As an experienced producer and provider of production services in Israel for foreign crews and TV networks filming in Israel, I provide my services to each and every format crews want to shoot: feature films, documentaries, TV commercials, music videos and high-profile exhibition videos. A lot of crews come to shoot for a week, two weeks or even a month; they film documentary shows or parts of series all over the country and visit different locations.

Yet frequently I am asked for some ideas to shoot short, content-driven segments, which focus on one particular aspect of the Holy Land, the three religions or certain archaeological sites and their history. I have compiled a small but compact list of filming short segments (60 or 120 sec) for crews filming in Israel, which should give filmmakers some ideas what they could focus on.

Filming in Israel – Future Prophecies Segment in Jerusalem

Since the beginning of time, prophecies and their human messengers have inspired mankind, causing great excitement and anxiety of what the future might hold for each and every one of us. There are plenty of prophecies connected to Jerusalem, the holiest city in the world, and if a film crew in Israel wants to focus on prophecies and adequate locations, here are some suggestions: 

The Mount of Olives – the site of the Second Coming

The Himnon Valley – the Valley of Hell, stage to Judgement Day

The Kidron Valley – the Dry Bones Prophecy surrounding the tombs

The Golden Gate – the prophecy which sees Jesus walking triumphantly through

the Golden Gate into the city of Jerusalem

Filming in Israel – Nazareth Segment

Beautiful old Nazareth is a very important site to Christianity. Jesus of Nazareth spent his boyhood years here before moving to Capernaum to begin his ministry. There are a number of wonderful locations which crews can visit in one day and edit a great segment as an introduction to Jesus’ life and times.  

The town of Nazareth – old streets, marketplace

The House of Mary and Mary’s Spring

The Church of Annunciation

The Prophecy of the Birth of Jesus – the land of Zebulon and Napthali

Filming in Israel – King Herod

King Herod is often referred to as the Greatest Builder of Ancient Times, and the are numerous ruins around the country which pay tribute to his extraordinary visions and architectural adventures. A segment about Kind Herod should definitely include:

The Herodian – Herod’s Palace, near Bethlehem

The Port of Caesarea – also recommended for underwater archaeology

The Antipatris – on the road from Caesarea to Jerusalem

The Cypros – in Jericho

The Temple Mount and Western Wall – reflecting on the reconstruction of the second temple

The Second Temple Model – to be seen in the Israel Museum

Filming in Israel – Archaeological Excavations in Progress

Digging with archaeological experts on the many sites around the country is not only a popular activity for tourists and archaeology fan. Many crews join one or the other dig throughout their shoot in Israel; the choice of the site depends much on the focus of their film. Here is a list of archaeological sites that have continuous excavations:

City of David – located at the southern tip of Temple Mount

Tzipori – also known as Sepphoria, just a few km north of Nazareth, great mosaic floors

Jacob’s Ford – up in the North, ongoing digs with Prof. Ronnie Ellenblum

Tel Megiddo – the biblical Armageddon, the cradle of Archaeology in Israel, ongoing excavations have uncovered the layers of more than 30 cities

Tel Tsafit – close to Kfar Menachem about 40 min south of Jerusalem, the site is connected to the battle between David and Goliath

Filming in Israel – The Way to Bethlehem

Crews filming in Israel regularly visit Bethlehem to film the stunning Church of Nativity. For crews interested in illustrating Mary’s and Jospeh’s way to Bethlehem, there are some more suggestions here:

The Model of the Second Temple (Israel Museum) – Mary and Jospeh stop on their way to give praise at the temple

Church of the Nativity – the birthplace of Jesus

The town of Bethlehem

Surrounding fields with shepherds and old olive trees

Mount Zion – Mary is said to have fallen in eternal sleep here

This is merely a glimpse of what can be done when filming in Israel – the country’s historical sites, the archaeology and the landscape surrounding them never seize to amaze me! Furthermore, the above locations are also covered in our Israel / Christian footage archive of Biblical Productions, for anyone interested in acquiring archival footage. 

In the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, the glass doors of the Davidson Center, near the Western Wall – the last remnant of the Holy Temple – swish open silently to welcome you. When they close behind you, you enter another world. It is the world of Jerusalem’s glorious past, showcased through the prism of advanced visualization technology.

The center was built into the basement of an eighth-century building, scrupulously preserving and enhancing it. As you follow the winding ramp downward, artwork and archaeological finds take you back through the ages, and you’ll meet colorful figures of Jerusalem’s exploration in days gone by.

A ten-minute, high-definition digital video ingeniously interchanges the experience of Second Temple pilgrims with that of present-day visitors.

The realization that the historic and spiritual treasures depicted – the Temple Mount, the Western Wall and the Southern Wall – still stand only a few strides away adds to the power of the presentation. The center’s highlight is a three-dimensional virtual reconstruction of the Temple, based on ancient writings and excavations, and produced by a team from the Department of Urban Simulation at UCLA. Pictures generated every 41 millionths of a second give participants the eerie feeling that they are really walking up the staircase to the Temple and through its towering colonnades to stand before the grandeur of the Holy of Holies.

The center maintains regular visiting hours for groups and individuals during the week, and is closed on Saturdays. The virtual reconstruction session is part of a guided tour pre-arranged through the Davidson Center.