Examples of Decent Videos

Video is a great way to share good Church-related content on the Web. Many people think that videos, in order to be effective, need to be very polished or take a lot of time. In browsing through some of the online video services, I’ve run across some good amateur examples of using video to help spread the word.

The following are a few videos that are concerned with temples. These are just a few; there are actually a good number of these on the Web.

• Tour of Las Vegas Temple grounds. Someone shot some videos as they walked around the Las Vegas Temple grounds. The natural audio accentuates the peace and quiet of the area. (4:06)
• Spain Madrid Temple. Basic slideshow made from still images, with music. The video has a title and prologue in Spanish. (1:40)
• Los Angeles Temple Travels. A couple visits the Los Angeles Temple. Great slide-show shots and music express the feelings they experienced as they visited. (2:48)

Another good topic for sharing good information about the Church (and one that is often related to temples) is the subject of temple marriages. These two videos were shared by couples who were happy about their temple marriages. (They do a good job of pointing out that temple marriages are not weird, strange, or totally secret. These are normal, average couples getting married in a way that they choose.)

• A Temple Marriage. Video shot after a temple marriage at the Salt Lake Temple. Shows happy family and friends, celebrating the marriage. No voice; just two popular songs played in the background of the video. (6:52)
• Courtship and Marriage at the San Diego Temple. This is a couple’s wedding video, shot at the San Diego Temple. Nice video with incidental music background. (2:59)

Some people are directly trying to share information about missionaries, mission life, and the fruits of missionary work. I thought the following were very good examples of this genre of shared video:

• Temple Square Mission. A documentary clip about missionaries on Temple Square. (1:47)
• Provo MTC. Documentary clip about what goes on in the MTC as missionaries prepare to serve. (2:31)
• BJ’s Conversion Story. A recent convert tells why he decided to join the Church and the happiness he has found in the Church. (3:14)
• Mike’s Conversion Story. Another recent convert tells why he decided to join the Church. (12:15)
• Finding Lost Sheep. Nice video montage (with background song) that shows pictures of LDS converts and missionaries. (4:32)

One thing I was surprised about is that there aren’t more videos online about visiting Church history sites. There are many such sites around the world (and especially in North America), and it would seem a natural for sharing information about the Church. I did find one short (0:36) video clip about the Sacred Grove.

How can you encourage such videos? Link to them from your blog or Web site. You can even embed them, if you desire. (Most of the above videos have embedding code available at the video’s site.) It could be even better if you were to share some of your own videos. Just upload them to places like YouTube or Google Video, and then they can be shared around the world.

Drop us a line (or leave a comment) sharing how you’ve used video to help put good LDS-oriented content on the Web.

-Allen