With so many motion backgrounds to choose from, it can be a little intimidating when you’re first learning to pair them with each song in your worship services. While all of our backgrounds are designed to look great in nearly every worship setting, it’s important to remember that every motion does not fit every moment. To create the most impactful visual experience in your time of worship, you must be intentional when assigning backgrounds.
Here are four factors to consider when choosing motions for each song in your service:
1. Style
The first thing to consider when choosing backgrounds for your service is the overall visual style. What is happening at your church today? What season of the year are you in? Is your pastor preaching a certain series or a topical message? It’s best to pair the style of your motions not only with the individual songs, but with these external factors to create a cohesive look. For example, in summertime, you may choose to use ocean backgrounds. Or when your pastor is speaking on God’s creation, you might use motions that have a spacey feel.
Here is an easy guide to pairing backgrounds together for a service.
Background From The January 2018 CMG Pack (Font: Montserrat)
2. Color
The color of a motion background plays a major role in the feeling of a worship song. Bright colors such as orange, pink, green, cyan and yellow can convey excitement, action, fun and growth. On the other hand, darker colors such as blue, purple and red convey calmness, peace, intimacy and love. When choosing a background, listen to the song and ask yourself what feelings it naturally produces. Then, match your color to this mood. If you’re using color lighting in your services, you’ll want to match these same colors with your LED lights, as well.
Background From The January 2018 CMG Pack (Font: Montserrat)
3. Speed
The speed of a motion background is one of the most critical aspects that can make or break a moment. A fast, busy motion used during a slow, intimate song can be a total distraction. It’s important to assess the speed of your song and choose a background that matches its tempo. In a best case scenario, the motion should seem as though it was created to be paired with that exact worship song. Keep in mind that most church presentation software comes with tools to adjust the speed of motions. But, to make choosing the perfect speed easier than ever, we created TempoMatch.
See how to use TempoMatch for your services.
Background From The January 2018 CMG Pack (Font: Montserrat)
4. Animation
The most pro-level factor to consider when choosing a motion background involves an element that is so subtle that most people don’t even catch it. Once you’ve covered all of your bases with the other important details mentioned, take note of the animation used in the motions. When listening to the lyrics of the song, pay attention to phrases that could be paired with the motion happening in the background. For example, if a song mentions moving forward, you could choose a background with animation that is pressing in. Or if a song mentions lifting up praises to God, you could use a motion where the particles are moving in an upward motion. It’s not likely that you can pull this off with every song, but when you can, it creates a memorable visual experience.
Background From The January 2018 CMG Pack (Font: Montserrat)
What Do You Think?
How do you choose your worship backgrounds? Are there any other factors to consider?
Let us know by leaving a comment below!
