Ten Things I learned from Matchbox 20, Alanis, and Mutemath

10. Good singers are good singers. Rob Tomas and Alanis are freaking good singers.

9. Anything can happen live anywhere!! (Video screens not working, people rushing the stage). Things Happen!

8. Even at the best concerts, people start milling or walking out when there is a lull. Think of the people that start to walk out of your church as the closing song begins. (For North Point and campuses – people like to get to their cars early) It happened to all three of the bands.

7. If you use video screens for your backdrop of your service….

- USE SOLID COLORS and change them up. Very powerful with lights.

6. If you use video screens for your backdrop of your service….

- Incorporate Black. so the screens don’t get diluted with something ALWAYS showing. Black (nothing on the screens) is a very POWERFUL tool so you can make a punch when you want EVERYTHING in – (say on a Chorus).

5. People do not like to stand behind me in a concert.

4. Bison Burger is GOOD.

3. Image Mag is a GOOD THING.

2. White spandex does not work on ANYBODY! Even from 100 yards out!

1. No matter how great your musicians are – if they are going through the funnel of a BAD AUDIO MIX then they sound mediocre, bland and boring. Mutemath and Alanis’s band were short changed because of HORRIBLE mixes. Brutal. It’s good Alanis had some hits that we could hold onto. She was amazing. Matchbox 20 sounded incredible!

Three campus SPD Directors (Service Programming Department)
Carlos SPD Buckhead – Julie (my boss) SPD North Point – Tyler SPD Browns Bridge.

Buckhead crew chillin’

Stage with screens that never opened up and revealed the screen behind it.

Technorati Tags: Matchbox 20, MuteMath

I am not sure if my kids are happy.

Little moments = lasting memories.

Camp Out on this question?

What was the last place you have been too that made you say – “I want to come back!”
(It could be anywhere or any place).

What was the last place you have been too that made you say – “I never want to come back!”

Why?

TONIGHT!! Matchbox 20 – Mutemath

Yeah I am stoked..

Going with Los, Bigtelicious, Julie – NP service programming directors and others.
Good times.
.

Technorati Tags: Matchbox 20, Mutemath

Jillian and her hair.

Daddy (me): Jillian go get your pink comb so we can comb your hair.
Jillian: Daddy are you going to comb it or is mommy (with a frightened voice).
Me: ummmm do you want mommy to comb it?
Jillian: Yes, that would be great.
Me: You don’t want me to comb it Jillian?
Jillian: Daddy, you are getting really, really good at combing my hair without it hurting…. but i still want mommy to comb it.
Me: I understand sweetie.

I love my little girl.

Jake doesn’t really have an issue with me and his hair.

Camp Out with 41 reasons to Watch the Super Bowl

I LOVE this site.
It represents what happens when a team has one goal and they accomplish it together.

A couple of notes to not miss:
Make sure you view the story of Mike Woicik (New England Patriots – 2004 Champion). Mike has SIX Super Bowl rings. Three with the Cowboys, three with the Patriots. I worked with Mike during my time in Dallas and I can’t tell you what an amazing person he is. I remember walking into the weight room one day looking for Mike and couldn’t find him. I went to his office and he and Daryl Johnston (moose) were watching the soft spoken Bob Ross work on a painting. It was dead quiet in the room.

Had to be one of the funniest things I saw. Then I found myself watching too.
Also, check out the video on how the rings are made.

If you don’t like football, go read history.
If you love football, go read why.

Technorati Tags: Bob Ross, Mike Woicik, Super Bowl

Library of Congress Flickr.

I was reading Tony Morgan’s blog and it had a link to his Creative/Web Director Joshua Blankenship for Newspring. He had a link to the “Library of Congress” Flickr acount. Talk about a “Gold Mine”. The key words on this site were… “no known copyright restrictions”.

For those times when you need it. It’s there.

Thank you Josh and it’s nice to meet you.

!

