Write 31 Days- Day 16 Me time

Sunday is fun day, baby! I say that because when you look back at a day when you had problem after problem and you saw people just lean into it and gets stuff done it's fun.

OK, that's a lie.

Not fun, but you do giggle a bit when all is said and done. And Sunday and giggle don't rhyme. At least on Earth. But I did manage a single creative moment trying to get artsy. Operative word is trying.

screens and a nifty clock I covet
for my shop at home

The me time came afterwards when I carved out some time to work on a book project. No details for you yet, but is nothing at all like my previous book project. In a previous slice o' time I did nothing but eat, sleep, and breathe aviation photography. I went to some neat places, I saw some neat things and I decided to share what I learned with the world.

words and pictures
lots and lots of color pictures

With and luck tomorrow will be a busy day in the shop. And will someone PLEASE tell Ohio it is October and it should not be EIGHTY FREAKING DEGREES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be creative folks.

Write 31 Days- Day 13 The anticlimactic day

I woke up. Did my morning biz and then called the manufacturer's technical support line for my 14-month old acre-and-a-half sized television (we had a weak moment). It has been fixed once already. Now, it is out of warranty (by less than 60 days) and they're like "here's a repair place, we're sorry, good luck".

Insert descriptive and rude words <HERE>.

Not getting the result I felt I deserved I warmed up my creative thinking brain cell and......did nothing. Until my second cup of coffee and then I thought I'd harness the power of the Interwebs. So I posted a calm, informative yet "I am not the happy camper" note to my Facebook page. Then I posted it to THEIR Facebook website. I gt a reply they had located my case record and would be in touch with me soon. We'll see.

That was about the most exciting thing that happened today. Well, not exactly. I was able to take down a couple of video cameras that didn't suit our needs at church and replace them with brand new cameras. Yeah, I know. The exciting life of a technical services team member. I'd say there's a line to get into this type of volunteering but there isn't; we're spread a little thin. If you're in the Dayton, OH area and looking to learn about video production, camera work, set design and construction and lighting we could learn you a thing or two. Drop me a line. We have hot coffee and Bill's doughnuts.

Did I forget to mention I took my daughter to the dentist. She needs braces. I already have a daughter in braces. I asked if we could just hand them down. They were not amused.

Be creative kids.

Write 31 Days- Day 9 Doing more with less...if you're lucky

Creativity finds the oddest places and times to demand attention.

In my Sunday morning activities I normally have two cameras in the sanctuary manned by camera operators, two point-of-view POV cameras set on the stage (usually one on the keyboard and one on a guitar player) and a GoPro mounted within the drum set. The main cameras are on comms with me directing "go here" or "pan across to position 5",  stuff like that. It can make for a pretty dynamic visual experience when everything is firing on all cylinders.

And then there's a day like today. One of our brand new cameras decided it would go out of focus and stop responding no matter what we did, but it could "hobble along" if we cycled the power and left it alone at one certain focal length setting. Because of a change in our output settings for the new cameras we couldn't use the GoPro. And one of the POV cameras was not useful because of a change in the stage setup due to a last-minute personnel change. So we went from a nice 5-camera setup to a marginal 2-1/2 camera situation. Oh, and I have a new camera guy who hasn't worked with this camera before. He's on the broken camera.

2 cams down, 1 won't zoom....creative problem solving
at it's finest early on a Sunday morning

So the "creative" in myself and the team has to figure out how to make the best of what we have. How do we give the visual support to the performers and speakers that we normally do? I leaned heavily on the experienced camera guy and had the Technical Director help disguise the quick camera movements by the good camera swinging across the stage in quick cuts to/from the static cams. It's teamwork. I don't know that it would be considered artwork and I'm pretty sure no one is getting an Emmy, but I hope that to the casual observer it was a normal Sunday at church......even if I was grinding my teeth flat at the time.

Write 31 Days- Day 2 Creativity on the Day of Rest

CREATIVITY takes the day off on Sunday, right?

Well, that depends. I would have to say if you are an attendee of a house of worship there's a pretty good chance you could avoid having to be creative and you might not even have to put your mind to it. But if you're connected in any way with the behind-the-scenes action that takes place then you have multiple chances to exercise your creativity propensities. 

Case in point: Far Hills Church in Dayton, Ohio.

This is where my family and I attend Sunday services and where I'm part of the technical services team as a video director (VD). It sounds more technical than creative, but it involves a good amount of the C-word. As a VD it is my job to direct the camera operators to where I think the action happening onstage helps reinforce the message the speaker and worship team are transmitting to the congregation with points-of-view they don't have because, well...because I have cameras and camera operators and video projectors and all they have are their eyes. I have to help the speakers transmit their message by reinforcing their presentation notes for all to see and to co-ordinate the graphics director and technical director's actions. It is seriously exciting stuff.

OK, not really. There's a lot of problem solving (read technical creativity) that goes on when things don't go as planned. Wait, things go wrong? Oh yes. Technical gremlins show up anywhere there are hundreds, if not thousands, of feet of wire carrying the magical pixies of sound and video from point A to points B-Z. Equipment breaks, files get corrupted, people walk where they shouldn't and it it up to me to find a fix and find it fast. Maybe stressful is a better word than exciting.

And I shouldn't say ME; I should say WE. Messages have to be constructed by speakers. Songs have to be selected, arranged and practiced by musicians. Graphics, video segments and and lyrics have to be corralled and presented by the graphics director. Cameras have to be operated, stage elements have to be moved, and the sound has to be massaged and if it goes well....very few people know the support staff is there. All of this is masterminded by the Production Manager. Here's a very exciting view of the control room in action.

Technical Director (L), Video Director (C), Graphics Director (R).

And before it even gets to this point there are people working on the set design, creating LED controller panels, painting the set and creating the light elements. Lighting directors, sound engineers...the list goes on and on...all with the goal of exercising their creative talents to tell a story during two 1-hour meetings on a Sunday morning. It looks something like this (and a look we'll change 3-5 times a year).

Far Hills Church in Dayton, Ohio

  

CREATIVITY abounds in places where you might not expect to find it (or perhaps you do). You can find it everywhere, even on a day of rest.