A 41-year-old Polish filmmaker, audio producer and director is working on a “super production” of an Audio Bible that is meant to provide listeners with an epic recording of the sacred scriptures.
“As a filmmaker, audio producer, and director, I want the Audio Bible to feel like a cinematic audio experience,” Krzysztof Czeczot told Aleteia. “When you close your eyes, you should be in the middle of the story, because the word has power, but also, the word has a space.”
The casting for the upcoming project will feature 100s of voice actors, ranging from A-list Hollywood actors to everyday people. Additionally, the technology that will be used in the production is through a binaural recording, an audio technique that is meant to provide a “3-D sound” to listeners, especially when using headphones.
Czeczot explained that he took a trip to Israel with his team to record “the sounds of the spirit of the place,” such as the crowds, people in the market, animals, and so forth.
“We were in Jerusalem, we were in the desert, we were on the Dead Sea, we were in Jericho,” he added.
Czeczot had previously put out a Polish edition of the Audio Bible which has sold roughly 145,000 copies. The Audio Bible project’s YouTube channel has over 5.4 million views.
A video on the making of the Polish Audio Bible notes that the project took approximately 3 years to complete, features 113 hours of recordings, 500 voice actors and 10,000 extras in Poland. It is considered to be “the biggest radio event in Europe.” The recordings of the Old and New Testament were made in the form of a modern play.
Two notable Polish religious figures also took part in the recording. One was the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, and other was the Primate of Poland, Archbishop Wojciech Polak.
Now Czeczot hopes to record an English adaptation of the Audio Bible as a “beautiful tool for everyday reflection and practice for millions of Americans and English-speaking users around the world.”
It is expected that the New American Revised Edition of the Bible will be used as the team acquired licensing from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Women will be recording half of the New Testament readings while readers from each of the 50 states will provides English listeners with “voices from every region.”
While the Bible is the primary source of the production, Czeczot emphasized that it is not a “godly project.”
“This is a radio play, powerful, with a huge cast,” he said. “This is too multifaceted a project to reduce it to religious values alone, although they are obviously important.”
The polish director added that believers and non-believers have expressed their support of the Audio Bible, including “people of other cultures and religions, with different worldviews, a cultural and social project.”
Aleteia explains that some while people will view it as the Holy Bible, others will see it as a means to understanding of Western art and literature.
According to co-producer Marek Zmyslowski, the upcoming project will cost about $1.5 million. He explains that they are already “halfway through in terms of fundraising.”
“So we’re pretty confident about starting to record next year,” he said.
Related:
American Sign Language Bible Translation Completed after 39 Years
Photo courtesy: Unsplash/Malte Wingen
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
