January 2, 2011

NewHasCome.jpg

This week was an exciting time as we started fresh in 2011 with the 8th birthday of Rolling Hills and kicking off a new series from 1 Thessalonians entitled ‘Momentum’. It is truly amazing to see a community of believers go from a small gathering inside an apartment clubhouse to purchasing a 200k+ sq. ft. warehouse (with half of the space leased to long-term tenants) and a heart for missions in Nashville and around the globe. Thanks again to Jeff Simmons and Chad Jarnagin for their passion to create fresh experiences each week and to not merely play through a worship set, but instead create a series of awe-inspiring moments.

…and yes, I did get a bit carried away with the amount of footage I used this week. The good news is that by using bits and pieces of some of the same clips, you can stretch its usage out for a few weeks, rather than blowing it all in one week. GLORY TO GOD FOREVER

  • INTRO: The New Has Come (Centerline New Media) - This is a perfect piece to kick off our first gatherings of 2011. Reversed footage of a man having run away from church and fallen deep in the woods is combined with text from 1 Corinthians 5:17 about second chances and new life. The band started off pretty ethereally, just keeping a vibe underneath the video.
  • VERSE 1: Majesty Vibe (Non-Titled) (Highway Media) - (Clip: 2:15 - 2:25) This clip features 3 stars in the darkness becoming brighter and surrounding a larger mass of beautiful purple, a perfect picture of the 3-in-1 God creating substance out of nothingness. NOTE: I slowed down this clip by half, and paused it when the 3 stars had come together and the center was at its peak of brightness. (“Before the world was made, before You spoke it to be, You were the King of kings….”)
  • CHORUS 1: In The Heavens (WorshipFilms) - This Long Play includes 5 minutes of space footage with some subtle effects thrown in for nice transitional elements.
  • VERSE 2 & CHORUS 2: Nature Footage: (NOTE: The footage used for Verse 2, Chorus 2 & the Bridge isn’t currently available. I’m working on this, since it includes some very cool nature scenes. I’ll go ahead and describe it anyway in the case that it becomes available in the near future.) (Clip :05 - …) Scenes of a drive through an autumn forest and a sea journey past icebergs help to augment the lyrics singing praise to the ‘Creator God’.
  • BRIDGE: Nature Footage: (NOTE: The footage used for Verse 2, Chorus 2 & the Bridge isn’t currently available. I’m working on this, since it includes some very cool nature scenes. I’ll go ahead and describe it anyway in the case that it becomes available in the near future.) (Clip 2:11 - …) This clip features a breath-taking mountain fly-over.
  • DOWN-CHORUS: Nature Footage: (NOTE: The footage used for Verse 2, Chorus 2 & the Bridge isn’t currently available. I’m working on this, since it includes some very cool nature scenes. I’ll go ahead and describe it anyway in the case that it becomes available in the near future.) (Clip 2:49 - …) A pink tulip bowing against a dark background in slow motion, fading into rapidly-moving nature scenes. This clip increases intensity as the music begins to build back up into a louder chorus or reprise of the bridge.
  • BRIDGE REPRISE: In The Heavens (WorshipFilms) - (Clip: 2:24 - …) A brilliant starburst almost brings the entire screen to full white, and transitions into other beautiful space shots.

LET GOD ARISE

  • INTRO: Psalm 148 (The Work of the People) - Black-and-white animations of starbursts and circular patterns combine with text from Psalm 148, making for a high-energy intro. (Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!)
  • VERSE 1: Water Effects (Highway Media) - Abstract footage of water rushing, bubbling & gurgling. (“Hear the holy roar…Watch the waters part…”)
  • PRE-CHORUS 1: Water Stars (Highway Media) - Fast-moving water filmed with a star filter brings out the sparkle in the waves, and makes a great transition from the water footage into the Psalm 148 footage used next in the Chorus.
  • CHORUS 1: Psalm 148 Loop (TWOTP) - This footage is the same black-and-white animations of starbursts and circular patterns from the Psalm 148 Visual Liturgy used during the intro.
  • VERSE 2: Released Vibe (NT) (Highway Media) - Scenes of worshippers dancing in a dark club with colored spotlights and strobes highlighting various people. I prefer to use the slower-moving portions of this long-playing clip, although the faster portions can be used during a chorus as well, keeping the visual harmony already established here.
  • CHORUS 2: Celebrate Vibe (NT) (Highway Media) - Scenes of fireworks, starbursts, dancing, drumming, swimming and raised hands make for a frenetic clip.
  • BRIDGE: Explosions (HighwayMedia) - Slower-moving explosions and fireworks harmonize perfectly with the half-time feel of the bridge.
  • CHORUS THROUGH ENDING: Celebrate Vibe (NT) (Highway Media) - Different portions of this clip are brought back to finish off the tune and provide for some fast-paced footage while the band jams out through the end of the song.

