Filming in the Wind, Rain, or Scorching Sun

The Media Center of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) has been producing the Golden Angels music group’s DVDs for 17 years. Golden Angels has been featured in music video productions in the Philippines, Mongolia, Taiwan, and South Korea. When the Golden Angels group has visited mission fields to support evangelistic meetings, they usually had to stay for about four to six weeks. Often after those meetings, the NSD media team joined them to shoot music videos.

These music videos have been distributed in the form of a DVD or memory stick. Many people have been touched by them. It takes a lot of dedicated effort to create these videos. But many don’t know what is involved in producing the videos so many find inspiring. 

A Complex Process

Producing a music video generally requires many supporting teams and staff, including such roles as a director, music director, director of photography, camera team, lighting team, makeup team, costumes team, graphic designer, and managers of the musicians. 

For the Golden Angels music videos, four people — three producers/technicians of the NSD Media Center and me — do all things relevant to filming. The three technicians handle cameras and lighting, camera drone, Jimmy Jib, and gimbals. A coordinator and an associate coordinator of the NSD Golden Angels Ministries lead the music group members. 

In 2020, we have produced six music videos in several different locations. One music video was produced at a rented studio; two at the beach in the East Sea area of South Korea; one at the Morning Calm Garden; one at Dear Mountain; and the last one in a Hwaseong reed field. For the video shooting in the East Sea area, we rented an underwater film studio to add underwater footage. 

Not an Easy Task

Whenever I participate in the video production, I feel that this is not an easy task. First, we have to check possible locations on the internet and visit those sites to check on the shooting conditions. And if it turns out to be a good place, we have to submit an official request to the managing office of the place and receive permission. Then we submit a request for drone flying to the military office and the aviation office. When all the permissions are granted, it is time to pack our gear and depart before the break of day.

It usually takes about two hours to reach the location by car and another hour to install the video equipment. When we reach the location, we unload the video gear and carry it to the shooting site. While we install a Jimmy Jib, a drone, a gimbal, and so on, the Golden Angels members do their makeup and get dressed. When all the preparation is done, we begin our video shooting. It generally takes about seven to eight hours to shoot the video. If the video shooting is not finished in a day, we continue to shoot the following day. 

Winds, Rain, and a Scorching Sun

The Golden Angels music video production requires good physical condition because it is usually done during the summer season. In spring, the new Golden Angels members receive training, and then it is time to record their music album. When the music recording is done, the recording is used for music video production. 

When we shoot the video in the summertime, the rainy season has often arrived, with typhoons, strong winds, or cloudy skies. Otherwise, we are under the scorching sun. When we went to the East Sea area this summer, we experienced a typhoon, strong wind, rain, and the hot sun all in one day.

Post-Production

After all this challenging work, the Media Center producers come back to the office with videos to edit. They put the pieces of video together and add subtitles. We have to translate the English lyrics into the four languages used in the NSD territories — Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Mongolian. These subtitles are proofread and corrected. 

The introductory graphics are created, and the DVD or USB cover design is created for final production and distribution. 

When everything is done, the music videos are finally released. They are usually distributed at NSD meetings, evangelistic meetings, Golden Angels concerts, and other occasions. The videos are also uploaded on YouTube, reaching people all over the world.

Glorifying God’s Name

Throughout the years, the Golden Angels’ music videos have been loved and cherished by millions of people around the world. Whether they are young or old, they have expressed their gladness and joy toward these works.

Our only hope is that through these music videos, our God’s name will be glorified, and we will be able to continue to deliver the message of hope and love to people.

The original version of this commentary was posted on the Northern Asia-Pacific Division news site.