Here’s a few tidbits I gleaned from the Multi-site conference in San Diego the other week. First, when filming a teaching for use in another venue or location, use a static, front-on view, rather than trying to do a TV-like production where you are zooming in and out, panning the audience, etc. The static angle helps people forget that this is not a live speaker. The point was driven-home to me in one of the sessions when Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Bible Church) was speaking. The room was dim and the projected image was sharp. He made a point that I was not clear on, so I started to raise my hand to ask him to clarify it….and then I realized my mistake! I had forgotten that he was on a live feed from another venue. It certainly convinced me of the viability of using video or live feeds and not taking away from the impact. On the other hand, I was at a remote site for one of the churches we work with. As the speaker moved back and forth across the stage, the camera followed him (instead of showing the entire area of the stage where he was pacing. I started to feel sea-sick, watching this on a large screen in a cinema. Here I almost said “let me off this boat”. It reminded me of home movies at a soccer game or something – certainly distracting from the teaching. Simpler is better.

The other tidbit is using a recording rather than attempting a live feed. All of the churches presenting use a recording. It was either done at a Saturday night service and delivered to the campuses on Sunday morning, or it was recorded at the first Sunday morning service and then couriered. In one of the Technology workshops where this was discussed, the presenter said “Murphy lives in the live feed”. We experienced that in one of the simulcast sessions, too. In fact, my home church when hosting a satellite Maximum Impact conference last year experienced the Murphy factor, and we missed half of one speaker’s presentation. The live feed is more expensive and complicated than using a recording. North Coast pastor Larry Osborne said he is recorded twice at the Saturday evening live services. They use whichever one came out better, and Larry makes sure to wear the same clothes the next morning so that people won’t get confused when they see him on the screen.

Hope this helps some of you doing this or contemplating going multi-site / multi-venue!

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