Elizabeth Westhoff, the Archdiocese of St. Louis' Director of Marketing, wrote an excellent article summarizing the many ways she and others in St. Louis are using iPhones and a shoestring budget to promote the faith through video, pictures, social media, etc.
I love this section:
The production of each of these videos is something unseen in most other archdioceses across the country and for those of us who have been involved in their production; it has been a complete labor of love with an understanding that it is yet another way of getting out the messages of Christ.
One of the most amazing things we have been able to do is to use our iPhones as recording equipment.
When one or two of us go out on these “simple” video shoots, I’m always afraid the people on the other side of the “camera” are thinking we’re not prepared, or professionals, or something else along those lines. We show up with a tripod, lights from Home Depot, a battery-operated microphone, an iPhone and nothing else. We have everything we need, really.
The most important part of any creative endeavor is creativity, something which is not lacking in St. Louis! Using an iPhone as a substitute for a professional video camera or audio capture device is not only possible—it's happening every day! The most popular article I've ever written on this site is my guide to external microphones and input adapters for audio recording on the iPhone and iPad.
Use the tools you have to make the best media you can. And heck, the tiny camera and headset jack on my iPhone 4s provides a better picture and cleaner sound than even the most expensive shoulder video camera from ten years ago!
Read the article: e-Vangelization in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
(This article was cross-posted with Open Source Catholic.)
Comments
Dear Jeff,
You seem to know a lot about Microphones that work with iPhones. Is there a contact microphone that you would recommend? Also adaptor and software. Thanks
Bart
I've never used a contact microphone with my iPhone, but I've used them in other situations. This Korg contact microphone might suit your needs; I don't know if it's mic or line level, but whichever one, you can buy the appropriate level adapter from KVConnection, along with a 1/4" to 1/8" mono audio adapter, and try it. Let me know if you have success :)
Thank you very much Jeff. I will let you know if this works.
Bart