Adobe After Effects update (Leopard supported)

If you are using After Effects and Leopard, then this should warm your tummy.
Click here or here for the latest update.

If you aren’t using After Effects – you need too. There are a TON of tutorials to help you.
After Effects won’t make great designs FOR you but you will come a little bit closer to making things move around like you see in your head.
Learn it. It’s photoshop on steriods.

Technorati Tags: Adobe After Effects

North Point Music Guy

So I haven’t “pimped” anybody’s blog since I started this addiction as I feel I am not really worthy of enough experience to “pimp out”. But i did want to give a shout to a BRAND NEW BLOGGER named Reid Greven. Reid is the associate music director at North Point and pretty much handles the band members. When I say handles, I mean taming. I not only get to work with Reid every day but he is also a member of the unofficial North Point Fantasy football league (purely entertainment) which I head up.
Reid’s from Canada so cut him some slack. He is amazingly talented and loves God. If you have anything to do with music in your church, put Reid in your rotation of blogs to visit.

.

“Transparente”

Sometimes you just want to quit. Or marvel at what can be done.
Imagination, talent, time, experience, execution. Click Here
(Dave from Media threw this my way).
Any other words you would add?

The production process form La Huella’s Jerome Debeve:

“Camera angles / velocity and focal length were worked out in 3D, so we had all the needed information for the shooting.

Actors were shot from below using a specially constructed structure of several hi-density glass panels. These panels were mounted on a metallic armature 3 meters tall and 10 meters wide, forming a bridge so the motorized travelling rig could move freely and repeat the moves as needed.

A green screen was suspended above the set. The wide shots are all CG, and the close ones a mix between greenscreen elements and CGI.

The team at La Huella spent 6 weeks in total on this production, that won quite a few awards in Spain and outside.”

(special thanks to Justin Cone at motionographer).

Technorati Tags: Design, Motion Graphics

Patriots will play….who??

History in the making folks. The Miami Dolphins went 17-0 in their 1972 perfect season. If the Pats win the super bowl, I believe it will be the biggest feat for a team in sports history. 19-0

Technorati Tags: New England Patriots, Super Bowl

Camp Out at the “Picture Mill”

If you have ever wondered who did some of the studio logo’s that most movies start off with – or who made the INCREDIBLE opening titles for iRobot or Mission Impossible, then your answer will be found at The Picture Mill.
This place has a very concrete vision: specializing in movie titles and branding.
Bring your chair and camp out here for a while. Pretty amazing stuff. Love to know what you think.

Technorati Tags: Motion Graphics, Picture Mill

Renewed Vision (Propresenter) gets nods at Macworld

Macrumors did an article on my buddy Brad Weston (on left) and his company Renewed Vision. They were out at MacWorld in San Francisco (I wonder if my dad saw them). I worked for Brad at a company called Halo where he basically taught me everything I know about technology, authoring and creating video deliverables. He is a volunteer at North Point and our other partnership churches. I can’t say enough about the impact Brad has had at North Point and a ton of other churches around the country. The direction of my life changed after working with Brad and the guys.
Give a shout if you have used propresenter or any other of renewed Vision’s products.

***Update*** Greg (right in picture) just sent me these links from Apple. I am stoked these guys are getting some great scenery on Apple’s web. If you haven’t used their stuff download the demo right from Apple’s site at the links below.
Check this out or this out. Congratulations guys.

Technorati Tags: multiscreen displays, propresenter

Just Ask Part 1 Title Package (video Confessional)

For those of you who care, I’ll keep doing these so let me know if these help/assist/spark ideas or make you flat out laugh at me because you know of an easier way to do this.

After the missions message for the first of the year, we started a “quick” two part series called “Just Ask”. Andy talked about how so many times we want people to come to church with us and we hint around it but we never actually ask. It’s like saying “Hey we should do lunch sometime” and you mean it, but you don’t actually set up the time and date.

