1. COMPELLING CLIPS
By placing the most compelling moments of a sermon at the very start of each sermon video we are, in a sense, “promising” to our viewers the value and message they will receive in this sermon. Choosing the right clips for a trailer helps viewers become aware of the direction or final destination of a sermon, rather than merely hoping that committing 45 minutes to watch a given sermon will be worth one’s time. Imagine yourself in a conversation with a friend, trying to convince them to listen to a sermon because you believe it’s message is important for them to hear. Choosing the right clips form the foundation of your trailer.
The next 3 elements do not have to be completed in the following order:
2. MATCHING MUSIC
Perhaps more than anything else, music determines the mood of your trailer. Music shouldn’t distract from the message of your trailer, but rather support it being conveyed by engaging an emotional response. Do your trailer clips call for an intriguing mood? Or a sinister one? Is there a mystery being unfolded? Is there a dramatic narrative in the scripture text? Or is it a word of comfort and hope?
3. CONVENIENT (& optional ILLUSTRATIVE) CAPTIONS:
While listening to a sermon engages one’s auditory sense, reading the words being spoken engages one’s visual sense. Thus, captions are a matter of focus and convenience for viewers to instantly grasp the message of a trailer (as I’m sure you’ve seen countless other social media channels employ). However, captions can also be powerfully illustrative. Rather than functioning as subtitles, you may conceive of a way to use captions to bring a concept to life, visually, in a way that would not be otherwise possible.
4. ILLUSTRATIVE B-ROLL (optional)
Like illustrative captions, B-roll (royalty-free footage) can be used to help viewers better imagine a scenario or concept being described in a trailer. Eg. If a preacher is describing two people arguing, you might place footage behind the captions of two people in an argument. If a preacher is describing something in vivid detail, like a scene from nature, or an an action that a person performs, you might use footage of similar things.
As you can probably tell, editing a sermon’s trailer takes the most time in the video editing process (2-4 hours, depending on how creative you want to get). However, as I’ve noted above, the aspects you might spend the most time on are optional (illustrative captions and B-roll).
Each trailer must include thoughtfully selected clips and music, as well convenient captions; these aspects are standard from week-to-week. Beyond that, you are free to add any other effects as you see fit, however they are not expected.
Your first goal as an editor, then, will be to become familiar with Davinci Resolve by editing a sermon video that includes a basic trailer. Improving your edits and trailers will come over time.