New Year’s Resolutions: 2010
This year may have been particularly stressful for you in video production. There have been budget cuts, staff reductions; and the same demands as in years past. Giving is down, the economy feels stuck in neutral or possibly reverse, and I suppose the only good news for those paying the bills is freelancers and vendors are willing to make some unbelievable deals. Nonetheless, you are still producing videos for your Church or ministry and have to crank out content on a weekly basis. I know it can be an exhausting and thankless job to be the go-to-person when it comes to the video production, and probably all the other audio/video needs, at your Church or ministry. This article is meant as a thank you for all the hard work you did in 2009 and some encouragement on how to lighten the load for yourself in 2010 without compromising quality.
If you are reading this article and you are not on the video staff at a Church or ministry, make sure you tell the people who are, "Thank you for all you do." The big Christmas programs are coming up and the production demands are high. Maybe your church is doing something for the community this year and my guess is someone had to put together the promotional video for the event. Also, be sure and tell the video staff at your Church thank you for what they do to get people motivated with moving images. Video producers want to know that the content they are creating is valuable to those watching their work. And a piece of advice, they don’t want to hear how much you liked the song or the great shots, they want to know what their video made you think about, and most of all, how their video made you feel.
Now for you video producers making it happen every week at Churches and ministries around the world... you’ve been putting in long hours learning programs you never imagined knowing how to use 12 months ago. You still have the same outdated camera from 2003 and the back up battery was lost sometime in 2004 when the Men's Ministry took it on a retreat to Colorado. The wireless mic pack is a piece of junk, but it gets the job done, and the only set of head phones close enough to set are the pair that came with your iPod Nano. Yes, it can be daunting to be the video production hero. Time and time again saving the day in ways no one else can imagine. You’re up all Saturday night to make sure a video is ready to go only to see someone forgot to turn the house lights down until the video is half way over and for some reason only the left channel of the audio is coming through.
You’ve been doing so much for so long with so little, you don’t feel qualified to do anything anymore. I learned that maxim from the head cook at the college where I was working doing events, which mostly consisted of setting up and taking down tables and chairs. We all know how fixing everyone's problem creates a bottleneck in production and ultimately wears even the most talented jack-of-all-trades down, especially during this season of giving. When the only thing you seem to be giving is a whole lot of your time. Still, we’re not saving lives here. It is not that the work we do is uniquely difficult. When it comes right down to it, a lot of what it takes to do video production is the steady investment of somebody’s time. And right now that body is you. In computer programming the sort of system that hinges on one critical path is called single threading. Do you feel like your single thread is about to snap? When one person keeps taking on challenges, the increasing demands can get to a point where it is no longer humanly possible to get it all done. Does this sound like 2009 for you?
If you feel like you are the go-to-person and your afraid you may be close to burning out, then I have some New Years resolutions for your video productions in 2010.
1. When Good Enough is Good Enough
Be willing to walk away from a video or project once it is good enough. And what is “good enough”? Sometimes that idiom sounds like blasphemy to video producers. It typically comes right after a statement about how some of the high school kids at the church are making videos on their laptops. Sometimes the truth is hard to hear, but it is still true. The hours you put into a project are not what matter most, communication is key (read more of what I have to say about this subject in the July 2009 Christian Video Magazine - http://www.christianvideomag.com/articles/articles.php?recordID=141)
2. Apprentice
Take some one under your wing who is hungry to learn this year. It may cost you time at first but in the long run you will be spreading the craft of moving images in the only way it has truly passed from one generation to another, via the hands on learning method of apprenticeship. Not only that, once you have trained someone else you will be able to get more done, and hopefully have more fun doing it!
3. Have Fun
My wife encourages me with this regularly. As video producers we get to do some pretty exciting and diverse work. It really is fun! What a uniquely rewarding challenge to string images and sounds in the best possibly order to produce the desired result in an audience member! Have fun in 2010 as you encounter each new challenge, tell each new story, and teach people new skills.
The bottom line is you’ve been doing a great job this year, I’m sure of it. But as this year comes to a close ask yourself, are you taking on too much? 2010 is a chance to change some things in the video productions at your Church or Ministry, but you have to be willing to give up some much-deserved pats on the back. It is hard to do, because it can become addictive to save the day time and time again. And some people, no matter how much you pile on them, keep taking it. The pitfalls and dangers of being the go-to-person are simple, you will burn out. And when you do, you’ll probably resent your co-workers or co-volunteers, and possibly the Lord, too. By recognizing when good enough is good enough, taking on an apprentice, and having fun you will set the ground work for rewarding, memorable, and sustainable video productions at your Church or ministry in 2010 and for years to come.
Written by Stewart H. Redwine
Stewart H. Redwine is a Video Producer for Christ in Youth as well as Producer and Director of Photography for onetimeblind’s hit mini-movies and Youth Specialties 36 Parables DVD series.
He enjoys writing, tending his garden, and slalom skiing in the gorgeous Ozark Mountain Country of Southwest Missouri where he lives with his wife and two children. You can read more of what he has to say about faith, culture, and the arts at StewartHRedwine.com.