BEAUTIFUL JESUS

  • VERSE 1& 2: Clouds Vibe (NT) (Highway Media) - (Clip: :40 - …) Slow-moving footage takes us soaring through the clouds as the song begins.This particular dark scene can be restarted as needed without anyone noticing.
  • CHORUS 1: Jesus, Garden of my Rest (Highway Media) - (Clip: 1:04 - …) Sunny, lens-flared film footage of stone statues including angels, crosses and Jesus harmonize with the strong guitar-driven chorus and lyrics (‘Beautiful Jesus, Beautiful Savior, nothing is greater, Brilliant Creator, Friend of mine.’)
  • CHORUS 2: Jesus, Garden of my Rest (Highway Media) - (Clip: 3:06 - …) More shots from this long-playing video of stone statues.
  • BRIDGE 1: Jesus, Garden of my Rest (Highway Media) - (Clip: 2:08 - …) This clip starts by panning around a statue of someone kneeling and clinging desperately to the cross, and then transitioning to other footage. If the moment feels right, you can always smoothly restart the video, using the clinging statue footage for the entire bridge.
  • DOWN CHORUS THROUGH END: Cross Montage Loop 2 (TWOTP) - This clip features bright, blue-tinted footage of stone crosses and the crucifix.

GOD OF WONDERS

  • INTRO, VERSES, CHORUS: Galaxy Vibe (NT) (Highway Media) - Images of the earth from space, stars, galaxies and the beauty of the universe.
  • BRIDGE: Galaxy Vibe (Titled) (Highway Media) - (Clip: 2:31 - …) The titled version of the clip at this in-point includes the text ‘Lord of Heaven and Earth’, creating perfect visual harmony.
  • CHORUSES & ENDING: Galaxy Vibe (Titled) (Highway Media) - (Clip: 3:25 - …) This portion of the titled version includes thematic text including ‘God of Wonders’, ‘Sovereign’, ‘Creator’ and text from Revelation 21:6.

November 7, 2010

This week, my buddy @waitsfornone did an awesome job as visual worship leader, giving me an opportunity to sleep in and enjoy a coffee date on the way to church with my wife, the lovely and talented stylist @audistyles. While I designed the basic structure of the visual setlist, Tim makes tweaks depending on how the actual flow feels during the set, or if he has ideas that fit better. Here’s the final setlist:

BEAUTIFUL JESUS

  • Intro & Verse 1: Sunrise Sunset (Organic Videos) - This clip is a beautiful 4min loop of a sunrise over the ocean, which reverses halfway through, providing a seamless loop. This provides a simple way to start the set, giving our worship leader the space for a scripture reading at the top, and keeping the same visual for the first verse ‘…Your majesty for all to see in raging storms and quiet cloudless days’
  • Choruses: Jesus, Garden of My Rest Vibe (Highway Video) - Sunny, lens-flared film footage of stone statues including angels, crosses and Jesus harmonize with the strong guitar-driven chorus and lyrics ‘Beautiful Jesus, Beautiful Savior, nothing is greater, Brilliant Creator, Friend of mine.’ NOTE: I use two instances of this video, one for each chorus, starting around the 1min and 3min marks, since the first 30-45sec are a slow sunrise.
  • Verse 2: Clouds Vibe (Highway Video) - Slow-moving footage takes us soaring through the clouds as we sing ‘You’re Powerful above this world…Your glory shines a holy light…’ NOTE: I start this clip about 40sec into the video, as this particular dark scene can be restarted as needed without anyone noticing.
  • Bridge Jesus, Garden of My Rest Vibe (Highway Video) - I start this clip at 2:08, which starts by panning around a statue of someone kneeling and clinging desperately to the cross, before moving on to other footage.
  • Last Chorus (down): Clouds Vibe (Highway Video) - Coming back to the clouds footage returns to a familiar place, and the slow, dark motion allows the song to come in for a landing, while giving space to breathe if needed.

HOW GREAT THOU ART

NOTE: We’ve done our own arrangement of this tune, but I’ve linked to a similar version from the amazing folks of @PageCXVI.

  • First Light (WorshipFilms) - Various sunrise/sunset nature scenes combined with a soft grunge effect add a simple visual harmony to this well-known song. NOTE: The guys at WorshipFilms have also created another version of this film using subtle overlays of various people in worship postures.

AGNUS DEI

  • Names of God Rise (Visual Worshiper) - This visual is a simple use of  various names of God, printed in various white-colored fonts over a black background, scrolling from the bottom to top of the screen. Since this song is both simple and widely-known, we used this visual without any lyrics on the screen. NOTE: The video is only 5min long, so if your live version goes longer, I would recommend leaving the screens completely black throughout the quiet intro and verse, starting the video when the band brings up the volume in the chorus.

GIVE ME JESUS

NOTE: This song was used as a response after the sermon, so the visual theme isn’t necessarily tied into content from earlier in the set.

  • Free To Worship 3-05 (WorshipFilms) - The single-scene, grainy footage of flickering candles and an iron cross complements the quiet, introspective music and lyrics of this song. ‘In the morning when I rise…When I am alone…When I come to die…Give me Jesus.’