“We want to give Sunday schools all over the world the tools to communicate the message of the Bible to children, in the most captivating, accurate, and engaging way as possible.” Bible Explorers is not just a TV series, but will be an interactive experience for Sunday school children, says Tove Rebekka Nilsen, one of the directors of the new series.
We meet Jack and Gina in the series, two “Bible explorers”, who take us with them in their time machine, to the time in which the heroes of faith in the Bible lived. Both time and place disappear as the viewers are taken on a journey into biblical history. Modern technology ensures a smooth experience, in which children get to explore well-known stories in completely new ways.
Each episode explores a specific theme, with various tasks that the children must solve together with their Sunday school teachers. This way all the children are involved, and they themselves are part of the action.
New technology opens doors
“By using VR-technology we can travel back in time, or to the other side of the world, without ever leaving our production facilities.” “A lot of effort has been put in, a lot of training and investing in virtual production, and I’m glad to be part of a production company that is constantly evolving”, she says enthusiastically.
Even though the filming is done in a green screen studio, the actors get to see themselves on screen at the same time, staged in the right surroundings, whether it is a Bedouin camp in the desert or Jack and Gina’s control room.
Extras from many local churches participate
This weekend over 43 actors, extras and coworkers were buzzing around the set. 22 of them were employees and hired consultants, the rest were participating voluntarily.
It is a hectic, yet optimistic atmosphere in the main hall, which has been turned into a TV-studio with a gigantic green screen in the center. Tove Nilsen is directing, together with Petra Reinhardt, while the crew and a dozen actors roam about in Biblical costumes. Project manager Christina Nielsen tells us that they have worked with the preparations for this since August, and they are pleased to see that so far everything seems to be working out well.
A test project for the future
To create captivating content with a Christian message for children is one of BCC Media’s main objectives for the years ahead. This new series is an important test – a learning project. Tove Rebekka thinks this is just the beginning, and has great faith for the future:
“This is ground-breaking work for us, which we believe will pave the way for more productions. With the technological help available today, the only thing that really sets any limitations is the imagination. We’re really looking forward to launching this new concept, and we hope that Sunday schools all over the world will put this material to use.”
Follow along at kids.bcc.media for information about broadcast times.