Whether it’s to grab the attention, kick off a talk or support your big point… videos/drama’s can add a lot to a presentation if they’re used well… and be a massive distraction if they’re not!
Below is a bunch of different places to start you searching:
The Skit Guys (http://skitguys.com/) have a heap of great videos that are mostly done by one or two guys! They can be used as video or you can download a script if you have the ability to do the drama. If you have the time and people to put the drama together, young people do love to be involved in these kinds of things and can be a great way to bring up new talent.
One Time Blind (http://www.onetimeblind.com/) are another group that don’t have as good quality video’s, but do have a wide variety of skits that might be better to perform yourself.
Cardboard Testimonies: A great way to do a very simple, yet powerful drama is to try one of these. This is the most popular one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ and here is another using more young people http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YurQ6KE8on8&feature=related.
Spoken Word: (http://jeffbethke.com/) For more of a mini-sermon, Jeff Bethke’s spoken word videos are hard to beat, with a number of 5ish minute videos that mix top quality video editing with a flowing rap style poetry… the girls tell me he’s also good looking! He became popular with his: ‘I hate Jesus, but love the church’ video that went viral on Facebook, yet is way more than a YouTube one hit wonder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d-QA8TEPow is one of his videos that I loved the most. For more in this poetry rap genre, YouTube: Spoken Word and you’ll find a number of brilliant videos that aren’t as catchy in their production, but speak some brilliant messages of truth. Again, with the right youth or leader, this would be brilliant to have performed live.
Dance/Drama’s: Drama’s can be extremely powerful, especially when put to the right kind of music. One that has become popular is Lifehouse’s Everything http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA and if done well, can be an incredible testimony of God’s love and grace. There are many others that are similar to this, just search YouTube.
Artwork: If you have the right talented artist, then doing some sort of large canvas painting while speaking or to music if they’re really quick, can be a brilliant way to illustrate a point. However to have a similar effect without an extremely talented artist, you could do a paint by numbers approach http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIYl3MFv96Y&feature=related, where the artwork is done in pencil (unseen by the audience) onto the back of the canvas (light cloth), artists paint on the back of the canvas so people in the congregation see the paint seeping through and eventually an image takes shape.
Movie clips: Somewhat of a stalwart for youth ministry is to use a popular movie scene to illustrate a point. Often times this can be more of a distraction than a help, as students just want to watch the rest of the movie!! Wing Clips (http://www.wingclips.com/ ) has a wide selection of short movie clips that illustrate a point while keeping within copyright laws.
Video clips: There’s a stack of good web sites like http://www.sermonspice.com or http://www.bluefishtv.com that can provide high quality video clips from worshipful and inspiring right through to the comedic and bizarre! YouTube and GodTube also host a stack of great videos, usually takes a lot longer to troll through the sheer volume. Max 7 (http://www.max7.org ) is especially good for kids and youth as it shares some high quality, mostly cartoon videos that tell a story. that I think is an Australian site that brings together a bunch of different free videos to use. I’ve seen the David and Goliath one used for upper primary and it’s very engaging! Most of them are done in cartoon format, but many aren’t kids ones, they’re more that middle school age.
Illustrative talks: If you have to come up with a creative idea for an assembly or want to get a bit creative with your talk http://www.schoolswork.co.uk/resourcetoolkit/category/assemblies/ is amazingly good. In the UK they do RE lessons to whole school assemblies, which would be incredibly daunting at first! But means that with so many youth pastors and workers going into schools and putting their creative ideas in one place, there’s sure to be some ideas to ‘borrow’ here!
Re:form (http://reform.wearesparkhouse.org/) This is far more specific, but this cartoon based youth curriculum is brilliant to either use as a group, or just take the cartoon to set the scene for your talk… some are a bit risque, but many ask the big questions young people want answered in a very cutting edge way.
Music: Having a song to set the scene before a talk can be extremely helpful, whether it be a more worshipful piece or something that is more topical, driving people to start thinking through an issue before you start speaking on it. Of course, the solo piece can be fraught with danger… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW6e2tDIWW4 yet can also be a great opportunity to grow the skills of young people to do a set piece that they can practice. Here’s a tutorial for potential singers to follow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvCMpPBgKXE
Do you have any other suggestions?? Please comment below.
