Video Announcements and Commercials

Why do we use Video Recordings

Tree of Life utilizes video recordings for the following reasons:

1. To educate Sunday attendees and Facebook followers about upcoming events and activities at Tree of Life.
2. To cast vision for our department, ministry, or event and recruit volunteers.
3. To break up the monotony of having one person share all the important announcements at the church.
4. To streamline announcement time, as videos can be trimmed, edited, and kept short.
5. To maintain consistency from service to service, ensuring no information is forgotten if delivered live.
6. To showcase the variety of individuals who lead at Tree of Life, highlighting the community beyond a single leader, including people historically not seen as leaders based on age, gender, race, etc.

Understanding the Difference between a Video Announcement and a Video Commercial

There are two approaches to making a video for Sunday services and social media: Video Announcements and Video Commercials.

1. Video Announcement

A simple recording, often done in selfie mode, where the director or volunteer communicates facts about an event. These should be quick to record, simple to repeat, and short. They require minimal editing, graphics, music, etc.

2. Video Commercial

A structured and layered recording that may include a selfie recording but will also feature multiple angles, music, photos, and more. Video Commercials take longer to produce and should be reserved for the most important events in a department.

When to Use a Video Announcement

Most announcements should be Video Announcements. This streamlines the announcement process, making it easier to record and distribute information. These should be short, quick, and easy to understand. They should take no more than 15 minutes to produce in total and should be completed in no more than three takes.

When to use a Video Commercial

Video Commercials are intended for the most important events. Creating and editing a Video Commercial takes time, requiring attention to volume levels, proper photo releases, etc. Commercials should be used only for the largest and most impactful events.

Video Recording Policies

• The purpose of video announcements should be to advertise an event or need, not to focus on a person or place.
• The entire video announcement section of the Sunday service, including all video announcements, commercials, and offerings, can be no longer than 10 minutes total unless prior approval is given by the senior pastor. Therefore, please keep your announcement as short as possible to allow room for all announcements.
• Videos should be 45 seconds to 1 minute in length and should not exceed 1:30 unless you have prior permission from the pastor. Video Announcements should rarely exceed 45 seconds.
• You are required to create videos weeks before your event and submit them for broadcast at least 6 weeks in advance.
• Videos should be uploaded to the Google Shared Drive “Sunday Video Announcements.” Post in the Slack channel “#task-videoannouncements” that you have uploaded the video, including the desired starting/ending dates and any text to be added when the video is posted to Facebook, including links to registrations.
• Videos will be shown at least 2 times and no more than 6 times, depending on time availability.
• Unless otherwise requested, your video will be posted to our Facebook page weekly until the event or the ending date you submitted.
• Videos should be recorded in landscape orientation (widescreen) and 720 dpi is sufficient. HD quality is not necessary.
• Use a quality camera for your videos.
• Ensure good lighting. Shoot outdoors in daylight whenever possible.
• Be cautious of surrounding noises when recording and avoid large rooms with echoes.
• Make any text in the video larger than you think necessary, and then enlarge it further. Fine print cannot be easily seen, so don’t waste the space.
• Be aware that videos with all music or small print may not be viewable by everyone. Make sure to speak over photos, especially for important information such as the date, time, and place.
• Avoid using phrases such as “at the end of the month,” “next week,” “next month,” “this morning,” “today,” or other time-related phrases. Use specific dates and times instead to allow for multiple playings of your video.
• Avoid lengthy periods of music, non-speaking parts, or showing many photos without a voice overlay, which benefits those who rely on audio information.

Policies for More Detailed Announcements and Commercials

• If you include multiple angles, use the same camera for all shots and edit them together using computer software.
• Any music used in the video must be public domain or copyright-free. Do not use pre-recorded tracks of copyrighted songs, as this can result in our streaming license being banned and hinder our social media use in the future.
• Music volume should be low enough to clearly hear spoken words. Fade the music at the end unless it is meant to last the entire announcement. Due to the subwoofers, the music volume should be lower than expected.
• Consider using captions for videos with distracting noises or muffled audio.
• Choose one form of contact, such as phone, email, or text, to avoid confusion.