The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) recently opened a new exhibit, The Heavens Are Opened, at its Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. The exhibit includes a seven-minute short film that depicts the First Vision, an integral moment in Mormon history when Church founder Joseph Smith prayed out loud within a grove of trees asking for guidance. In an effort to immerse the audience in the recreation of Smith’s original experience in Palmyra, New York, the production team filmed in the area using 14 strategically placed
d:dicate™ 4006A Recording Microphones and
d:screet™ 4061 Miniature Microphones.
The d:dicate
™ 4006A microphones were used in a traditional
DPA Decca Tree in the grove, to support the nine cameras that were shooting a 360-degree area. Though the video was edited down to only 240 degrees to accommodate the size of the video screen in the museum, all of the recorded audio elements are featured in the exhibit.
“The massive screen is upwards of 10 feet tall and wraps most of the way around the audience,” explains Dave McDougal, sound designer of the LDS Film and Video Division. “We wanted the audio to be just as immersive as the video, but there is no music in the piece. The entire thing takes place in a grove of trees early in the morning, so we decided that the ambience of the location was going to play the biggest role for the audience.”
McDougal incorporated five of his d:dicate
™ 4006A Omnidirectional mics in a 5.0 pattern with nine of his d:screet
™ 4061 Omnidirectional mics as an added “height” element. “We raised the 4061s approximately 15 feet into the air in different areas of the grove, at five o’clock in the morning, to record the ambient sounds that became the basis for the film’s entire sound design,” says McDougal. “We wanted everything to sound exactly how it was when we were there. We didn’t modify it, and we didn’t want to color it; we wanted it to be as natural and as immersive as possible. From working with DPA mics in the past, I knew I could depend on the d:dicate
™ and d:screet
™ mics to get the job done.”
In addition to the stand holding the d:screet
™ 4061s, McDougal also placed the DPA d:dicate
™ Decca Tree on another microphone stand below it, roughly four feet off the ground. “We wanted a very open, clear, and natural sound, and the DPA mics provide exactly that,” McDougal explains. “They didn’t color the sound at all. They captured exactly what the grove sounded like, and they were far more sensitive than the human ear, especially with all 14 of them going at the same time. That gave us the beautiful, natural recording we were looking for.”
Palmyra was the perfect setting for the shoot. “It was really nice and pleasant,” adds McDougal. “We filmed it twice, in the spring and in the fall. In the spring, there were quite a few birds, and in the fall, it was more subdued, with some nice breezes. It was probably in the 60s in the mornings, and there was very little humidity. It was perfect for this production.”