gettysburg the movie, who was there?

[m35gibson]

hello all,

i was just wondering how many of you from this site, paticipated as extras?
i thought it was a well done movie, great cast, funny, im now living in pa, just about 40 minutes from gettysburg, and im embarresed to say, i have not been to any reenactments:( matter of fact, back in the eraly 90s, when i was still living in mclean va,, some reenactors pulled in, just getting back from gettysburg, it was some big celebratiion/ anniversary , they had told me some of the actors were there, im thinking one might have been the gentelman playing general hood. anyway **** good movie.

kevin

[Army30th]

I was there. I was 24 at the time, and was 5'6" with a 34 inch waist. I'm 42 now. Waist is a little bit bigger than that now. It was a good time. Saw a lot about what goes into 10 seconds of film.....a lot of hurry up and wait!

But some of the actors were cool. A few other extras I knew personally, actually quit their day jobs to work full time as extras on this film.

After it was over, I got a call to do Andersonville, which was **** working for John Frankenheimer, but was still an experience.

[Tom Scoufalos]

Yeah, I was out for a couple days of it...half of my lifetime ago (18/36!). Still, it was cool. Jeff Daniels is a pretty tall dude.

[billwatson2]

Andersonville, not Gettysburg. 11 weeks in the field = about 35 seconds onscreen in tiny bursts. The fun part was being in the crowd greeting myself arriving at the prison while also in the guard tower over the gate. If I could be three places at once in the real world ...

Making movies, even as a core extra, kind of puts you off watching movies. For every Harrison Ford there are 50,000 people going through poorly paid drudgery and excruciating boredom.

I did, however, use the same portapottie as Jane Fonda. I'm not sure where that fits on the scale of lifetime achievements, though.

[sbl]

...................

I did, however, use the same portapottie as Jane Fonda. I'm not sure where that fits on the scale of lifetime achievements, though.

Remind me to tell you about the time I accidentally messed up Jane Fonda's slide show at Holy Cross College back in the 70s.

[Thad Gallagher]

Made it over for a few days during the filming of Little Round Top. I must have been about 15 then. Geesh, that was a while back!

[sbl]

A couple of guys from my old unit the 5th NHV went for the summer. One shows up mostly with the Confederates. I didn't go because the word was only young thin extras were wanted.

[Dunn Browne]

I was there for Pickett's Charge week and five days on Little Round Top before heading off to the 130th Antietam at Monmouth Battlefield in New Jersey. My first time on the Gettysburg Battlefield was stepping off the bus at the Virginia Monument dressed in a Confederate uniform for the filming of Pickett's Charge. I have many great memories from my time spent on the set, but that should be another thread. I still have the "The Killer Angels" tee shirt they gave us, but gave the hat away.

[Anders]

ws there on and off at age 16 or so....

Pards,

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

I wasn't.

I was one of the leaders of a small group of lads who boycotted the production due to Ted Turner setting the precedent for not wanting to pay reenactors as extras and give a
T-shirt or "certificate of participation" instead.

While it seemed a Hot Button Concern at the time... in the end it was a Fool's Errand, as it just made room for more lads to go to meet the demand.

:) :)

CHS
Fossil Fool Mess

[Jim Mayo]

I went and took my 15 year old son and my unit commander (Korean War Vet in the middle who wanted to see the elephant again). We had a great time and it was a time well spent in spite of being on the same planet as Jane Fonda who I am not fond of.

[Radar]

I did, however, use the same portapottie as Jane Fonda. I'm not sure where that fits on the scale of lifetime achievements, though.

Good old Hanoi Jane. Glad she's keeping a low profile these days. Haven't seen her on the news with the Taliban YET.

[lincolnsguard]

Was there for three days of filming. What a horrible film. A historical innacuracy nearly every 5 seconds for the whole movie. I always wondered how they got those beards to stick on the actors. And, how Tom Berringer's beard never ever moved. How many cans of hairspray did that take? Did you ever notice there's no blood in any of the battle scenes? Horses? Who needs Horses to pull all of those cannons and limber chests? But, what a wonderful thing it did for the hobby.


