If your church conference is being filmed, most of the organiser’s work happens in the weeks before. Send the crew a running order and a list of moments they must capture. Put them in touch with the venue and your sound engineer. Get speakers to agree to being recorded, and tell attendees about the cameras. The checklist below follows the order Aligned Vision works in, so you know what each stage needs from you.
How the filming process runs
Our event coverage page sets out four steps:
- Initial meeting. We talk through your vision, the scope of the event and what you need.
- Technical setup. The team arrives early to position cameras and test audio.
- Live capture. The crew films the event as it happens. Where a package has more than one operator, they work in sync to cover different angles.
- Finished product. We edit, grade and deliver the footage, ready for broadcast or your archive.
Most of the checklist sits between the first meeting and the day itself.
Six to eight weeks before
- Book the crew. The live streaming section of our help centre recommends booking at least 2 to 4 weeks ahead, and 6 to 8 weeks for large-scale events such as festivals or award shows. For a multi-day conference with streaming, book at the longer end.
- Choose a package. Our post on event videography prices explains what each one includes.
- Decide what you want at the end. A full event film, a highlights reel, short vertical clips, a stream, or a mix. Your answer affects how many cameras and operators you need.
Speakers and guest artists
Ask every speaker, worship leader and guest artist whether their session can be recorded and published. Say where it will appear, such as a live stream, YouTube, or short clips on social media. Ask when you invite them, so they have time to think about it.
The Methodist Church’s recording consent guide points out that preachers hold the copyright in their own words, and that a visiting speaker who finds a camera already set up may feel unable to say no. Make it easy to decline, and tell the crew who has opted out.
Two weeks before
Send the running order
Include session times, speakers, worship sets and breaks. Add a must-capture list: the opening, each main speaker, worship sets, any testimonies or commissioning, and anything that only happens once. Our help centre says all crew are briefed with a shot list before arrival. Your running order is what that shot list is built from.
If the stream or film will use name captions, send each speaker’s name and role spelled the way they want it.
Share the venue details
The help centre says that for most events, a detailed venue plan or a short call with your event manager is enough, and that we liaise with the venue in advance. For complex productions, it recommends a site visit, which can be arranged as part of pre-production.
Useful details to send:
- a floor plan showing the stage, seating and doors
- access and setup times, since the crew arrives early
- loading and parking arrangements
- where power is available
- the name of the person at the venue on the day
Sort the sound
A microphone on a camera mostly picks up the sound of the room, so speakers sound distant. Ask your technical team to arrange a feed from the sound desk for the crew. Put our crew in touch with your sound engineer before the day.
If you are streaming
- Platforms. Decide where the stream goes. On our live streaming page, Essential streaming covers one platform, and Professional streaming and Broadcast Stream include multi-platform streaming. Our guide to what you need to live stream a church service covers the basics.
- Music licences. Check your CCLI licences cover streaming the worship, including any backing tracks. Our post on the CCLI Streaming Licence explains which licence covers what.
- Internet. A stream needs a steady upload connection. Tell us about any wired connection the venue has.
Privacy and filming notices
People at a filmed conference are entitled to know about it. The ICO’s guidance on the right to be informed says privacy information should be given when you collect someone’s data, in clear and plain language. For a conference, that means:
- a line on the registration or ticket page saying the event will be filmed or streamed, where the footage will appear and how long you keep it
- notices at the doors
- a short announcement at the start of each day
- seating the cameras won’t cover, for anyone who prefers not to appear
If children will be there, follow your safeguarding policy. The Methodist guide says not to film children without parental consent. Get that consent at registration, and tell the crew which areas or sessions to avoid. Our post on consent and safeguarding for church live streams goes into more detail.
On the day
- Name one contact the crew can go to with questions.
- Tell the crew about any change to the running order as soon as you know.
- Keep the must-capture list handy and point out key people as they arrive.
- Keep the camera positions clear of extra seating and bags.
After the conference
Our help centre lists the deliverables, depending on your package: a full event film of 5 to 20 minutes, a highlights reel of 1 to 3 minutes and short vertical clips. They arrive by private download link within 7 to 10 business days.
To plan filming for your next conference, contact us with your dates, venue and running order. Our live streaming packages list what each streaming option includes.
