A thought:
Live streaming is not new. I remember going to Mass at our local cathedral 10-15 years ago on a regular basis. My observation was that "being on TV" (for shut-ins) negatively affected many aspects of worship. I realized that a bunch of the oddities I noticed were due to having to accommodate -- and also to appeal to -- that "audience."
"Being on TV" creates a sense of unreality for those who happen to be in the physical space. The feeling is similar to talking to someone in a room with a large mirror. One can't help checking out one's profile... noticing the other person checking out his...
The choir and even organ console had been moved out of the choir loft and down to the right of the sanctuary. The cathedral has strange acoustics, but the choir loft works wonderfully for its purpose... now abandoned. Why? So that the cameras can include the singers in their panning shots. But singers are always better not seen (other than in opera, and God help us if we start thinking of Church as opera!)
The sermons were designed to be appreciated. But always pitched somewhere beyond the congregation's heads. It often seemed that there were invisible, unspoken footnotes. A certain joviality is cultivated... it's hard to imagine a sermon on The Four Last Things being deemed appropriate for such a purpose.
Streaming the Mass distorts it (as recording anything distorts that thing). Sometimes a video transmission is desirable, I suppose, but it will never be completely without an effect on what it is transmitting, where there is awareness of the transmission.
Any discussion of the technology of live-streaming needs to keep in mind the effect on the event itself.
I wonder if the techno effect is different when the priest is facing the altar. It seems he might be less aware of his audience then.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it is.
DeleteIt's also supremely awkward to try to "do" livestream Mass with kids (and frankly I think they intuitively get the problem with it!). Do you stand, sit, kneel (but then it feels like you are kneeling to a tv screen or computer), say the responses and sing along? Do you sit and passively watch (and then it feels like a weird kind of voyeurism)? I've never liked "watching" Mass even pre-pandemic. We tried it for 2 weeks at the beginning of this awfulness, and quickly pivoted to doing Liturgy of the Hours or the Sunday Bible readings and praying as a domestic church. Thankfully our churches have been open since June, and I'm taking time off my stay in purgatory every week trying to keep a mask on my 3yo. My husband says that if they start requiring double-masking we are back to staying home, he is mad enough about having to sign in for contact tracing.
ReplyDeleteYes, what the effect of the remote watcher is certainly needs to be thought through.
DeleteMy comments here were more about what the effect is on the Mass itself though...
I would agree, but I have to say that the “production” as St John Cantius in Chicago does it is as perfect as anyone could get. I get to “attend” the TLM there via my computer (in addition to going to my novus ordo parish church here in Maryland), and there is truly no playing to the camera. Sometimes the camera transitions are a bit rough, but I don’t care about that. I was just thinking this morning how blessed I feel to be able to visit my old parish in this way and how I will miss it when things get back to normal.
ReplyDeleteSorry—“perfectly”
DeleteInteresting -- my comments are more about what live-streaming does to the actual event -- not so much about how it is perceived by those watching remotely.
DeleteThis observation is spot on. The self-consciousness of those who are participating is unavoidable. I am a cantor at our Byzantine church, and one of the things that most annoyed me was that, since our services were live-streamed via FB, the people watching could actually comment! And critique! And then, at one point, even I was curious to go back and watch—- how did I sound? How was the pacing?
ReplyDeleteNot to mention the another evil which occurred: that people from another parish were actually using the livestream of our service to “catch us” making whatever egregious errors they found in relation to our commitment to Covid rules. Did the cantor bring her children to the service? Indeed, she did. How dare she! No one is allowed to be in the sanctuary except the priest, servers, and cantors!!!!
Great evils have come about in our church, and technology has played no small part.
Oh my!
DeleteYes, I think it can backfire and become a "show" in more ways than one.