Changing Broadcast Styles with Church of the City

Church Of The City has been using a traditional ENG type of broadcast style while transforming the Nashville area since 2013 when founding pastor Darren Whitehead planted the first of several locations in and around the ‘Music City.’

An Opportunity to Stream

And, like so many organizations, 2020 presented an opportunity for their production team to break away from this more old-school broadcast mindset and reinvent their online experience. Previously, camera positions were chosen based on how visible they would be to the congregation.

Now, with no one in attendance, the team could get creative and up the engagement factor for their online-only audience. However, the real test came when in-person gatherings became an option.

As Video Coordinator, Ryan Smith recalls during our time with him:

“When it came time to have live services again, my fear was, ‘Oh no, we’re gonna go back. Let’s hide them in the back.’ But it was, ‘No, this is the experience everyone has gotten used to and really felt that they’re engaging—you feel like you’re right there in the room!'”

Ten cameras in prime shooting positions are now at the production team’s disposal, and the congregation couldn’t be more on board with this move.

As Ryan puts it:

“It might be an inconvenience, but now our audience[s] have realized that, ‘Man, I’m willing to make a little bit of that sacrifice of having a camera that might be in my way knowing that my friend or someone that I may not even know is able to experience what I’m experiencing.’ Our church has embraced that!”

Proving once again that the resistance we all feel towards change, though inevitable, can be overcome with a slight shift in perspective.

Sort of like moving camera positions; right?