For this series we went REALLY generic and a little bit more artsy. there could be more subtle meaning into the title package but honestly, there’s not. It’s just a visual piece that I created from a design that Mike lead the charge with. We used Benji Peck out of Nashville and originally he was hired to take some stress off of us during the holidays and this look was going to be used for missions as well with some slight tweaking.(see previous post for details on that little fiasco). Benji just does great work.

Here is the Title Package:

this piece for me was a little bit therapeutic because the flower was a still graphic and I spent about 4 hours just separating it out. Here is the original graphic…

Luckily all the little dandelions were separated out but I had to recreate the the flower in After Effects. I took three of the pedals that were flying (from the still) and then masked each of the little stems that came off of each little pedal (about 8 little lines each) so that they could move independently from each other (using a wiggle expression in After Effects). Then I took the three pedals, duplicated them a couple of times and surrounded the main stem so it looked like the original. I was worried about the wind blowing and trying to make the flying pedals as real as possible. It could have been better and overall I really like the feel. Props to Mike for making the look of this happen.

This week we are using this same title package but taking it a step further.

Technorati Tags: after effects, Andy Stanley, dandelion, Just Ask, Motion Graphics, North Point, North Point Community Church

Where do you find your Fonts?

Let’s help each other out. What is your favorite resource to find cool fonts?
Two of mine, Dafont.com and Abstractfonts.com. I am sure that most of you have heard of it but it really is a great place to get some quick ideas for something different. Share the love everybody. Also a quick tip. Always have Ten fonts ready to go when you need them that you KNOW will work in a pinch. In church world and most other places, we are always being asked “can you create this quick video for me” or “please don’t spend a lot of time on this”. For just those times we often default to Lucinda Grande in Final Cut (please just dump that font) or Times. Find Ten Fonts that you love and have them in your back pocket.

Technorati Tags: fonts

Ten Before for the New Year! (Video Confessional)

Last Week and this week we played the new “WINTERIZED” version of the TenBefore. This had all new elements in it and the Media team has been working really hard to get this version ready for the new year. We shot all the green screen in December, Tripp and Dustin went to Colorado to shoot the “Grouplink” piece, and Matt killed it on the partnership look with Dave producing most of the videos.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS TENBEFORE

Here are the details:

New Look and Fireworks:
It was my responsibility to winterize the TenBefore for this go around and I am happy with the way it turned out. So far we have done a summer version of the Ten Before and a Fall version. Winter couldn’t be missed and especially the start of the new year (fireworks). I love the addition of the cannon like firing out of smoke to explode the fireworks and to put the snowflake in place (Instead of the red star). I wanted to make the distinction between having it feel winter and having it feel like a SNOWY day. The countdown clock to me feels wintery and not SNOWY. I am already looking forward to spring. Matt followed suit with the colors and made all of Kelly’s elements the same tone.

Videos

The KidStuf piece was written by Donny from Kidstuf and basically wanted to make awareness for KidStuf for the new year. I love the girl actor. She did amazing and the kids did great too. The premise for this video was that parents could use some help when it come to teaching the bible and to attempt to do it in a KidStuf like manner themselves is really fruitless. Tripp directed and editing this with Matt’s help.

The Grouplink piece was written and directed and edited by Tripp, produced by Dave. Grouplink’s concept for this next year is communicating that life is full of risk and awkward moments but unless you take that first step, you won;t know what your missing. Grouplink is one of the most awkward places you will ever find yourself, in a circle with people you don’t know, being pushed to do life together. The first version of this concept was the middle school dance, and then this time, groups came to us with the idea of the skier kind of fumbling his way through the lift and then taking that first step towards the unknown of skiing. Tripp took the Panasonic HVX 200 with a kickin lens set-up, Dustin to help and then the actor. The actor went for free. All the guys got altitude sickness on their first two days in Colorado the the sky cleared up and had one AMAZING day of sun. They went from a Wednesday Morning until a Sunday night. They were able to shoot TWO of those days. Dave B. got ALL the logistics set-up and the guys didn’t have to worry about a thing. We got tickets for flight $199 each. Room under $79. Free rentals and lift tickets. I really do love this video. We actually made some changes from this one to include some more text throughout and a better/bigger payoff at the end (guy smiling a lot more). Tripp got some AMAZING shots. Dave, Tripp and Dustin, amazing job. Music from Bluefuse.

