As places of worship and public spaces joined the UK's lockdown during Coronavirus, Headington Baptist, like many churches needed to quickly engage with digital tools to allow their congregations to continue to meet virtually as well as finding ways to support people who were ill or facing challenging situations. A decision was made to pre-record rather than live stream due to lack of experience and technical constraints. The church wanted a close representation of a familiar service which included a presenter, a preacher, worship and prayer. It is a very different experience to record yourself in your home when you usually present to live audience, but everyone engaged enthusiastically with this new challenge.

Each clip was mostly shot on mobile phones so our team issued shooting guidance so that resolution, lighting and audio were all at an acceptable standard. Fortunately, most smart phones can shoot at full HD and by supplying additional microphones and tripods, we enabled contributors to produce their own high quality footage at homes so maintaining social distancing. The video was edited in Adobe Premiere, adjusted for audio, colour and effects added. As each week passed we were able to provide feedback so that composition and audio quality improved and less post production adjustments were required. The final sequence is uploaded in parts to a scheduled playlist on YouTube so that the church can view at the same time and then join video calls to socialise afterwards.

Week after week we received messages of thanks for producing inspiring, high-quality videos so that people could continue to be part of the church community. If you would like assistance with video production for your next project, we would love to explore with you how we can help!