Location Managers Guild International

LMGI COMPASS | Spring 2022 • 27 Authenticity As anyone in lm or television knows, on a project based on or inspired by a true story, lmmakers will often take liberties for dramatic purposes. And while Lance did make some changes on Under the Banner—this isn't a documentary after all— authenticity was priority one. "The assumption from the very start was that the Church of LDS was going to come for us on this one," says Matt, "so Lance didn't want to provide easy targets for them. In most cases, we worked diligently to stay as close as possible to the actual events." Accomplishing Lance's vision while maintaining that authenticity would take a Herculean effort on behalf of every department. That and a fair bit of luck as more than 90 percent of the show would be shot on location. To ensure they were always on the right track, the team had a rigorous set of parameters which came down to three questions or "tests." Every single object, textile, building material—everything you see on screen—had to pass these tests before being allowed on set. "The rst one is obvious," says Renée Read, production designer. "'Is it period accurate?' The second was: 'Would this be in a Mormon household or in a Mormon town—which are distinctly different from the average American home or neighborhood.' And the last was, when it came to homes or private spaces, you had to ask, 'would these people have owned these particular objects?'" Only after a location or set passed those tests would the team ask if it supported the overall design of the show. For those unfamiliar with some of the tenets of the Mormon religion, these are examples of things you would not nd in a Mormon town: a bar. Mormons don't drink alcohol. A coffee shop. Mormons also do not drink coffee or tea because of the caffeine. And there wouldn't be things like cigarette vending machines which were prolic back in the '80s. Then there's the specicity of religious mores and customs. For those elements, the series employed three full-time non-LDS researchers, as well as a self-described "independent Mormon" woman who, along with Troy Williams—who grew up in the Mormon faith and is now the Executive Director for Equality Utah—served as the LDS consultants. And then, of course, they had Lance. Producer Anna Culp recalls, "The number of boxes the Location Department needed to check every day, for every location, was extraordinary." Zooming Around Zoom became ubiquitous in all our lives once COVID took hold, but the service also played a critical role in prep on Under the Banner. With the creative team initially spread out across the globe, it was the only way forward. "Lance lives in the U.K.," explains Matt, "and David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water), the director of our rst two episodes, was also abroad." Add in limited travel due to the ongoing pandemic and it's easy to understand why this show, like so many others shot last year, would have a whole other layer of complications. "I started even before Renée came aboard," says Matt, "because travel and quarantines were a real issue, so in the beginning, it was really just me trying to ramp things up." Originally scheduled to begin shooting at the beginning of August, the production ended up pushing by two weeks to August 16. This gave Matt and the team about 3½ months of prep but also meant that they would shoot right into winter. Matt Palmer/LMGI, Photo by Brian Dunne

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• 16-23 In My City Zagreb
• 24-33 Cover-Story_Under the Banner of Heaven
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