The warm up for the summer of events this year was a dance competition in Carlisle. We have spent the last two months fully converting our broadcast vehicle from American 110v power to British 220v and this was the first field test. Previously we had used a big transformer. You can see the panels open in the photo where we needed to make some quick repairs. While there were a few teething issues – the truck performed its duty well, and it’s ready for action this summer. Continue reading Big dance
Tag Archives: audio visual
Dance Factor
Last weekend I joined the OMNIvision crew for the live filming of a school dance competition. Dance Factor 6 brought together students from primary and secondary schools around the Carlisle area to compete. But why bother? What was the purpose of servicing an event with no mission or even Christian focus?
It comes down to two beliefs that we hold. Quality media productions tell the story better than half baked attempts, that is why we do what we do – and producing quality multimedia and event coverage requires continuous practice. We offer our professional services for events that don’t conflict with our beliefs and values and where there is no other opportunity for us to serve the Christian community – thus helping us to stay sharp and focussed.
We also believe in doing all that we can to be self sufficient. many generous people give to provide Ruth and I with a home and food, but nobody should have to foot the bill for the equipment that we use. That’s why we use mostly donated or discounted equipment that is high quality but not necessarily the cutting edge.
Daniel taught me everything that I know about my role in OMNIvision. He has showed me how to monitor 3 to 6 cameras and make sure the images look natural throughout the show. This is important so that people are not distracted by strange colours or overexposed images. Now that Daniel and his wife have taken 3 months out to visit the Logos Hope, I have taken the responsibility for Engineering. It’s a really technical job – but still an important one. I feel like I’ve come at just the right time to be of use.
Northern Women’s Conference
This weekend I was at the Northern Women’s Conference with OMNIvision. We set up cameras and screens so people could easily see the main speaker and we put up the song words. All in all it went very well. I was the Engineer for the day which meant I made sure the images were good quality so they were not distracting and I made sure the sound on the recording was clear (also I hit the big record button!) Enjoy the photos!
Leading teens to Christ in Europe
Whilst the church in exotic far away places like Africa, Asia and even the Middle East is growing at an amazing rate (just look at China) – the church in Europe is in steady decline. Weath and prosperity has replaced the need for God’s provision, advanced science and philosphpy has convinced most people God doesn’t exist – but neither have filled the emptiness inside every human being.
TeenStreet is a large international event in Germany where almost 4000 Christian and undecided teens come and experience God face to face. Powerful, exciting, confronting main meetings with intimite worship and challenging teaching are the spark of a flame that is fanned in small groups where the teens work out the mechanics of living their lives for Christ. Some commit their lives to Christ for the first time, others resolve to serve Him wholeheartedly, others still get a heart for local and world missions. All are impacted in some way.
We were pleased to be a small part of this huge conference in roles that we feel comfortable in. Chris was a part of the OMNIvision crew who covered the video for the main meetings – making sure that people could see, hear and understand the message being spoken to them. The title of this year’s TeenStreet was ‘Newsong 40’ – following Psalm 40 it encourages teens to leave behind the ‘old song’ of the world and start to sing the new song from God: “We were created to start each day anew, not consumed with the pain and regret of yesterday, or the fears and worries of tomorrow. Instead, to start a day in relationship with the Happiest person we know. Starting the day singing the Truth of the Kindest person we know, and what HE says about who you are. This is the song of our Father, who’s desire is to see His Kingdom come on Earth, as it is in HEAVEN!”. (www.teenstreet.de)
Part of Chris’s role for the week was to edit and upload recordings of the sessions. You can watch them online at http://www.omnitube.org/TeenStreet_Germany/. Feel free to use the clips or the ideas in them for your youth meetings etc.
Ruth coordinated the kids program – KidStreet – that ran simultaniously for the kids of helpers and organisers of TeenStreet. Following the same theme of a new song, the kids enjoyed a range of fun activities on their level, helping them to leave behind their old song and sing the new. Leading a group of kids who all speak different languages is difficult, but thankfully we had helpers from all the language groups!
On the road
This week I had the chance to help with lighting and song words with a big event in Manchester. The event was the Northern Women’s Convention and it had around a thousand delegates. We were to provide the lighting, the cameras and the song words while another company did the sound. OmniVision has a big bus that has been converted with lots of television equipment inside. We took this bus down to Manchester and set it up outside the hall. I have set up similar equipment in my time on the ship so I was able to jump right in and set up all the lighting equipment on the set up day. This took a lot of the pressure off the person in charge of set-up. We worked until late in the night finishing everything off. I also helped set up some TVs on the stage so the worship team could read the lyrics.
The event went for the whole day on Saturday. My job was to choose appropriate background video loops to put behind the song words and to put up slides. Someone else did the actual song words. I was really happy to be a part of the programme and to see what they do in the bus. During one of the breaks I was allowed to have a play with one of the cameras so the video director could see if I was any good. I think I did OK at it. Live Audio/Visual has always been a passion of mine, and it was a huge blessing first to be able to be a part of AV on the ship for two years, and before that in church for a long time and now to experience it on a larger scale here in England. I would really like to return here to do this some more.
