“Book of Mormon Videos: Behind the Scenes!” Friend, January 2020
Book of Mormon Videos: Behind the Scenes!
Have you seen the new videos at BookofMormonVideos.org? They show some of the stories you will be learning about this year at home and in Primary! Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at some of the sets, stories, and actors.
Here is Nephi with Laman and Lemuel. “Anyone can be like Nephi,” said Jackson V., the young man who played Nephi. “Obey the Lord, and He will bless you.”
This is how the scene looked during filming. The large microphone held above the set is called a boom mic.
“Women were an important part of the Book of Mormon,” said Kymberly M., who played Sariah. “The women worked hard, had their own opinions about everything, and made their own choices.”
A giant machine called a gimbal was used to film this scene from 1 Nephi 18, when Nephi’s brothers tied him up. A platform was built to look like the deck of a ship, and the gimbal rocks the platform like it’s on the sea. Sprinklers make the rain, and “waves” are splashed from big containers of water. The green background gets replaced by a digital picture! This photo (left) shows how it looks in the video.
Children got to act in these videos too! In this scene, Lehi and Sariah’s family is happy they’ve made it to the shore. The children made up games while waiting between scenes. For example, one actor would hide a stone or piece of driftwood in the sand, and the rest of the group would try to find it.
Hundreds of people helped with props, costumes, hair and makeup, cameras, set design, music, and more to create these videos. If you could help make a scripture video, which story would you want to do?