehearsals.

18. Lyrics:
Early lyrics can cause a distraction as much as late lyrics. A few seconds before the first/next line is enough.

19. Duplicate shots:
The video director should also feel comfortable directing camera operators to grab a different shot if something similar was just on the screen. Consider using some of the field of view vocabulary to be more descriptive when communicating with your team.

20. Push past shots:
If a camera is pushing (zooming) in to a subject, the video director needs to cut to a different camera before it pushes past the subject and now is only showing the stage, or their face becomes an extreme closeup.

21. Screens in background:
If using a camera to capture a shot that includes a side screen, assign the side screens to another camera shot to avoid video feedback. Make sure both cameras know they are live.

22. Don’t bite the apple twice:
Avoid shots where the direction of panning changes, or where a zoom stops on a worship leader and then does something else. This also includes starting with a static shot and then beginning a zoom. 

23. POV shots:
Consider the background. If the center screen is in the background, it shouldn’t be half cut out. If there is a musician in the background, make sure they can be seen and not just part of their body.

24. Focus:
Utilize focus tools on the camera, or take time to zoom in as far as possible and adjust focus. Switchers, be sure to not take shots that are out of focus. We increased the size of the preview screen at the broadcast campus to allow the switcher to accurately see the picture that is being captured.

Broadcast Campus Specific Points

1. Pacing between tight/loose shots during message:
The backup taping should be reviewed mid week if possible by the broadcast campus video director. If there are big gaps between slides, tight and loose cameras should be cut to. The loose camera shouldn’t be reserved only for slides. It is helpful to cut to a medium wide or wide shot when the presenter begins to walks after being center stage for awhile.

2. Live vs. lyric video:
It is fine to start with the lyric video if you need time to get a live shot ready, but always favor live over the lyric video. If the lyric video doesn’t include footage that is important to the message or the story of the service, then stay live the entire song. Going to the video takes those who cannot see the stage “out of the room”.

3. Bookending:
Use a wider shot at the beginning of the message/service element to give perspective to video venue attendees. Changing to a wide shot at the end also is helpful to signify a transition, such as after the speaking pastor says amen

4. Local hosts:
The local host at the broadcast campus should be kept out of the shot as much as possible as they walk on stage. This could be accomplished by keeping a medium closeup of the worship leader as they hand it over to the campus host, which gives the video venue a moment to cut over to their local host. Consider which side of stage the broadcast campus host enters the stage as well.