Pro-Video Blogger (2026)

26/08/2026

Streaming: Where do I put my cameras — and what shots do they get?
Camera placement for a church service or other live event can be tricky. Cameras need to give you good coverage of the stage or platform, but they also need to be positioned so they don’t get in the way of people attending.
There’s another important consideration: the camera and lens need to be appropriate for the size of the room. Your camera should be capable of getting a good tight mid-shot of a speaker or performer from its position. In a large venue, that may require considerably more optical zoom than you might expect.

Two cameras at the back
In Diagram 1, there are two cameras positioned at the back of the room.
One provides a wide shot of the entire stage or platform. The other is used primarily for a mid-shot (MS) of the speaker and can follow them if they move around the platform.
The mid-shot will generally be the shot you use most. It is roughly a waist-up shot and is one of the most commonly used shots on television. One way of thinking about it is that it gives the viewer much the same perspective as they would have when talking to someone face-to-face.
Your coverage might then look something like this:
1. Opening wide shot of the space
2. Mid-shot of the speaker — pan as they move
3. Wide shot, but zoomed in part way
4. Mid-shot of the speaker
5. Wide shot, zoomed back out to the opening shot
6. Mid-shot again
7. And so on...
The reason for cutting between the two cameras isn't simply to provide variety. It helps keep the viewer oriented to the space.
I will often go back to the wider shot when the speaker is addressing the congregation as a whole. It gives the viewer a sense of the relationship between the speaker and the audience.
As a general rule, try to make your cuts at the end of a sentence or phrase. Cutting halfway through a sentence can feel jarring — although, like most rules in television, it can also be used deliberately for effect.
The most important thing is to put yourself in the viewer's position and ask: “What do I want to see now?”

Adding a third camera
Adding a camera closer to the stage and positioned off to one side gives you another important option: cutaway shots.
From this position you can get tighter shots of the speaker, as well as musicians and other people on the platform. (See Diagram 2.)
This adds considerably more variety to your coverage and, when used carefully, can add real impact to the speaker's address.
But don't overuse it.
The cutaway camera is most effective when it is used selectively — to emphasise something, change the visual rhythm, or give the viewer a different perspective.
Good live vision directing isn't about constantly changing shots.

It's about giving the viewer the right shot at the right moment.

22/08/2026

The shot that should be banned from documentary and reality shows

Joseph C. Mascelli’s book The Five C’s of Cinematography was my Bible when I started shooting documentaries, news footage and corporate promotional videos. It was the book I turned to for understanding shot sizes, camera angles and, most importantly, why you would choose one shot over another.
Mascelli's five C's were:

Composition → what the frame looks like
Camera Angle → where we see it from
Close-Up → what we choose to emphasise
Continuity → how the shots relate
Cutting → how we control the audience's experience of them

They are all still remarkably relevant today.

Ban this shot — its use is laziness
But there is another shot that has crept into documentary and reality television that, in my view, needs to be banned.

It is the wide shot with people in the middle distance or background, while the focus is placed on some foreground object. The people — and therefore the action — are completely out of focus. (See pictures.)
If the shot were the beginning of a focus pull towards the people in the background, I wouldn't have a problem with it. That's a perfectly legitimate visual technique.

But that's not what I'm talking about.

(Note that I'm not arguing against shallow depth of field. Used properly, it can be a beautiful and powerful cinematographic tool. My objection is to using it indiscriminately as visual wallpaper — particularly when it deliberately throws the subject of the story out of focus.)

These shots are usually static. They are often used as a cutaway or B-roll to cover an edit in an interview or narration. And quite often, they tell us absolutely nothing.

They are, in my opinion, a lazy way for an editor to cover an edit.

The camera operator also shares some responsibility, because an editor can only use the shot if somebody has first shot it that way. (Although, of course, modern digital editing systems can now create a shallow depth-of-field effect in post-production.)

What particularly annoys me is when the shot actually gets in the way of the story.

I regularly see this on programs such as Escape to the Country, and it has now crept into the Australian program Gardening Australia.
For example, a presenter might be explaining an intricate process — something the viewer actually needs to see — and suddenly we cut to a beautifully composed shot where the foreground object is razor sharp and the process happening behind it is completely out of focus.

Why?

The audience needs to see the process, not a blurry version of it.

It's worth remembering that cinematography isn't just about making an image look attractive. It's about communicating information and directing the audience's attention. There are some great examples of programs where these shots are rarely, if ever, used. Muster Dogs, for example, is beautifully shot, and the camera operators obviously give the editors plenty of alternative coverage.

