Church Video Ideas:  Christmas Media Review

Orginally published on Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 5:00 PM
by Greg Atkinson

Feliz Navidad! Each year I do a “Christmas Media Review”, so in keeping with my annual tradition, I’d like to submit to you the various companies and resources that are creating seasonal content for use in worship. I’ll be highlighting some new Christmas media products available to your church, as well as reminding you about some that I’ve used in the past. Let’s dive in!

HERE’S WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR

2100 Productions: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” ($15) is a worship video from the Urbana missions convention. Using art from numerous cultures, it expresses the longing for Christ that is shared around the world.

A Visual Planet: “Christmas Image Sampler” for $25 – this product is packed with quality media, including 165 still images, 2 loops and 2 videos.

Angelhouse Media: “Molecules Christmas Volume 1” - new artistic particles used in the substance of worship. These graphics are created with the latest graphic design tools in the industry, giving you the cool effects and creativity on your screens.

BluefishTV: “Life of Mary Part 3: Unfamiliar” - A beautiful sermon illustration for Christmas. “Life of Mary Part 4”: Unfulfilled/Fulfilled – This Christmas sermon illustration captures the entire ministry of Jesus in 3 minutes from birth to His resurrection. “Why Do We Celebrate Christmas?” This on-the-street interview video asks this and “What is the perfect Christmas gift?” You’ll love their answers. Crisply edited, this video illustration will stir thought and discussion in your group. “A Daughter's Christmas Gift . . . With Love” – This touching sermon illustration will melt some Scrooge-like hearts. “A Christmas Carol: I Heard the Bells” – Peace on earth? That Christmas wish can ring hollow in a time of war and natural disaster. But in this video sermon illustration, the words of an old carol stir hope, even in crisis. – NOTE: All these videos are only $1.99 each.

Christian Collages: 10 “Christmas Image Sets”, each includes 4 backgrounds with variations on a particular theme ($6 each).

Eleven72: “All Too Familiar” ($20) – This short film asks the question "Are we too familiar with the story of Christmas?" “Advent Stills” ($5) and “Advent Motion Backs” ($8) – 4 stills and 4, two minute videos with the Advent candles framed for text. “Christmas Countdown” ($15) has Scripture about the birth of Jesus.

Floodgate Productions: “Christmas Again” ($20) is one of the best videos that came out this year – it’s well done, thought provoking and prompts the heart for worship. Their “Coming to Earth” video is well done and also $20.

Gorilla Pictures: “Christmas Quote Countdown” ($10) is an inspiration prelude.

Group Publishing: “Worship E-Motions: Focus on the Holidays” ($99) – This DVD includes more than 40 high-quality video clips and carefully selected Scripture passages with beautiful backdrops. Choose from animation, videos, narration, sermon illustrations, drama, visual Scripture, and great nature images. You can search by topic, book and chapter, and theme.

Highway Video: “Seasonal V8” for $55. Included on this volume are the mini-movies “Cradle to the Cross”, which is a modern look at the reality of the incarnation and “O Holy Night”, which didn’t do much for me until I viewed the version with text. The version with words made it for me.

Independent Producers: “Deck the Walls” - 50 new Christmas backgrounds for $20 from Wasteland Media. “Rediscover the Nativity Story” from Chris McGowan (video for $20 or the collection, which includes a loop and a countdown for $28). *NOTE: These are available at WorshipHouse Media.

LifeWay: “Transitions – Christmas Vol. 2” ($20) This DVD features a variety of instrumental, solo voice, and choral audio tracks combined with moving visual images.

Midnight Oil Productions: “Christmas Loops” for $50. I really like the “Winter Lamp” and “Bethlehem Star” loops. Also new this year is “Humble Beginnings” for $75.

One Small Barking Dog: Our friends in the UK went out on the streets with their comedic friend 'Barry Bling' disguised as Father Christmas to see what people want for Christmas. This strange on-the-street video is $10 in the US.

Organic Videos: “The Christmas Story” video for $20 featuring various Scriptures telling the birth of Christ. I don’t care for the choice of fonts, but dig the music.

Outreach: “The Nativity Story” movie video clips and PowerPoint™ templates.

Sarti Design: SD Christmas Stills - 25 professionally designed background images for $9.95. So good, they make me want to quit trying to produce my own. Well done!

SermonSpice: The following are from Independent producers - “Christmas 365” by Sound and Vision Media Service for $15. “Merry Christmas” ($18) by Richard Dunn shows how people say ‘Merry Christmas’ in many languages and reminds us that Christ came for all people. “Yellow Ribbon Christmas” ($20) by Worship Ministries Outreach Unlimited is a great tribute to our military serving during the holidays.

