Church Video Ideas: Using Motion Backgrounds in Worship

Orginally published on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 6:20 AM
by Greg Atkinson

In the last few years, media ministry in churches has come a long way. And along with that is the pool of resources for the Church to tap in to. From a few video production companies that made videos and backgrounds for worship to now over a hundred. From a look and feel and quality that now looks cheesy to some amazing eye-catching visuals that are now available. The Church now has literally thousands of visual resources at its disposal, either through the various producers’ websites or through clearing houses such as FaithVisuals, Meatloaf Media, OnScreen Impact, Sermonade, SermonSpice, The Shoutable Store and WorshipHouse Media.

Another area that has come along way in the last few years is the evolution and eminence of presentation software designed for worship. Three years ago 90% of churches using projection software were using PowerPoint™ - that’s no longer the case. With the rise of software companies such as EasyWorship, MediaShout and ProPresenter (yes, there are others, but these are the main 3), churches around the world are taking their media ministry and its flexibility to the next level by switching to these software options that were designed specifically for worship environments.

Going to the next level
I bring up these two topics: media producers and worship presentation software, because they go hand-in-hand with the topic of motion backgrounds being used in worship. Let’s first look at the effect that the rise of media producers has had on the Church. For example, churches don’t need to have graphic designers, video producers and animators on staff (it’s great if they do, but it’s not necessary) due to the many companies that are producing and cranking out quality videos, countdowns, stills and motion backgrounds. With our culture and audience being so visually minded and saturated, using only still backgrounds can come across as very dry and dare I say, boring. The quality moving and looping backgrounds that so many companies are producing (this includes non-Christian companies such as Artbeats, Blue Pony Digital and Digital Juice, to name a few) give you and your church an unending choice of colors, designs, styles and options to choose from.

The second topic I mentioned is the rise of the worship presentation software companies. This is important because with the past stats of 90% of churches using PowerPoint™, that means that 90% of churches couldn’t use motion or looping backgrounds behind their lyrics because PowerPoint™ can’t handle that. Side note: yes, there is a new plug-in that kind of allows you to put text over video in PowerPoint™, but it has its draw backs and limitations and is not worth paying $150; so you might as well put that money towards a presentation software designed for worship. I don’t even consider the plug-in an option, so if you want to use moving backgrounds behind your lyrics you have to step up to a better presentation software (such as EasyWorship, MediaShout or ProPresenter). Once you move to one of the above mentioned software applications, you can put lyrics over video with no problem.

A few things to consider
One is that motion or video backgrounds do not necessarily mean looping backgrounds. There are companies that create some very cool seamless looping backgrounds, but not every motion backgrounds loops. Some are extended video clips or long plays that play behind your lyrics for 3 to 6 minutes without ever looping. Some churches use their IMAG or live camera feed to act as their background and place lyrics over that.

Two is that just because you may have stepped up to a new presentation software and have the ability to put your lyrics over moving backgrounds, doesn’t mean that you abandon still backgrounds. The beauty and power of motion backgrounds is in the contrast they make to still backgrounds or pictures. If you’re singing four songs, try using still backgrounds for two and moving backgrounds for the other two. Another thing that I love to do is start out a song with a still background and as the song grows, switch to a moving background at a key-change or upbeat part of the song. Many companies include the jpeg stills of a product along with the matching moving backgrounds, so using the two together makes the still look like it comes to life. Remember, less is more.

Third, and this kind of goes along with the above suggestion, is to use taste and discernment. There is such a thing as over-stimulation and it’s entirely possible to be too busy and distracting. I’m all for a moving background if it’s done tastefully and adds to the overall worship experience, but it should never become a distraction. Our whole point as facilitators of worship is to disappear. You also need to know your people and then design for worship based on who your audience is. There are backgrounds that I would use for a youth or kids event that I would never use on a Sunday morning and vice versa. Besides knowing your church, know the mood and theme of the day. If it’s a kind of somber and reverent service (maybe you’re observing Communion), it may be the wrong call to use a flashy and highly energetic looking background.

Fourth, I’d add that you use the “less is more” principle as to how many different kinds of backgrounds you pick for a given service. I remember coming on staff at a church a while back and the guy who created the worship slides before me changed backgrounds with every slide/verse – talk about over-stimulation. I typically use one background for an entire song, occasionally doing the still background to the same looking moving background, as I mentioned earlier. I’ve done two to three songs back to back with the same background, especially if there is an overall theme for the day that we’re trying to stick with.

Fifth, stay consistent with your size and type of font. Something that will really mess with people’s minds and actually give them a headache is to change fonts for each song. Please don’t put your congregation through that. You as the leader or creator of the worship slides should pick a font type and size and then go with that throughout the entire service. Jason Moore and Len Wilson, in their book “Design Matters” wrote, “Sadly, designers frequently treat fonts as the “unwanted stepchildren” of design, giving them little thought. Those who make this mistake can destroy the power of what would otherwise be an inspiring image by randomly choosing a font and slapping on text at the last moment. Many nice images have been ruined by poor font selection. As fonts are one of the most significant elements in design, choose them with careful consideration, keeping in mind the overall tone and theme of the graphic.” They go on to support my philosophy by writing, “When building graphics for a worship series, try to stick with the same fonts throughout. After picking the font set, don’t veer from it. Staying consistent is much better from a design perspective. Use the font set for everything from Scripture, to points, to song lyrics, etc.” One more tip: avoid serif fonts. A serif is a fine line finishing off the main strokes of a letter, such as at the top and bottom of “M”. Most serifs are too thin for the screen and may flicker.

Lastly, I’ll throw out my two phase approach to lyric projection. I divide my graphic ministry into two teams: preparation and presentation. Many people may be able to serve on the presentation side of your media ministry; this means they would be the one actually running it during the service. The preparation team is comprised of a smaller group of people with an eye and understanding of taste, creativity and discretion. Not everyone that serves on the presentation team serves on the preparation team and vice versa. Some people, like graphic designers, might help create the slides for each week, but are not the ones actually running it during a service.
We live in a great time with tremendous opportunity for the Church to communicate the Gospel in fresh and relevant ways. I encourage you to consider stepping up from business or corporate presentation software to software that was designed for worship. I also encourage you to slowly begin to introduce moving backgrounds into your worship experience. When used tastefully and creatively, they can really enhance your corporate worship experience.

©2007 – Greg Atkinson (www.churchvideoideas.com)

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. Greg is now the Technical Arts Director at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship and 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: . 

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