And that's the key.

When I'm shooting a sequence, I'm also editing it in my head. I'm thinking about what the editor — often me — is going to need when it comes time to put the sequence together.

So I shoot enough coverage to give myself plenty of options: wide shots, mediums, close-ups, cutaways, details, reactions and, importantly, shots where the action I want the audience to see is actually in focus.

Perhaps I'm being old-fashioned.

But if a shot doesn't tell the audience something, doesn't advance the story, doesn't establish a location or mood, and doesn't provide a useful transition — why is it there?

Time to ban this shot.

03/08/2026

Your streaming data. Is it worth collecting?

Every time you stream an event, data is being collected by the network you’re using to stream from. Your local encoder will also collect information.
What do I need to know?

Data collected by your livestream will tell you how many peak concurrent viewers (how many people attended live) you had. Bear in mind that this only counts the number of devices connected to the steam. In the case of a church service, there may be two or three watching. We usually multiply the number by 2.5 to get a better idea of how many are watching.

A key piece of data is average viewing duration (how long people stayed watching) and audience retention (where people stopped watching). This can tell you if viewers only watch one part of your stream and turn off when the sermon comes on, for example. If this data is important then you may want to look at ways of encouraging viewers to stay watching longer.

We find that the geographic location of viewers is also important. In most cases, we find our viewers are geographically remote from our physical location. In effect we have a separate ‘on-line’ congregation.

The data will also tell you what sort of device people are watching on.

The data available on YouTube is quite extensive and there are online tutorials that will lead you through the options. The good thing is that the data is always available as long as your channel is active.

Simple and quick checks each week on how many are watching and for how long, are two of you key data points that are worth collecting.

28/07/2026

What equipment do you need to start streaming - switching and encoding.

Why do I need a switcher?
A video switcher allows an operator (often called the Director) to select and combine video from cameras and other sources into a single program for streaming, or display. It enables smooth transitions between sources and can add graphics, titles, picture-in-picture effects, and other visual elements to create a professional production.

These days switchers are very cost effective and when used well, can produce a finished product that is as good as network television. However the cameras need to by physically cabled or plugged into the switcher, so the space needs to be organised to enable this to be done.

It is possible to plug the output of just one camera into the encoder and stream an event or church service, however its worth the effort to have at two or three cameras so you can get a variety of shots to integrate into the finished product.

A switcher can also be set up to superimpose titles and the names of those on camera. These would need to be generated by a text program that is fed into the switcher. Some switchers also include a built-in encoder.

What is Streaming
Streaming is the real-time transmission of live video and audio over the internet, allowing people to watch or listen to an event as it happens from almost anywhere in the world. It enables audiences to participate remotely on computers, smartphones, smart TVs, or other internet-connected devices without needing to be physically present.

When broadband internet became common in homes, streaming became much more practical. Some of the key milestones in its growth are the launch of YouTube in 2005, Netflix in 2007 and Facebook Live in 2015.

But the most profound impact on the growth of streaming was COVID-19. People couldn’t leave their homes or local area, so staying safe at home and watching streaming programs ensured that education, communication and entertainment could continue. The pandemic transformed streaming from a niche service into a mainstream expectation. Churches, schools, businesses, sporting organisations, concert venues, and conference organisers all invested in streaming technology to reach audiences who could no longer attend in person. Many people who had never watched a live-streamed event before became comfortable with the format.

While no definitive national statistics exist on how many Australian churches began streaming during COVID-19, research by NCLS Research shows that thousands of congregations rapidly adopted online worship during the pandemic. For many churches, live streaming changed from a specialist ministry used by a minority of larger churches to a normal and expected part of church life.

What equipment do I need to stream?

In the previous post I talked about the equipment you need to produce the images and audio to create the stream. An encoder converts those video and audio signals into a compressed digital format that can be transmitted efficiently over the internet. It packages this data into a continuous stream that can be delivered to a streaming platform and viewed in real time on computers, smartphones, smart TVs, and other connected devices.

There are two main ways of encoding a video and audio signal into a data stream. Software and hardware. Software encoding uses a computer and specialised software to create the live stream, offering flexibility and advanced features. Hardware encoding uses a dedicated physical box or appliance that provides greater reliability and simplicity. A separate encoder is often the better option as it means you’re not relying on a computer which may also be doing other things to supply graphics or text for the stream.

There are lots of software and hardware products on the market.