The strategic partners piece was to make attenders and visitors aware that there are other churches across the country that we call “Partners” that basically believe and run church the same way we do. Matt did this whole piece in After Effects and did a great job. He is really getting the little details down that I nitpick about so much, especially the shadows and reflections.

For the upcoming months Kelly is going to be highlighting specific environments and ministries that are going on in the morning or at church itself. This round we are talking about “Next” where people can take the next step in getting involved and see where they fit.

We then went on to highlight what Andy is talking about and then said goodbye. This whole TenBefore was a huge team effort and everyday I count my blessings that I get to work with a team of such talented individuals who trust each other.

Again, the TenBefore is meant to not just take the announcements out of the service but to start with the hopes of breaking down some walls for those that walk through our doors for the first time. My prayer is that when people see the TenBefore and Kelly’s warmth and some engaging content – they will be ready and open for what’s to come as well as lead them to the next step.

Technorati Tags: green screen, Kelly Lintz, Media Team, Motion Graphics, North Point Community Church, Ten Before, videos

Make your prediction for the Super Bowl

Who is going to the Super Bowl and who is going to win??
Great games this weekend. I would like to see either the Patriots go all the way or the Chargers. Patriots to go 19-0 or San Diego surprise everybody. San Diego because Norv Turner is the guy who is responsible for giving me a shot in the NFL. (Cowboys 1993, I ‘ll never forget it). Then he gave me shot in 1995 with the Redskins. In 1993 I was up against Jason Garrett for the number 3 spot (Aikman kinda had the number one spot in hand if you know what I mean.) Then in Washington, while Gus Frerrote and Heath Shuler were battling out #1 and #2 spot, Trent Green and I were battling for the #3 spot. The rest is history. I don’t regret any of it for a second.

Technorati Tags: NFL, Super Bowl

Camp Out – Wired Article on the iPhone origin

Great Read. I especially love the manager getting locked into her office because she slammed the door so hard.

Technorati Tags: iPhone, Steve Jobs, Wired

Global X Sunday Title Package (Confessional)

For the first of the year we focused on Global X (our missions ministry).
A lot of different things happened during the service including incorporating other countries worship services (via taped video) into our worship experience while singing. It was a great Sunday. The print design of this came from missions so we took it into illustrator and cut out all the elements. The globe I used on this was from iStock and let me tell you, its the best looking globe I have seen. Great detail and texture on it. This was somewhat rushed but I think the execution came out well.
I still don’t know designed the original concept (Key Art) but I liked it. Funny story though, we were running in our own direction with a look and then in one of our meetings at the end of December Tomas said “Hey we have a T-shirt that has a pretty cool look on it.” I saw it and was like DUUUUHHHHHH. Then I shrunk in my seat and thought… “always ask the ministry your partnering with if they have a current look they would like to use.” We were running and gunning and didn’t stop to ask “hey maybe missions has something they are already working on”.

I am so glad they told us because it was a great look.

Technorati Tags: Global X, Media Team, videos

“Impossible is Nothing”

wow.
Would love to know your thoughts on this one.

Technorati Tags: Motion Graphics, Olympics, psyop

Media Team Changes

So Carlos made his first employee steal of his time here at NPM. Dustin from my team will now be serving at Buckhead Church as the audio director for SPD (service programming department). Dustin was our studio director with media which meant he was responsible for anything audio when it came to videos, podcasts, voice overs, audio recordings, Sunday morning live capturing and remixing… you name it and he’s done it. Now he will be in charge of anything audio for Buckhead Church and their worship servies. To be fair, Dustin is actually going back to the position in which WE at North Point stole him from.

