Now a new building equipped with audio/video facilities has been completed at the Watchtower Educational Center in Patterson. The moving of offices and equipment into this fine new facility began on April 20, 1998. The facilities that have been prepared will enable us to make more effective use of the potential in the audiovisual field.

Video programs are produced in 41 languages. The scripts originate at the world headquarters, and a library of more than 2,100 video source-tapes has been accumulated from which material can be drawn. Actual video recording is done not only at Patterson but also in many other parts of the world. Editing of the original master videotapes and the English edition is now being done in the Society’s new audio/video facilities at Patterson. At the Society’s studio in the Netherlands, non-English programs are prepared for duplication. Recording of the narration is done in a number of audio-recording branches, and then this is sent to the Netherlands to be mixed with the program’s music and sound effects and to have needed visual text added, thus completing the video duplication master for each language. Japan does some of this work for the Orient.

Use of videocassettes for sign languages has mushroomed. This has resulted, in part, from appreciation for the fact that sign languages are distinct and are not merely visual presentations of spoken languages. When they began to receive sign-language videos, some who are deaf saw them as evidence that Jehovah had not forgotten them but that he cares for deaf people too. The Society produces videos that superimpose sign-language interpretation on already existing audiovisual presentations. There are also videos that provide complete visual translation of the contents of existing printed Watch Tower publications. In most cases, these are used to conduct home Bible studies with people who are deaf, so the videos include study questions, which makes interactive use of such videos possible. Additionally, singing has been videotaped in sign language, and this is used to lead an audience in giving expression to the songs. The Society will be providing support for video recording of sign-language projects from its facilities in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands. In most of these branches, editing of the sign-language programs will also be done.