Your Streaming platform

Most streamers use an existing streaming platform. This is an online service that receives a live video stream from your encoder and distributes it to viewers over the internet. Platforms such as YouTube, Facebook Live, Vimeo, and Twitch are some of the most common ones. Once you have decided which platform to use, you will need to configure your encoder to ‘talk to’ the chosen platform. In most cases this is through a web URL with a username and password.
You will also need to configure your encoder with the technical settings required by the streaming platform.
Viewers watch your stream by clicking on a URL link which can be the same each week by having the stream embedded into another web based platform.

Next - your streaming data. Is it worth collecting?

24/05/2026

Streaming - what equipment do I need?

This is one of the most common questions we hear from churches and individuals who are looking to stream a church service.

Here’s a list:

Camera: Whilst you can use a smartphone to stream directly to an audience, they are not ideal. They are limited by a fixed lens, which is generally quite wide and the inbuilt microphone provides a very poor output. Streaming requires the ability to frame the person or persons speaking in a shot from the waist up with the camera having an an optical zoom lens so you can vary the framing . Ideally, the camera should also be mounted on a stable tripod that enables an operator to smoothly pan, zoom and tilt the camera.
It will also need either an HDMI output connector or SDI. HDMI is designed for the home consumer whereas SDI is a professional video signal that can run quite long distances without image degradation.

Lighting: The platform, stage or altar area of most churches is lit by overhead lights. This is not ideal for getting a good image for streaming. Faces look better when they are lit from the front with the light at an angle of around 40 degrees. This can be difficult to achieve as churches aren’t usually built with a mounting bar in the right spot. This can be overcome by light stands or working with an electrician. Another issue can be windows behind the person speaking, which means they are backlit. Options are to use a blackout screen or position the subject away from the window. Many churches will also have daylight coming through windows, which is a good thing as it will lift the ambient light levels, however any additional lights need to be ‘daylight balanced’. Fortunately, most modern lighting fixtures provide this option

Colour Balance: Unlike the human eye, a camera sensor works best when the light source on the subject or object is are all the same colour temperature. Generally, a camera is set for either daylight or tungsten light. There needs to be a match between the colour of the light and the colour balance setting in the camera.
This ensures that skin tones, clothing, and objects are reproduced accurately, preventing the image from appearing too blue, orange, or unnatural to the audience. Colour temperature is measured in degrees Kelvin (K), with standard daylight commonly balanced at approximately 5600K. On cameras, the colour balance setting is often indicated by a sun for daylight or a light bulb for tungsten. Getting the lighting right is crucial.

Camera Settings
Smartphone cameras are entirely automatic. They ‘look’ at what is being photographed and decide what it should look like. It sets colour balance, exposure and audio levels automatically. It’s a testament to the designers that they produce such great images. However for consistent image quality, your cameras should be set to manual. We run all our cameras on manual which means the colour balance is set to daylight, the exposure is set manually as is the frame rate of 50fps for PAL regions and 60fps for NTSC. The only setting we leave on automatic is focusing. Modern video cameras have excellent auto-focus systems.

Audio: As we have already said, the audio captured by a smartphone and in general, with any video camera is very poor. The only way for it sound OK is for it to be within 2 or 3 metres of the speaker in an acoustically dead room. For streaming a church service, you need to get the audio feed for your stream from the audio mixer being used for public address.
The PA system.
This audio feed can be plugged into the camera’s external mic socket, or added in the encoder or switcher (see below). It is important to match the level coming out of the audio desk with what the camera is set up for. Cameras designed for streaming often have a selector to select microphone or line input . Too much signal and it will distort. Too little and it will be hard to hear. This needs as much attention as the lighting and may need a ‘DI’ or ‘direct injection’ box that is designed to enable this sort of connection.

Next: The infrastructure, encoders, switchers and connecting to the world.

22/05/2026

Streaming – Learning from Five Years of Experience
Like many churches in Australia and around the world, the Covid shutdowns gave us an unexpected opportunity: reaching our congregation through live streaming. What began as a necessity has become a lasting part of how we do church.
For over four years, we've been live streaming our 9.30am Sunday service — and we've learned a lot along the way.
Getting the congregation on board
One of the first challenges was that older members of our congregation took time to adjust to watching their regular service on a phone, laptop, or Smart TV. Some gave up early on, but gradually — often with a little help from their children or grandchildren — they found their way in. Patience and personal support made all the difference.
The platform we use
We stream through Church Online Platform, developed by Life.Church — a US megachurch led by Craig Groeschel. It's 100% free and purpose-built for churches, offering built-in chat, prayer request, and giving functions.
Our stream goes to YouTube, and we embed the YouTube feed directly into the Church Online Platform. This means our virtual congregation logs on to the same URL every single week — simple, consistent, and familiar.
How many people does it take?
That depends on how polished you want your stream to be. Here's how our team breaks down:
* Online hosts — volunteers who welcome people in the chat, mirroring what happens at our physical front door each week
* Prayer team — volunteers who respond personally to online prayer requests
* Camera operators — three volunteers on our three-camera setup
* Director — one person switching between cameras and announcement slides
* Lyrics and scripture — we superimpose song words and Bible readings over the stream, integrated with ProPresenter, the software we use for on-site lyrics and video
* Audio, lighting, and ProPresenter console — rounding out the team
All up, that's seven volunteers in our Tech Team each week.
We were fortunate to already have a three-camera setup in place before Covid, which meant we could pivot to online services quickly. Not every church is in that position — and that's completely okay. You can start small and grow.

