"Rooooooollllllling!"

The word screeched loudly from the production assistant as he alerted the production crew that the filming of a scene has commenced.

This responsibility, called a "lock down," keeps the area clear from "bogies," film crew who might inadvertently wander into the framed shot.

For six weeks in Tennessee, Jimmy Anderson bellowed that word as the production assistant on the set of the new film "Pillar of Light: The Work and The Glory."

"My voice was sore the first three or four days," Anderson said. "I have never yelled so loud in my life."

Anderson has always loved film. He especially enjoys the behind-the-scenes happenings of a film- the story behind the story. This love created his dream of being a film director.

"You have to understand all aspects of filmmaking to be a director," he said. "It covers everything."

Anderson received his first chance to see what filmmaking is actually like when Scott Swofford, "Pillar's" producer and producer of other films such as "Legacy" and "The Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd," hired him as an intern.

Along with locking up the set, he also performed any task needed. He made copies of the call sheet and shooting schedule. He said he even got sunflowers seeds for the first assistant director- with no salt.

"The set was tons crazier than I ever would have imagined," he said. "It was organized chaos."

The film is based on the popular historical fiction series, "The Work and The Glory," by Elder Gerald N. Lund, who acted as a consultant on the film adaptation. This first film is based on the first book in the series titled "Pillar of Light." It follows the early progress of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints. A fictional family is the focus along the backdrop of the restoration.

Manchester Films, a production studio formed by the movie director, Russ Holt, financer Larry Miller and Swofford is producing the film. Some of Holt's past works also include the film made by the church, "The Lamb of God."

Filming for the movie has wrapped, and the filmmakers are in the post-production process. The film is scheduled for a limited release this November with a more nationwide release in 2005.

Anderson said the production crew hopes this film will be the first movie based on Mormons that breaks through to national audiences.

Cammon Randle, a communications major from Provo, worked as a lighting technician intern on the set. He also said the set gave him a good experience. Anderson and Randle caravanned to Tennessee and became good friends as they worked together.

On the set, he learned film is more of a business instead of an art. Anderson said you may have the most imaginative idea, but that idea needs to be funded and production crews need to be paid. If filmmaking is your job, that idea needs to make you money, Anderson said.

Just like the words he screamed on "Pillar's" set, Jimmy's dreams are rolling along. He just finished working on a church DVD and is preparing a couple of scripts for his own short films.

"Our films need to speak for something," Anderson said. "When we do get a voice we cannot forget what we want to say."



Copyright Brigham Young University 3 Aug 2004