A human video is a form of

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

combining

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

Modern Dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

and

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

, along with

interpretive dance Interpretive dance is a family of modern dance styles that began around 1900 with Isadora Duncan. It used classical concert music but marked a departure from traditional concert dance. It seeks to translate human emotions, conditions, situations o ...

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

, and classic mime. A human video consists of a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

or medley played over loudspeakers while actors use rhythmic physical movement (gestures and other movements of the limbs and body) to communicate emotions to a given audience. The performance is presented in a form similar to a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

. It presents a story that illuminates a particular artistic intent through

spatial relationships A spatial relationD. M. Mark and M. J. Egenhofer (1994), "Modeling Spatial Relations Between Lines and Regions: Combining Formal Mathematical Models and Human Subjects Testing"PDF/ref> specifies how some object is located in space in relation to s ...

, meaningful

gesture A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or ot ...

s, and artistic

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

. The story told within the video can be either implicit in the words of the song or a story written independently of the original artist's meaning. Just as more "traditional" forms of theater can be situated on different types of

stages Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * S ...

, so too can these dramatic acts. This particular form of drama can perform the same text in many different venues without disrupting its meaning. Because it typically has no

set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

and limited

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

s, it can be performed in nearly any location.

Props A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

are sometimes used, but are forbidden in some competitive venues. In this instance, props are restricted in an effort to force creativity—because in the ideal Human Video, all actors on stage should be used to represent objects like

crosses Crosses may refer to: * Cross, the symbol Geography * Crosses, Cher, a French municipality * Crosses, Arkansas, a small community located in the Ozarks of north west Arkansas Language * Crosses, a truce term used in East Anglia and Lincolnshire ...

, thrones, trees or giants. Actors movements demonstrate a

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

and the

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

of the

being played. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, one example of how human videos have permeated the

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

is the inclusion of human videos in Fine Arts Festivals and church ministry groups (

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

Holiness Church, Church of God, etc.) in a variety of

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

denominations. The Fine Arts Festival in the Assemblies of God denomination is the largest and most intense of all competitions and categories. Churches spend many months and countless hours practicing in order to receive recognition at the National Fine Arts Festival. One compelling example of Human Video creativity can be found i
Solo Human Video Performed at NFAF
The talented artist invented a move, popularly known as 'The Wheelchair Walk' in Human Video circles.

History

The name "human video" was coined by Randy Phillips. He is reported to have performed the first "human video" in a chapel service at Central Bible College, with several elements used from the then quite popular Deaf Ministry Team. It was used more formally in the early 1990s at Phoenix First Assembly of God led by Pastor Tommy Barnett. Although elements of the form have existed in theatre for centuries and no one can actually claim to have invented it, Mr. Phillips began to use it as a ministry tool first at church services and then for outreach and missions with the help of Pastor Lloyd Ziegler and the ministry training program called Master's Commission.

Human Video Example

Solo Human Video Performed at NFAFHuman Video Performed at a ChurchHuman Video Using SticksHuman Video performed at a Christian EventHuman Videos WebsiteHuman Videos
Performing arts