Promoting Religious Vocations Through Digital Media
General Service Info
Read further details about our digital resource services
GENERAL INFO
Is there a vetting process to receive services?
Vocations Outreach serves religious communities in good standing with the Catholic Church. Vocations Outreach takes our commitment to serving young adults and the mission of Franciscan University of Steubenville seriously. It is important for us to know and vet religious communities who apply for our services.
Vocations Outreach has an ongoing partnership with the Institute on Religious Life and has adopted a vetting process similar to theirs. As such, communities already accepted as affiliates with the IRL will not usually have to undergo further vetting. Unless otherwise notified, communities who are not IRL affiliates will be asked to go through a vetting process which consists of submitting:
-A copy of your rules, constitutions, & declarations
-Copies of recently printed literature (brochures, newsletters, etc).
Orders should fill out a Digital Services Application as the first step in this process, and a Vocations Outreach team member will be in touch regarding additional documents needed for submission. Once submitted, the additional documents will be reviewed by our advisory team.
Vocations Outreach retains the right to request additional information and the right to decline services to any community. Thank you for your understanding on this matter and if you have any additional questions about our vetting process, please contact us here.
Does a community have to participate in the Day in the Life series to receive other services?
Communities must participate in the Day in the Life series to receive other videography or photography services. Our Day in the Life series is our most popular series and it is the best style of video to capture a community’s charism. The application process communities must go through for this then qualifies them for all other services.
Communities wishing to receive only graphic design or social media services must still go through the same vetting process as communities applying for our travel services.
TRAVEL SERVICES
Who films the videos?
All videography work for Vocations Outreach is completed by college students at Franciscan University of Steubenville. One or two will travel to the order for filming. All use top-of-the-line equipment and receive in-depth training to ensure competence and excellence in their videography capabilities.
A Vocations Outreach team member will reach out to them about filming details.
Once a date for filming is set, Vocations Outreach will coordinate the travel plans for the videographer. These details will be sent to the religious order along with the name and contact information of the videographer.
The videographer will arrive on the agreed-upon date for a 2 or 3-night stay with the religious community.
During their time with the community, the videographer will follow the schedule according to the kind of video(s) the community has requested (see below).
After their stay is complete, the videographer will create a draft of the video. This draft will be sent to the community who will then be able to suggest any changes.
Once the community is pleased with the video, the community will sign a media release and the video(s) will be published on the Vocations Outreach YouTube channel and can be shared by the religious community.
Can a Day in the Life video show multiple apostolates?
Yes. Anything the chosen religious going on film says in their interview, we can match with a video shot. See a short clip of what this looks like here.
Can a Day in the Life video feature more than one person?
No. All Day in the Life videos will focus primarily on one person. This is to give the video a personal feel and to keep a consistent videography style across all Vocations Outreach videos. That being said, this style of video is very inclusive as the person going on film can describe the schedules of other community members to feature activities broader than their own in the video. No exceptions will be made to this rule.
Can filming take place at multiple locations for a Day in the Life video?
While a videographer is with your community, they can film whatever activities you would like. This includes filming at various locations. However, the religious community is responsible for all transportation of the videographer while they are there. In other words, as long as the community gets them there, the videographer can film whatever you would like.
Is there a time of week that is best for filming?
Most filming would ideally take place on a Thursday-Saturday or Friday-Sunday trip. This may vary if there is a certain feast day the order would like to film/photograph or if the community has an apostolate that requires filming during the week (ex: a school).
Is there anything the order needs to provide to receive a video?
The order will be responsible for the food, housing, and transportation to/from the airport (if applicable) for the videographer(s) while they are with the community.
Can the community provide input on what is included in the video?
Yes, absolutely. This service is truly meant to serve the participating religious order so the community has the ultimate say on what is included in any video. All videos will follow the same general structure, but this can be adapted to emphasize or include any particular aspects the community would like.
Once the videographer has completed a draft of the video, they will send it to the community for approval. The community can make any corrections at that time and the video will not be released until the order has given their final approval.
Who owns the media content?
After the community has approved the finished product, a community member (usually a superior) will sign a “Community Release Form”. Prior to the completion of this form, the religious community has full ownership of media content not otherwise released (individual community members may sign individual releases at the time of filming which will release their individual media content). This means that the religious community has full deciding power as to which media is included in the final project.
After the “Community Media Release” form has been completed at the end of post-production, Vocations Outreach becomes the primary owner of the media content and will have the right to share and use the produced media for non-profit, public purposes. The religious community is welcomed and encouraged to share produced content on their own websites and social media. However, they cannot share any produced content via another third-party organization without written consent from Vocations Outreach. The community also will not be able to collect any royalties from the produced content.
How long will the video be?
Day in the Life: The video length can vary between 6-11 minutes. This depends on the preference of the order as well as how much content is gathered from the interview with the individual on film.
Vocation Story Collection: Vocation story videos will be between 3-6 minutes long, depending on community preference.
The superiors of the religious order choose which community member(s) they’d like to have filmed. Many orders select younger members of their community so as to better relate to a younger audience.
Can a community request a type of video that is not listed on the videography page?
Vocations Outreach is here to serve religious orders and, as such, we are happy to try to accommodate special requests for communities. If you are interested in a kind of video different from what we have posted, please contact us here with your request and we will gladly set up a time to talk with you about how we can best serve your community.
ONGOING SERVICES
How do graphic design services work?
Once your community has gone through the vetting process, or if your community is an IRL affiliate, then you can fill out a graphic design request form, available here. After this form has been received, we will bring your project request to our intern team and will assign your project to one intern. You will then communicate with them directly until the design has been completed to your liking.
Can you print brochures or other marketing materials?
No, we are not able to help with printing and can only provide the digital files of designs.
Can we request a design that is not listed on the graphic design request form?
Yes. Please include as much detail as you can about what you would like and we will bring the request to our team. If they feel they can complete the design, we can move forward, and if not we will let you know.
