Family Fun Day: The Church Office
Project Type: Promo
Church: Osborn Family Church, Eden, N.C.
Church Size: 2,001-5,000
Synopsis:
The annual Family Fun Day is just around the corner, and the staff is brainstorming the best way to communicate just how exciting this year’s event is going to be. The energy in the room soon begins to wane as one bad idea gives way to another that’s even worse. Filmed in a mockumentary style, this promo harkens back to comedy classics like The Office and This is Spinal Tap.
Film Gear Used:
Canon 60D EOS DSLR and EOS 80D DSLR Cameras
Canon 50m f/1.4 lens, Canon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens
Shure MKE 600 Shotgun Mic run directly into the camera
Behind The Scenes:
“Every spring we do a big outdoor service for about 3,000 people,” shares Tiffany Murphy, video director at Osborn Baptist Church. “We felt like we were in a creative rut, with most of our videos driven by a person talking right to camera. As we were brainstorming how to promote the event it occurred to us that the whole process itself was pretty funny, so we decided to put that onscreen.”
Murphy explains, “And, of course, the Office was a big inspiration for us. It’s just one of the best shows when it comes to scripting comedy that feels candid. We wrote our script to make it feel that same way, like you’re stuck right there in the staff meeting.”
One of the unique challenges of the project was that the video team was under considerable pressure to pull it off in a single day. “It was definitely an 11th hour idea,” recalls Murphy. “But we believed the imperfections would make it even funnier. We definitely tried to structure it as best we could, but we also just wanted to have some fun with it.”
The video team also made deliberate decisions to stay open to creativity and humor, even late into the production process. “While we were filming the pastor’s stand up section the boom mic accidentally hit him in the head, which we thought was funny,” explains Murphy. “So we scripted it in and reshot it just to get that moment on camera, and it got a big laugh!”
Murphy continues, “Over the past few years we’ve often put a lot of pressure on ourselves to use certain setups or certain equipment on our videos. It’s sometimes good to remember that you can still make something effective using smaller, less expensive gear.”
Ultimately, the overarching strategy behind “Family Fun Day: The Church Office” was twofold. “While the primary goal was to make people aware of the event itself,” says Murphy, “we also wanted to create something that people would want to share with friends. Which would make it easier to invite those friends to come along with them to church.”
