To me, Christmas is the most visual season because of all the snow, lights, sparkle and elements that are included in the Christmas story! And when we have a season that is this visually important, that means that the visuals we use to support and create atmosphere’s in our church environments must also be considered with high regard. Today I want to uncover my tested method to finding the best Christmas motion backgrounds with 4 easy steps.
When you look at any piece of media, try to use these four tips as a way to filter out the bad and highlight the good, allowing you to make the most of this amazing season by finding the best Christmas motion backgrounds and imagery:
1. TEMPO.
The first thing I do when choosing media is I listen to that song over and over. In doing so, I have a natural rhythm, that the song or moment needs. It may be really fast to accompany an upbeat song, or a very subtle and still motion background to go well with a ballad for Christmas, etc. But speed and tempo are essential in finding the best Christmas media, so make sure this is one of the first things you evaluate when you find media. When the tempo of a motion background accurately supports the tempo of a moment, you get magic. When these two things are not in sync, you get a train wreck. Always watch for speed and tempo when choosing the best Christmas motion backgrounds for your services.
2. EMOTION.
Any great story evokes emotion. Lately my favorite TV show has been NBC’s hit This Is Us, and that show is full of using visuals, music and dialogue to evoke emotions during it’s storytelling arch. Well did you know that visual help tell and support the story? Just like a visual setting is so imperative for a character to exist in theatre, visuals are imperative for great emotion in a story. Don’t just try to fill the void of a screen by finding a “background.” Instead, to find the best Christmas media, you may need to find the best Christmas “settings” for your story to live within. You’ll find that setting by evaluating the emotion that a motion background may embody.
3. BALANCE.
Since the word “peace” is one of the anchor concepts off the Christmas Story, it’s good to make sure that our media isn’t too overwhelming, especially if your going to be choosing Christmas motion backgrounds to go behind text on a screen. Instead, I find that the best Christmas motion backgrounds are those that have implemented incredible white space into the design, and provide a healthy balance of visual enhancement, and room for the practical need for lyrics to exist hand-in-hand. Media with great balance help make sure that the visuals don’t overrule your story or steel the show. (That’s when you’re services begin to feel like entertainment, rather than encounter with the newborn child!)
4. DESIGN.
Lastly, I care deeply about the design or look of a motion. If the things we display and use in our environments aren’t of high quality, we create an environment that looks cheap, cheesy, or put to gather last minute; none of which set the mood that we’re glad our guests have come to spend Christmas with us. If you want to choose the best Christmas motion backgrounds, you’ve got to look at design. Here are a few things to consider when it comes to great designed Christmas media:
- Consistent style of elements (You don’t have vector and grunge next to each other)
- Good use of color (See adobe’s color tool to get an idea for good color combinations)
- Nothing Cheesy or Cheap (like clip art that isn’t intended to be cartoony or illustrated)
- Unintentionally far from reality (Like star motions that look like the shape of a vector star, instead of small dots).
I hope this helps as you begin to prepare for Christmas and help craft atmosphere’s that transform the lives of those who attend your services. When it comes to finding the best motion backgrounds for Christmas, these can be easy gut-check’s to evaluate if a piece of media is good or not. IF you’re really struggling to find that perfect piece of media, we may suggest looking into the Christmas series our team has curated for you to help you get started or go deeper in your hunt for amazing Christmas content. Click here to see all of them!
