Background

Birmingham Citadel Corps is a Salvation Army Church based in the heart of Birmingham, with the aim of sharing the good news of Jesus in a multi generational and multi cultural community.

It exists to; praise and acknowledge God in worship, work and witness, to bring people of all ages into a personal relationship with Jesus, and to demonstrate to everyone by their words and actions the love of God as shown in Jesus. The team at Next Step Films' relationship with Birmingham Citadel Corp spans over two decades, and offers a great insight into their aim and objectives as an organisation.

The Brief

For over a decade, the team at Next Step Films were asked to facilitate the video provision for their annual Carol Concert held at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham each year. The event was the church's outreach to the community in Birmingham, and provided a fitting event to celebrate Christmas; with performances from the various musical groups, bible readings, sermons and a nativity from the Sunday school. The brief was to provide live camera relay, along with graphics, song words and video playback, onto a large screen in the auditorium to aid and increase audience engagement. Further, DVD copies of the video coverage were requested as to provide 'performers copies' for sale after the event.

Our Approach

We always get exited when we are asked to provide a turnkey solution, as it allows us to have complete control of every element of the service; allowing for greater efficiencies. As the primary objective of the service was based around increasing audience engagement, a large High Definition rear projected screen was placed above the stage, allowing the projection of live cameras, graphics, song words and video play-ins. Further, the large screen was supplemented with large LED TVs around the venue at pinch points the projector screen couldn't be easily seen. For the live camera coverage, we made use of 4 -5 cameras, strategically positioned to provide coverage of the various performances on the stage; this included 3 operated cameras, making use of telephoto lenses to provide closeups, along with mini-cams to provide action shots on the stage.    

The Result

The event was a great success, with 2x two hour performances captured throughout the day. Its a long day, but with prior planning, great team work between the rigging team, Camera Operators, Engineer and Video Director, along with co-ordination with the in-house sound and lighting team and stage manager, the various video elements seamlessly integrated into the event. Further, we turned around DVD copies of the event in just 3 days, providing over 100 copies of both performances!