Berlin

For the past two weeks, I have had the opportunity to be one the camera operators for the musical, Berlin. Written by BYU Alum, Erik Orton, it explores post-war Germany. The Berlin Airlift, one the the most amazing Humanitarian Efforts in history, is the main focus of the musical. Now, because I was on the TV production side of things, I will concentrate on things from that perspective.

It is an interesting set-up, because each showing was in the LDS Motion Picture Studio and the audience was very limited -around 100 for each showing (space wouldn't allow for more). The second week of production (this week) doesn't allow for any audience. The set wasn't designed for a great viewing in terms of a live audience. Word on the street is: the only reason they had an audience for the first week was to accomodate season ticket holders who they promised tickets to! (They had originally planned on having the first week be in one of the Theatres in the HFAC on BYU Campus). At any rate, it has the feel of a Broadway Musical but was adapted to television.

During the first week of production, with an audience, there were six widescreen television cameras that were hidden for the most part in the shadows of the set. The first week was shot as if it was a live broadcast. With the audience there, they often looked at one of a few widescreen monitors provided in front of them for better viewing of what they couldn't. Some said they mostly watched the monitors even if they DID have a decent view (which happened rarely).

Now we are in the second week of production and we are shooting scene by scene, opting for a more narrative film production approach: "Quiet on the Set... Action... Cut!" It is an interesting blend of TV and Film production techniques. More on this later!

Wagon Master

This film brings us to the Utah Territory in the mid 1800s. A group of Mormons are eager to establish a new settlement in the isolated San Juan River territory. They take on young two horse peddlers as wagonmaster to lead their families westward through the Utah desert.

This was distinctively a Western Film yet with a Mormon twist. That perhaps sets it apart from the typical Western. Fortunately, the Hayes Production Code had been in place for some time so the Mormon were not misrepresented as in other Films prior. A western needs a vulnerable people, love story, with the rough and tough hero to save the day. The Mormon settlers were, of course depicted as vulnerable with the Wagonmaster leading them through a series of hostile events. Interestingly enough, we see people of all different backgrounds (whether protagonist or antagonist) forced to rely on each other for survival. We also see the characteristic (and somewhat honest) portrayal of Mormons as a minority who has had troubling clashes with the mainstream. I thought this portrayal was straightforward without anything distracting for a Mormon viewer such as myself.