Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO -- Deemed a gift from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the church has begun rolling out a new series of short films inspired by the life of Jesus Christ.
Millions of Latter-day Saints and other Christians throughout the world have already seen the first six scenes leading up to and including the birth of the Savior from the production. But there are a total of 55 scenes capturing the life of Christ, and the production crew is perfecting the remaining 49 before their release.
The visual effects staff creates scenery and backdrops as the world would have looked in New Testament time. The production, shot in Goshen, Utah, has to convince viewers that they are watching the Nativity and Joseph, Mary and Jesus escaping to Egypt.
"So, basically, here's the Wasatch mountains, we've got buildings, we've got power lines, you know, we've got a guy with a donkey," said Visual Effects Supervisor Doug Stewart.
Visual effects turn modern Utah into the palm-tree-lined Nile River with pyramids that shape the horizon.
The production is not restricted to members of the LDS Church, however. Christians of several denominations are cast members and make up part of the production team. Pastors and ministers have expressed desires to use the film.
Two or three scenes from the life of Christ will be released every month on the church's website biblevideos.org or you can also find them as an app on your iPad. The producer is still looking for actors for this next phase of shooting. If interested, go to the church's website.
Email:cmikita@ksl.com
