Best Camera Shot Sequences for Streaming Church Worship

Gone are the days of simply throwing a camcorder in the back of the auditorium! Today’s church-stream viewers are used to an engaging online experience. With only a couple of cameras and a minimal production team — and a little planning and practice — you can craft sequences that focus the viewers’ eyes on the same things they would see if they were physically present in the room and that share the emotion and experience of being there.

Follow the Eye

As you plan your shot sequences, consider the visual path that your eye would follow if you were in the congregation. For example, you may first look at the overall room, then the stage, then the person playing the intro or speaking to the congregation. You may look toward the leader as that person begins singing. If there is an instrumental or musical turnaround, then you may look at the musician soloing. As the congregation engages, you may steal a quick glance around the room. When someone new sings, it’s natural to look toward that person. On it goes.

Your shot sequence mirrors what’s going on in the viewer’s brain. The primary goal of the video experience is to replicate the experience of being in the room. When you provide these shots, the result feels natural, and the viewer is free to engage in the content. Otherwise, it can have the opposite effect and make the viewer less engaged, like a fly on the wall being entertained.

Repeating the same shot sequence over and over again disengages a viewer’s brain. Similarly, changing from one shot to a similarly framed shot from a different angle provides little new information, and the brain can drift. For example, when switching from a left 45-degree toe-to-head shot of a pastor to a right 45-degree shot, have the second shot be a tighter belt-to-head shot or closer. Being deliberate about your shot sequence can dramatically increase the viewer’s reaction. The people watching your video feed should respond by engaging with the content and wanting to be in the room.

Use Camera Motion

While most short shots are static, adding motion to longer shots allows you to efficiently double effective shot length while maintaining viewer engagement. Consider pushes (zooming in), pulls (zooming out), pans (side to side), and — less commonly — rises or falls (panning vertically). Using gimbals, booms, and tracks can help smooth or automate the shot’s movement.

Camera motion tends to be fairly slow, but it should match the pace of the content. Alternating static and motion shots helps to avoid a sense of discomfort in the viewer. One rule of thumb is to replicate your eye’s natural movement and pace as if you were in the room live.

Instead of always relying on cuts between shots in your sequence, occasionally consider creating a single-shot sequence by combining multiple motions. This may require some practice on the part of your camera technicians, but it’s a fun way for them to develop their skills.

Pro Tip: Zoom in a camera to its target and focus before pulling back to your initial shot framing.

Give Yourself Time

Cameras typically handle more than one shot type. But it can take a moment for the camera operator to reposition a camera or reframe and refocus for a new shot. Have one camera shot in reserve as a go-to shot while the other cameras are adjusting. Common holding shots include the belt-to-head, toe-to-head, and wide-stage shots. If you need additional time to adjust, then have the reserve, go-to camera shot incorporate a slow pull or push. This technique can help develop interesting shot sequences with fewer cameras.

Pro Tip: Have your camera technicians practice their most common shot sequences during rehearsal downtime or the preservice countdown.

Building a Shot Sequence

Sequencing your shots can be tricky. It’s both an art and a science. Typically, a good best practice is to always give the eye a natural place to focus and a path to follow to the next focus point. For example, one effective camera progression at the beginning of a song may be:

Slow pull belt-to-head shot of the person starting to strum the song’s introWide stage shot of the vocal line clapping and getting ready to singFront belt-to-head shot of the person singing the first verseSide shot of the vocal line as the additional singers layer inChest-to-head shot of the leader starting the chorusOver-the-shoulder shot of the crowd singing the chorusWide shot of the stage from behind the crowd with the crowd silhouette in the foreground to show congregational engagement during the chorusClose-up of a soloist playing a turnaroundPanning response shot of the congregation in the roomSlow push establishing shot of the leader starting the next verseChest-to-head shot of the leaderExtreme close-up of a musician playing the hook leading into the next chorus

While this sequence would be easiest with four or five cameras (two mounted and three manned), it could easily be adapted to fewer cameras. Adding camera motion could reduce the number of needed cameras and shots. For example, shots 1 and 2 could be accomplished by a single camera doing a combined pull and pan.

Shot Lengths

An additional factor when building a sequence is the pace of each shot. Content, shot type, and style can greatly impact shot length. To explore the typical shot lengths used by modern, typical, traditional, and smaller churches, check out this article. [LINK “Best Video Shots for Streaming Church Worship Services.”]

Take a Tip from the Content

Shot sequences can take cues from lyric content. For example, when lyric content shifts from a personal focus (“Lord, I love you”) to a congregational focus (“Lord, we love you”), consider using a wider line shot of the musicians that incorporates the congregation. If participation shifts from a more congregationally engaged moment to a single person singing over the crowd, then push in or cut to a chest-to-head shot focused on conveying the emotion of the singer. Likewise, to highlight a more intense moment of personal worship, perhaps use a behind-the-crowd shot with a tight focus on the silhouette of a congregant’s raised hand with the stage out of focus in the background. Being familiar with each song’s lyrics can be a great help when planning key video moments.

Move Forward with Great Help

Of course, a compelling video sequence requires adequate lighting, quality audio, and effective video-team communication. Your Sweetwater Sales Engineer is an excellent resource as you develop your video-production capability. Call us at (800) 222-4700 for expert advice or visit Sweetwater.com.

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