Dustin will be missed tremendously. He has the ability to lead up and has influenced me in so many ways. Buckhead has some great leaders over there and their reach is long. I am excited for Dustin to get back into live mixing on a full time basis and he will be tremendously missed.

Technorati Tags: North Point Audio, Buckhead Audio

Good to know I have influence around the world

So yesterday I posted the HP video and my good friend Jeff surprised me with not just a comment but a little video of how I inspired his new hobby. First, a little history.

Jeff went to Baylor and is from Texas. Our paths met up when I played drums and toured the world (southeast) with Dave Bell. He became the road manager and our pastor as we traveled. Jeff then went on to work with Passion and headed up their resources here in Atlanta where I continued to work with him via the development of DVD’s and replication for Louie. Jeff met Sabrina (his wife) who is from France and after a couple of years living in the US, they decided to move to FRANCE where they both currently reside.

While Jeff continues to learn French in order to work (which I am sure he is very fluent in now) he gets to have fun biking (he’s an avid cyclist) and shooting home movies.

This video gives you some insight into a little of his personality. I know that he is so missed around here! Thanks for showing me your chops!!
Brad
Check out his entire site here.

Technorati Tags: Air Drumming, France, Jeff Fountain

Camp Out with HP. Making of Hands.

There are so many aspects of this video that we can learn from.
One thing for sure… it took a team of people from beginning to end.
What makes this concept and execution stick out to you?

Technorati Tags: HP Video, Mark Cuban, Motion Graphics, Design

Happy Monday.

Technorati Tags: puppy

Product Placement on Motionhouse

Seriously… if not for yourself, think of the children.
I recommend however not too large of a ducky or people might talk.

Technorati Tags: Rubber Duckies

Do you want the Patriots to go 19-0 and win it all?

Why or why not? Being a huge sports nut, I want to see history made.
Isn’t it interesting in sports that if a team is really good and have won championship after championship, a common statement you here is “I am so tired of hearing about the _____. I hope they lose.” Seems like you hear that about everything now.
I wish we would celebrate success more, and learn from it.

Technorati Tags: New England Patriots

T-Shirt day 8

You heard me.
Jake likes his lego Star Wars shirt. He might let us wash it… in February.

at bed though… the shirt goes off and the hat goes on!
Good times.

Christmas break fun (before the flood of ‘07)

Three things about this picture.

First – These two little angels are becoming great friends and I love that.
Two – Jake got that shirt for Christmas and he was going on day 4 with it on his body.
Three – about three hours after this photo was taken, my new year got really wet.

Technorati Tags: Pump it up, Kids Fun

Happy New Year

So what’s it gonna be this year? What’s gonna be different? What are you gonna accomplish? Who will you serve? Where will your time be spent? What is the ONE thing you want to do this year better, and how are you going to do it.

I just got off the phone with my buddy Ted and we were talking about next year. For me next year was all about being more disciplined. He surprised me with his response. He said Brad you know what you need to do more of this year – you need to have more fun! That caught me off guard a little but then I thought about it. One thing about me is that I am one of the most analytical people you will ever meet. I look at things through three different lenses sometimes – what do I think, what do you think, and what does someone else think. It’s the curse of a people pleaser. Oh yes I am opinionated and will stand my ground on different concepts and ideas and ways of doing things but still at the core, a people pleaser.

I am also one of the most margin-less people you have ever met when it comes to TIME. Some of that is due to choices Jiyoung and I have made, some of it is due to discipline and lack thereof, and some of it is just flat out being unintentional with pursuing margin. It’s the latter that I think Ted was talking about for me. Pursuing discipline this year will help me produce the margin, but it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t schedule it. Too many times I think “if I don’t do this, then who will….” and half of that time the energy is spent in the wrong direction, wrong priorities, and wrong people.
Really, I am not that important.

But at home, I am.

Happy New Year.
Serve God with excellence and go have some fun.

Brad

Technorati Tags: New Years Resolution