SermonVideos.com: “Christmas Pak 2006” by SermonVideos.com contains a mini-movie, countdown and 12 motion backgrounds for $40. I love their resources!

The Work of the People: “Chris Seay Holiday Volume” - this $30 volume includes 3 teaching/interview pieces with Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia Church in Houston. What Chris is saying is great, challenging and well said, but it’s hard to take him seriously while he’s smoking a pipe. I don’t think anyone under the age of 50 (except Kramer) can pull off a pipe. Thankfully, he just had the pipe in one of the three videos. “Little Drummer Boy” is a Christmas music video with music by Kevin Marks for $15. As usual, this video is not obvious and leaves a lot to the imagination. In “The Reason for the Season” Pastor Ron Lewis offers his take on the holiday expression. TWOP also makes seasonal loops for $15 each. A little expensive, but good quality.

VMG Backgrounds: Quality individual stills ($4) and loops ($6). Sharp and classy.

Worship Films: “Visual Christmas 2” in Standard Definition for $39 and HD format for $49. This is a solid product featuring loops, 3 countdowns and 2 videos – one of my favs.

WorshipHouse Media: From producers Flashlight Films & Igniter Media: “The Nativity Collection” ($25) – featuring 1 countdown, 4 loops, 8 stills, and a video clip all themed around the new movie.

GREG’S TOP PICKS

SINGLES:

“Bethlehem Star” loop from A Visual Planet’s “Christmas Image Sampler” may be the best Christmas motion background I’ve seen and their “WINTR004” may be the best still background. Well done AVP!

“Prophecy” from Worship Film’s “Visual Christmas 2”. I’d love to see this video shown in a Jewish temple service. This is one of my favorite videos of the year. Well done!

“Christmas Again” from Floodgate Productions is one of the best mini-movies of the season. I love the effects, the use of a child’s voice, the typography and the message!

“The Reason for the Season” from The Work of the People is thought provoking, captivating and well done. Good story. Worth reflecting on.

VOLUMES:

“Christmas Pak 2006” by SermonVideos.com contains a mini-movie, countdown and 12 motion backgrounds for $40.

“Visual Christmas 2 HD” from Worship Films. Thank you to Worship Films for offering your products in both SD and HD! These are some of the best loops of the year.

VALUE:

“Christmas Image Sampler” from A Visual Planet – this is the best bang for your buck.

“The Nativity Collection” from Flashlight Films and Igniter Media Group. If you’re doing anything with the new movie, this is your best bet for thematic resources.

SD Christmas Stills – This is a downloadable collection of 25 amazing backgrounds that’s too good and too economical to pass up.

ORIGINALITY:

“Give Life” from The Work of the People’s “Chris Seay Holiday Volume” is the most powerful, challenging and moving video of the year. This is my “best overall” pick.

“Cradle to the Cross” from Highway Video is powerful and edgy. I like it!

My intent here is more focused on exposing you to what’s out there than detail. You can personally preview each of these clips online yourself. Most are available at clearing houses such as SermonSpice, The Shoutable Store and WorshipHouse Media, or you can find most producers by adding “.com” to their name. For the complete version of this year's "Christmas Media Review", including the best picks of years before, follow the link.

With all the media resources available to the Church today, it’s easy to miss the simple message of Christmas. The incarnation – how God became man and lived among us. Emmanuel. Because this story is so life-changing, so meaningful and important, I urge you to take the proclamation of it seriously. I review and list these many resources simply to encourage you and expand your vision of the many resources God has made available to His Church. Merry Christmas!

© 2006 - Greg Atkinson – Church Video Ideas Used by permission from author. All rights reserved by author. Greg Atkinson lives in Dallas with his wife and their three small children. Greg served previously as the Director of WorshipHouse Media, after having served as a worship pastor for 11 years. He is the Founder of Multisensoryworship.com and Co-Founder of Wasteland Creative, where he continues to consult, teach and write about worship, media and creative communication. You can connect with him through his daily blog, Church Video Ideas, his podcast, Creative Synergy, or his email: .

This post has been viewed 2914 times so far.



  There are 13 Comments:

I'm a chronic workaholic, love to connect leaders with other leaders, and would consider myself somewhat of a 'maven'. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you'll like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step.

MondayMorningInsight.com | PO Box 446 | Bryan, OH 43506 |