“I Feel Free,” New Era, Jan. 1971, 24
I Feel Free
During the better part of a year, Jim Christensen, Steve Taylor, Steve Hatch, Kirk Henrichsen, and Bruce Chapman, all of the Sharon East Stake in Provo, Utah, photographed, recorded, and edited a fantastic thirty-minute three-screen slide show, complete with stereo sound track.
The presentation requires six people to set up and run the equipment, so others often get called in to help, especially since the two Steves recently left on missions. The show is in great demand, and thousands of people have seen it at many school and ward showings.
Their reason for doing the show? They wanted to show themselves as they are, young people who are products of the gospel. “It is nice to be out and alone and away from all the world’s hang-ups. We all love nature, and we wanted to show how beautiful the world around us really is. Everything is so great and the plan is so perfect, so why get all hung-up? Just go out and let the environment and your inner action with it tell you what to do,” explained Jim Christensen.
To them, the show represents life as the pictures slide through the various seasons. They really have great ideas for their next production, because now they have reaped the artist’s reward—they have moved people. They reached out and touched someone; they made them feel good and warm inside. And with their music and pictures, they have made thousands aware of the power and beauty of God’s creations. The following words and pictures are theirs.
“Now the screen is black and you hear some faint strains of Finlandia; then you see a glimmer of light on the screen, and the music and light begin to build and progress together to a full crescendo. At that point you witness the glory of this sunrise. This shot says to the audience, ‘Sit up and look, man! This isn’t a home movie.’ And then I get goose bumps because I can see that I’ve really got them excited.”
“The show, like life, has its seasons. Here winter, usually a dormant time, is a time for action. The music for this section is ‘Sometimes in Winter.’ Here nature and people come together. Winter is more personal.”
“A warm Feliciano guitar piece called ‘Here, There, and Everywhere’ evokes the feelings of good friends having fun together, just being themselves and sharing the love and the warmth that the gospel is all about. People smile when they see this, because it’s basic and it warms them.”
“We camped under the bridge and lived with it and watched it for a full day. It changed in the different light, seeming alive, and I wanted to get to know it. So to make it more personal and mine, I drew it, and it is still mine.”
“This shot proves that we were right in doing the show. The little things are the important things in life—the little things are neat.”
“The hard, brittle guitar chords of ‘Carry On’ throb like a snowmobile engine, and then it moves, and then singing and more pictures and snowmobiling and fun.”
“‘In my Life’ is quite soft and moody for these autumn shots, but you wonder what comes in the middle. Then you see the mountain and it is beautiful, and you feel better. Then Kirk comes on in the middle and you really know that things are complete, and that this is life, and you are ready to move on.”
Black and white photographs by Sy Felt
Steve Hatch; Kirk Henrichsen; Steve Taylor
The control panel is simply composed of the three remote controls taped to a board.
Sound, carefully edited and recorded, is the heart of the show.
After dozens of shows, Bruce Chapman feels as if he wrote the soundtrack.
“Two hours to set up, a minute for a doughnut, and we’re ready to go.”
Jim Christensen carefully balances a projector so the panoramas will match up.
Two station wagons full of gear are required for the show.