With churches closed down by the Covid-19 pandemic, many congregations have turned to technology solutions like Zoom to hold worship services, meetings, and Bible studies online. Teaching the pilot class of the “Puppet Ministry Pizzazz” course via Zoom last month was a bit of a challenge. But, in the process of learning the ropes, I discovered that Zoom could be a useful tool for puppeteers to broadcast and record their conversations with a puppet pal.

For the following three videos, my laptop’s built-in camera and microphone recorded Moochacha chatting with me in a Zoom meeting window. The laptop did extra duty as  teleprompter. After hitting the Record button in the Zoom window, I clicked over to a Microsoft Word document containing my script (in a different window, NOT a Zoom screen share). While I scrolled through the Word doc, Zoom continued to record me in my Zoom window.

Zoom videos with Moochacha

Participants in the “Puppet Ministry Pizzazz” course presented scripted conversations to introduce themselves and their puppet pals to the rest of the class. Here’s a reprise of my intro:

Here’s our skit for the worship service that featured a reading from Exodus 1 and 2. (All attendees were adults.) “Moochacha, Murder, and Baby Moses”:

And the skit for Romans 12. “Moochacha Learns to Bless, Not Curse”:

Edit 10/2/2020: See more video recordings of messages from Linda and Moochacha on a new Puppet Ministry playlist on the Linda Bonney Olin YouTube channel.

A few tips picked up along the way

• Do you usually use Zoom’s virtual background feature? Turn off your VB when performing with your puppet pal, to avoid ghosting in and out of the image. I opted to hang a curtain behind me. Frankly, it’s pretty ugly. Hopefully, you have a lovely, uncluttered background to use.
• Want to use Word as your teleprompter while Zooming on the same computer? You can’t monitor how you look onscreen while your Word window is active. Before you switch to Word to view your script, make sure you and your pal are placed in a good, visible position in the Zoom window and there’s nothing embarrassing in the background.
• No one wants to watch video of you clicking your mouse and flicking your eyes all over the screen while you switch between the Zoom window and the Word window. You have to hit the Record buttons while you’re in Zoom, but after you save the Zoom recording, you can open the file in a video editor (I use the old Windows Movie Maker) and trim off that crazy-eyes footage. To leave yourself some nicer intro and outro footage, look into the camera lens for several seconds immediately before you begin your skit and immediately after you end it.

How about you?

Have you performed with your puppet pal in a Zoom meeting? Have you created videos of your sermons, devotionals, or studies using the Zoom recorder? Please leave a comment to let us know how that went, and share any tips you gleaned through your experience.

And remember to check out additional helpful ideas and blog posts on my Puppet Ministry Resources page.

Blessings,
Linda