Is being in the "Gettysburg" movie going to be like going to "Woodstock?"

[sbl]

Was there for three days of filming. What a horrible film. A historical innacuracy nearly every 5 seconds for the whole movie. I always wondered how they got those beards to stick on the actors. And, how Tom Berringer's beard never ever moved. How many cans of hairspray did that take? Did you ever notice there's no blood in any of the battle scenes? Horses? Who needs Horses to pull all of those cannons and limber chests? But, what a wonderful thing it did for the hobby.


Is being in the "Gettysburg" movie going to be like going to "Woodstock?"

Maybe for bragging rights. Some of us can even brag that we stayed away from the filming on "Principles." I recently saw "Taking Woodstock." Where they got all the thin "1969" kids as extras these days is a wonder to me! Way better CGI in this film than in "Gods and Generals."

[FloridaHoosier]

Not a fan of Jane Fonda myself, but lets keep the modern politics out of this one. The edits will begin...

[Army30th]

Was there for three days of filming. What a horrible film. A historical innacuracy nearly every 5 seconds for the whole movie. I always wondered how they got those beards to stick on the actors. And, how Tom Berringer's beard never ever moved. How many cans of hairspray did that take? Did you ever notice there's no blood in any of the battle scenes? Horses? Who needs Horses to pull all of those cannons and limber chests? But, what a wonderful thing it did for the hobby.


Is being in the "Gettysburg" movie going to be like going to "Woodstock?"


The reason most of the battle scenes were bloodless is because it was originally filmed as a 3 part 6 hour miniseries for Television. At least that's the information I got from some of the production staff.

If you saw it in the theater, consider yourself lucky: it only showed in a total of 248 theaters nationwide.

[sbl]

"My Dear Wife" and I went into Boston to watch it on a weekday. Only a few women there at the matinee and no line to the ladies room during the intermission.

[Blair]

I was working at Jamestown Settlement Park as the Blacksmith Specialist at the time.
This was set in the time frame of 1611 to 1614 Virgina Colony.
Taking time off for a film was simply not an option for me. My schedule usually had me working weekends because that was when visitation was highest.
Besides that, working 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week doing living history, tends to take some of the "shine" off of and out of playing history for the fun of it.
I'm not sure I would have gone to the filming anyway.

[Dunn Browne]

Is being in the "Gettysburg" movie going to be like going to "Woodstock?"

No, I believe being at the 125th Gettysburg reenactment holds that distinction.

[sbl]

As Tom Reamer once said.."it's like Woodstock with Guns." Is Tom still alive?

[5 th Alabama Infantry]

I was there for only one day , in the first half of the Pickett's Charge march on scene just after General Armistead's prayer . My 1/ 2 second of fame on screen . It was a great experince.

I was there for the "Lee , Lee" scene . Not a dry eye for Marse Robert.

[Dunn Browne]

As Tom Reamer once said.."it's like Woodstock with Guns." Is Tom still alive?

Yes he is. Although he is retired from his job, not from this life. I bump into him every so often, missed him this past Remembrance Day though.

[sbl]

Thanks Frank.

[Darby8th]

I was there along with a fair number of lads from the 8th Ohio and NR for the week of Pickett's charge filming. We spent most of the time with a lot of other galvanized Yankees as Garnett's Brigade. We must have crossed that Emmitsburg Road fence a dozen times while they filmed us being raked with canister and mowed down by small arms fire. On the last day we got to be Union while the "real" Rebs did Armistead's breakthrough. Though bloodless, the carnage at the Angle was impressive, since they let us "fight" much longer than most of the rest of the filmed segments. Going across the original ground with 5000 guys doing Pickett's assault was one big goose-bump, even for a Yankee. Stephen Lang stayed in character as Pickett the whole time. I also did the Irish brigade and 20th Maine at Fredericksburg for Gods and Generals. Two movies and two futile frontal assaults. Is there a pattern here?