Next up: The basics — what equipment do you actually need to start streaming?

22/05/2026

Three Easy Steps to Filming Events
One of the most valuable skills a videographer can have is the ability to cover an event with a single camera — and make it look in the edit like you had a full crew there.
It's not magic. It's discipline. Specifically, it's knowing which three types of shots to get before you even arrive.
Do this every time and you'll give yourself — or your editor — enough material to cut together something that looks polished and professional. Skip it, and you'll end up with a pile of footage that all feels the same.
Before you get there, build a mental shopping list of shots. Walk through the event in your head. Know what you're looking for.
Wide Shots. These set the scene. Shoot a few — one static, then try panning in from something interesting nearby. Let them run for at least 15 seconds. This is what tells your viewer where they are and what's going on. Don't rush them.
Mid Shots. Now move in closer — and change your angle. Pick a group of people and let the action happen within the frame rather than chasing it around. Aim for at least ten of these, each around 10 seconds. These are the shots that hold an edit together.
Close Ups. Faces. Food. The guest of honour. A cute kid doing something wonderful. Get in close, hold steady, and let it run for at least 5 seconds. Handheld is fine — but rock steady is non-negotiable. That takes practice.
Three types of shots. That's the whole system.
Get them and you can edit your footage any way you like. You’ll see this technique every time you see a news story. Make it a habit to deconstruct how a news story was shot.
Without planning to ‘shoot coverage’, you're just hoping something cuts together.

14/05/2026

Storytelling on a Shoestring: Making Compelling Videos with Minimal Budget.
One of the biggest myths in video production is that great content requires a big budget. It doesn't. Some of the most powerful videos ever made were shot with modest equipment, by small teams, with next to no money. What they all had in common was a great story.
Yes, you need a decent digital camera. Image quality matters and there's no getting around that. But don't fall into the trap of thinking you need the latest gadget, the newest gimbal, or every accessory in the catalogue. Gear envy is real in this industry, and it can become a very expensive distraction.
Here's what actually matters: finding the story that demonstrates the real impact of the organisation's work. Not the glossy, polished version — the genuine, human truth of how this not-for-profit is changing lives. That's what moves audiences. That's what drives donations, volunteers, and support.
Talk to the people being helped. Listen before you shoot. Ask what difference this organisation has made to their life. The answer to that question is your film.
A compelling story told with a mid-range camera will always outperform a shallow one shot on the latest equipment. Audiences connect with authenticity, not production value.
Spend less time in the camera shop. Spend more time finding your story.

14/05/2026

Why the Not-for-Profit Sector is a Great Place to Start Your Video Career.
Breaking into video production is tough. Everyone wants experience, but nobody wants to give you your first shot. That's where the not-for-profit sector can change everything.
Let's be honest — charities and community organisations rarely have big budgets. You won't be ordering the latest camera package or hiring a full crew. But here's the thing: working within tight constraints is one of the best lessons a young producer can learn. It forces you to be resourceful, creative, and solutions-focused. Skills that will serve you for your entire career.
What the sector lacks in budget, it more than makes up for in story. The people that not-for-profits support — those overcoming hardship, rebuilding their lives, or contributing to their communities — are extraordinary storytellers waiting to be heard. Learning to capture those human stories with sensitivity and authenticity is the foundation of great video production. No drama school, no Hollywood budget required.
You'll also get real responsibility, fast. In a small organisation, you're often the entire video department. That means writing briefs, managing shoots, editing, and delivering finished content. It's a masterclass in every aspect of production.
And don't underestimate the sense of purpose. Making videos that genuinely help people and causes you believe in? That's a pretty special way to learn your craft.
Start where the stories are. The rest will follow.

Pro-Video Blogger

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