I type this from my kitchen, where I just spent two hours filming the invitation to the table for this week’s celebration of communion.
I had figured I’d spend maybe an hour on it, including editing, which is adorable, in retrospect.
First I cleared off the kitchen table and made sure it looked nice (that was the easy part). Then I brought out my microphone, camera, teleprompter, key light, computer, and computer stand, and set them up. I connected everything, then spent several minutes adjusting the camera angle and then adjusting the color saturation. I sent my manuscript to my phone and placed it on the teleprompter, so that the words are reflected on glass directly in front of the camera (teleprompters are so cool!).
I poured a glass of cranberry-raspberry juice for the table and then momentarily panicked because I haven’t baked bread in a couple weeks, but fortunately I found a small loaf in the freezer. I angled the glass and the plate for the camera, moved the microphone out of frame, and sat down to record.
Then I realized that the battery in the teleprompter remote had died, so I couldn’t start it. So I went to my battery drawer, where I happened to have ONE battery of the right size, and changed it out.
I read through the teleprompter script to set it to the right speed and finally hit record. After two and a half takes, I ended the recording, put the bread back in the freezer, converted the video file to mp4, brought it into iMovie, and discovered that because I’d put the microphone on top of my laptop, I had far too much background noise from its whirring.
Sigh.
So I carried another chair in from the dining room to put the microphone on, where it could hopefully get less background noise. I took the bread back out of the freezer and set it back on the plate. I sat back down and recorded another two and a half takes.
I keep trying to tell myself that I have learned a lot of useful new skills over the past fifteen months, which is true, but I also really really hope that I won’t have to use them much in the future because I really really hate video editing. It’s stressful and tedious and time-consuming and takes up massive amounts of storage space on my laptop (which I definitely did not buy with this kind of work in mind).
We will continue to livestream a slightly abbreviated Sunday service from the sanctuary, starting about fifteen minutes after worship begins. I will also continue to be livestreaming Tuesday Bible studies and Wednesday evening prayers, at least for a while longer. I’ve really missed our Wednesday morning Bible study group and look forward to having it be able to meet again, maybe in the fall.
I’ve tried to adapt to the best of my abilities and I’m proud to say that there has been a significant increase in quality between my first ever live stream (Wednesday, March 18, 2020) and the one that I’m putting together for our final Sunday fully at home (July 4, 2021). I know that most of the work that I’ve done isn’t visible, but it’s been an exhausting year and change with many 10-16 hour days.
Someday, I hope that my zoom account expires, and that my teleprompter gathers dust, and that most of my work can involve interacting with people in real time. It’s still important to keep an active online profile, since it’s a vital aspect of outreach in this century, but…praise the Lord…keeping an active online profile won’t involve as much video editing going forward!!!
