Sources of Media to Use in Church Ministries
Churches must honor the work and livelihood of others. We honor them by seeking permission, even paying licensing fees, to use material - or performances of material - that is copyrighted by others. This includes sheet music for choir, clips of movies, tracks for cds, and even downloads to your IPod.
CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International) is one way to meet our obligation. For a yearly fee, computed per your church's average worship attendance, a church may use those works whose owners CCLI has contracts with. The company also has a licensing opportunity for some cinema work (movies).
Where Can a Church Find A/V Media?
Commercial Packages
SmartSound is both a software plug-in and a library of generic theme music best used in video production. It can be used to import these clips into Adobe Premiere and similar a/v software.
Look at what came with you video and/or audio editing program. Many packages of software - especially "higher-end" come with whole libraries of clips that you can use. You have the license because you bought the product. Many of these packages also give you a link where you can (mostly purchase) and download additional clips (video) and tracks (audio).
Do a Google, Bing, Yahoo, or MSN search for "audio clips", audio "tracks", or "video clips." There are many sources of these.
Midnight Oil Productions and Integrity are two examples of specialty audio/visual media developers who are providing media for churches. Additionally, if you are using one of the Presentation Software packages (MediaShout, SongShowPlus, EasyWorship, LiveWorship, Pro Presenter, or Sunday Plus; Read a review of these.) you may already have an inside track in receiving discounts, or at least access, to clips and tracks.
Build a Library of Your Own
Have one of your photographers take pictures - especially one who has shown you the gift of being able to compose good photographs. (You may need a release (Releases Discussed by the Pros; When You Need a Permit to Shoot) to use some of these pictures, especially if they are of people. Remember: Never publish pictures of children with their names or even in a family group whose last name is identified.) These can be centered on a particular theme or miscellaneous themes and subjects. You can then download (presuming these are digital), name and catalogue these according to theme and object. Do this from the beginning or spend many hours "chasing down" that photograph that you remember having, but can't remember where it is.
Ask one of your videographers to go out and record clips of various sites with their sounds. These can be used as backdrops in the same manner that I-Worship does theirs.
One lesson that the staff of Midnight Oil Productions teaches is important to remember. Balance time and cost. This is particularly true of specialty video and photos such as time-lapse photography/videography (e.g. clouds passing, other processes' timelines crunched into a few seconds. Sometimes you will get better quality than you could ever get on your own for less money than what trying it on your own will get you.
You will not have to pay the works of this library unless your photographer/videographer is a professional. Then your terms may need to be negotiated. A pro, however, will be more aware of the need for Releases and Permits.
When do you need a permit? (From Videomaker Magazine)
If you're shooting video unobtrusively in the great outdoors (like a beach or park) for your own personal use--video that won't be seen outside your own living room, you probably don't need a permit. If you're shooting personal video in a controlled area like a museum or restaurant, your chances of needing a permit (or, at least, verbal permission) jump dramatically. If you're shooting video for profit in such a location, your chances of needing a permit skyrocket. The rule of thumb is: when in doubt, make a phone call to the authority that governs the location. That way there's no guessing involved; you'll know you're on the right side of the law.