Promoting Religious Vocations Through Digital Media
Day in the Life Series
A Video Capturing Your Community’s Charism
“When we first learned of the possibility of having someone from Vocations Outreach make a video about “a day in the life” of one of our monks, I was intrigued, and when I saw the final product I was overjoyed at how well it was done. The videographer was very knowledgeable and easy to work with, and she was so unobtrusive that we hardly knew we were being filmed! I expect very much good will come from this video.”
When a young adult is discerning a religious vocation, one of the most helpful things for them to do is to learn more about what religious life is. Ideally, the best way to do this would be for that person to meet religious or visit a religious community. However, since these things are not always possible, the Day in the Life series was created to capture as best as possible the experience of getting to know a religious and getting to know their way of life.
Each video focuses on one member of a religious community, giving the video a personal feel and making religious life more concrete to the viewer. The emphasis on the daily life of a community also gives a taste of what would be experienced on a “come and see” retreat.
Video Details
One person will be chosen to be the focus of the video. All Day in the Life videos include 1) the person’s daily schedule, 2) the charism of the person’s community, 3) the person’s vocation story, and 4) advice that person has for someone discerning a vocation.
The audio content for the video is provided by an interview with the religious chosen to go on film. Simply put, whatever that person says in the interview will be covered by a video clip matching what they said. For example, if the person says “we have prayers at 6:00am”, the video will show a clip of that person in prayer at 6:00am.
This style of video is very flexible and accommodating to the desires of the community. Even though the video person focuses on a single community member, if the person being interviewed describes the activities of other community members or apostolates in their interview, it is easy for our team to match this with corresponding video shots.
Vocations Outreach also posts all Day in the Life videos in one place online, making it a great resource for young people discerning and a great opportunity for religious communities to reach a broader audience of young people.
Production Process
One of our videography interns will travel to a religious community at the location of their choice.
The intern will visit the community for a 2 or 3-night stay (depending on how many of our services the community requests). During this time, they will film one member of the religious community throughout their day.
After their stay is complete, the intern will edit the video and will submit it for approval by the community. After the community has approved the video, it will be posted on the Vocations Outreach YouTube channel and can be used by the religious community as they see fit.
Additional Services
Order participating in this series also qualify to receive:
