Who would have dreamed BYU's mundane duck pond would become the setting of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' new missionary driver safety video?

Not the horde of students who stood gawking at the cables, cameras and crew as they filmed the placid waters.

The waters were the embodiment of the video's message: to demonstrate the effects of missionaries' behavior, due to car accidents, on others.

This particular shoot at the duck pond was entitled "Ripples," and is one of several shots on BYU's campus.

Scott Swofford, executive producer of the missionary department, said he chose the pond as the site of the shoot because of its proximity to the LDS Motion Picture Studio in Provo.

Swofford selected the pond for the video because it is non-descriptive of any exact location and has a variety of foliage.

"The new safety video for missionaries will be shot in four seasons, representing each time of the year," Swofford said.

One particular shoot was at BYU Stadium Parking, where stunt drivers performed tricks. Shots were also taken from the top of the stadium.

This week marks the beginning of the shoot, which Harry Jeffs, director of fleet administration for the church, predicts will last more than a year.

The intent of the new missionary driver safety videos is to replace old VHS technology filmed in the 1980s, Jeffs said.

"In general, almost every missionary car is involved in an incident every year," Jeffs said. "45 percent of those accidents are preventable."

Due to the number of incidents, the church's Missionary Executive Council, which includes several general authorities, mandated the change to utilize new technology and update driver safety measures, Jeffs said.

Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 6, 2006, students bottlenecked at the intersection of 800 N. and the crosswalk that leads to the JSB to watch the film shoot.

Some students, like Geoff Hall, a senior from Grapevine, Texas, majoring in landscape management, came to the duck pond to complete a homework assignment. He was gathering specimens for a bug collection, but the shooting interfered.

"I have no idea what they are doing, but I can only use half of the pond," Hall said.

Other students who stopped to watch were excited and drawn to the site.

Katherine Gee, a sophomore from Austin, Texas, majoring in theatre education, said she stopped on her way home from class to watch the cameras in action.

Other locations for the shoot have been in Salt Lake, Heber and the Motion Picture Studio in Provo.

Copyright Brigham Young University 8 Sep 2006