Years ago our youth entered a video contest to try and win money to attend a conference. We wrote a script that included all kinds of crazy scenes. The girl that was going to film it took one look at the script and said, “I can’t do this.”
“You need a green screen for that.” was her reply.
A green screen? I had never heard of it. Apparently every kid from here to Timbuktu knows what a green screen is, but I didn’t.
Fast forward to today – and we not only have a green screen, we painted a wall in one of our children's rooms to be a green screen. Even if you can’t afford a green screen (it was like $100) or don’t have a spare room to paint – you can still have a green screen. Just paint one of the walls in one of your Sunday School rooms. That’s what Karl Bastian did at his church.
![]() |
Green Screen Wall at Karl's church, The Rock |
If you are going to paint a wall, it is worth your while to buy a gallon of the stuff the professionals use, Chroma Key Green paint. It will cost a little more, but should still come in under $50. We got ours at a Sherwin-William’s paint store. They quite often have coupons online. The "real" stuff will provide more consistent background lighting across the wall.
So why have a green screen?
Here are just a few ways you can use it in ministry:
- On location announcements – use the green screen and then put a scene behind the announcer. Are you advertising a missions trip? Use a shot of a landmark from that country, or how about a wild animal ready to pounce on the announcer?
If you really want to get fancy with this style of announcement, you can pre-record someone reading their ½ of a scripted interview. Put them in front of whatever scene you want. We used a palm tree lined street in Jerusalem to advertise our Palm Sunday Breakfast. Show the video on a Sunday morning. Have the spokesperson in your sanctuary “interview” the video by reading the other ½ of the script. Click here for a copy of the complete Mrs. Bucket scripted interview. Complete instructions for this type of video are here.- Let your kids pre-record announcements in front of the screen and put fun images behind them.
- Make a music video. My dream is to do “I’ve Got a Book” from Phil Vishnar’s What’s In the Bible series.
![]() |
Great scene for Easter in front of the empty tomb made with a green screen. |
with their knight for lessons on the Armor of God.
What have you done with a green screen in the ministry? Share your ideas below.
Most of the pictures for today's post came from Karl Bastian's blog, Kidologist.com Karl is a full-time children's ministry pastor at The Rock church in Littleton, Colorado. He is also the founder of Kidology.org a website designed to equip and encourage children's workers in the ministry.
No comments:
Post a Comment