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Showing posts with label Renee Zellweger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Renee Zellweger. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Photos from Leatherheads Press Conference
Exclusive Photos Copyright 2008 MediaMensch Networks. All Rights Reserved
Exclusive MediaMensch Pics - Clooney on a Train Arriving at Leatherheads Press Conference
Exclusive Photos for MediaMensch Networks. Copyright 2008. All Rights Reserved
Charlotte Observer - Clooney and Zellweger at Salisbury Train Depot
Here are pictures of the Leatherhead's Press Conference from the Charlotte Observer. I had the opportunity to sit next to Lawrence Toppman who is the film critic for the Charlotte Observer at the Press conference.
Tomorrow on radio station WBT Charlotte with Al Gardner morning show the audio version of the press conference will be played and posted on their website. Click here to listen live.
Whistlestop Tour of Leatherheads with George and Renee
Today was one of those surreal days...I interviewed George Clooney and Renee Zellweger at the Leatherheads Press Conference in Salisbury NC today. The press conference was held at the same train depot and they rode in on the same train seen in the movie. Renee and George were dressed in the 1925 outfits they wore in the movie. They are the Hepburn and Tracy in this romantic comedy. Prior to the press conference there were over 1,000 fans outfitted in Leatherheads t-shirts and with other promotional items for autographs.
More later...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
Leatherheads j- The Romantic Comedy
Leatherheads is not just a sports movie. It is a romantic comedy which harkens back to classic Tracy-Hepburn movies. Looking at the eyes of Zellweger and Clooney will show you that mischief and mayhem are afoot. The photos and lighting in tese posters are stunning. This film is a 1st class operation all the way.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Leatherheads Movie Poster
Here is the official movie poster for Leatherheads...I love the slogan....the players were in cold mud for weeks during filming. Giant fire hoses would fill the field with water, so there was mud. There were heaters on the sidelines and many of the players were shaking from the cold...meanwhile the extras in the stands were sweating in winter garb and being given water.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Leatherheads in the Real World
The scale of this display is about 12 feet wide and about 6 to 8 ft high. It is sitting outside the movie theater in the lobby of the Concord Mills shopping center. These pictures can be downloaded as wallpaper for your computer or AOL IM (AIM) or mobile phone. Go to www.leatherheadsmovie.com.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Leatherheads - George and Renee in W Magazine
Conde Nast's W Magazine has a cover of George Clooney and Renee Zellweger. This is a nice little article that was coming out with the promotion of Leatherheads.
Here is a link to the article.
Leatherheads (which I was an extra (sideline photographer and reporter) in and hope not to be on the cutting room floor)... was to premier on Dec 7, 2007. Now it will be released for April 4th in time for some of the Easter/Passover/Spring Break time.
Leatherheads is a fun screwball comedy for the whole family.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Official Still Photo From Leatherheads
George Clooney, John Krasinski and Renee Zellweger in the Speakeasy for Leatherheads
The On Ramp to Leatherheads Marketing
I happen to love marketing and public relations and the entertainment industry, so I am very excited to see the beginning of Universal Pictures starting to drip out the marketing for the Leatherheads movie.
In May, George Clooney, was in Oceans 13 and had a segment on Jay Leno's Tonight show where Leatherheads got a brief mention.
In mid June, John Krasinski, of "The Office" was the featured star in the movie "License to Wed".
Now this week, USA Today, had a still photo on its website of what looks like the "Speakeasy" scene in the Leatherheads movie with the three stars, Clooney, Krasinski and Renee Zellweger.
I continue to monitor the Universal Studios website to see when the movie trailers will be available. It looks as if Leatherheads is "on deck" to have its own website launched. My predication is that it will be up and running with the start of the NFL pre-season and that NBC (who is the sister company of Universal) will start promoting Leatherheads on its Sunday Night Football broadcast, since Leatherheads is a fictionalized account of the era when professional football was first organized.
This marketing will build to a crescendo around Thanksgiving when all the games are on and the most important NFL games of the week will be on Sunday Night on NBC.
Since Leatherheads has a few "fictional" teams, we may also see merchandising of sweatshirts, leather helmuts, and other movie paraphanalia.
And don't forget Universal Studios during the holiday season as well.
Leatherheads seems to be perfectly positioned for an exciting and creative promotional cascade over the next few months.
In May, George Clooney, was in Oceans 13 and had a segment on Jay Leno's Tonight show where Leatherheads got a brief mention.
In mid June, John Krasinski, of "The Office" was the featured star in the movie "License to Wed".
Now this week, USA Today, had a still photo on its website of what looks like the "Speakeasy" scene in the Leatherheads movie with the three stars, Clooney, Krasinski and Renee Zellweger.
I continue to monitor the Universal Studios website to see when the movie trailers will be available. It looks as if Leatherheads is "on deck" to have its own website launched. My predication is that it will be up and running with the start of the NFL pre-season and that NBC (who is the sister company of Universal) will start promoting Leatherheads on its Sunday Night Football broadcast, since Leatherheads is a fictionalized account of the era when professional football was first organized.
This marketing will build to a crescendo around Thanksgiving when all the games are on and the most important NFL games of the week will be on Sunday Night on NBC.
Since Leatherheads has a few "fictional" teams, we may also see merchandising of sweatshirts, leather helmuts, and other movie paraphanalia.
And don't forget Universal Studios during the holiday season as well.
Leatherheads seems to be perfectly positioned for an exciting and creative promotional cascade over the next few months.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Leatherheads - It ain't over till its over
Monday, May 14th, 2007 - Last week, the phone rang. It was Dan from the casting office. I had spoken to Dan a few weeks back to let him know of my cousin's Kosher Restaurant and Deli as some of the NY and LA types working on the movie may be missing some "ethnic" food like a good corned beef sandwich and a knish. (Most of these items come from companies in the heart of the Jewish community in Brooklyn).
We started talking about my blog and how it would be really great if I could get more work after the Charlotte filming. After I missed getting a part as a "fireman" in Statesville and finished Greensboro filming, I had called back to see if I could get any other role to just be a part of the Statesville, NC filming.
Well, a few days later (last Wednesday) my phone rang and he said there was a part as in a 1920's athletic club scene which called for some "larger" men. He said I would be working out and might be featured on camera including doing something like riding an exercise bike (I didn't know they had them back then). He also told me that George Clooney and Renee Zellweger would be in the scene. I had only scene Renee Z once back in Charlotte, so I am looking forward to this opportunity.
On Thursday, I went back up to the Casting HQ in Statesville, got my hair styled and trimmed even shorter since I won't have a hat on for this scene and the top which was kept longer needs now to be realistic. My eleven year old son took the trip up there with me as well. I met with Deborah B. again, one of the main costume designers who works in this expansive wardrobe warehouse. (She also comes on the set for part of the day also).
She took me back first to a box of "sneakers" from that period. Unfortunately, they ones in the box were Men's size 6 to 8. I wear a 10 to 11 size. I thought for a minute again. Well, I won't be in this scene now...however she said wait a minute and came back with a box of white shoes which look like golf shoes with rubber soles. She took out a pair and told me to try them on. My son was watching me try them on and saw the smile come back on my face when they fit.
I then was taken to a dressing room area where there was a table to the left and a rack with some clothes hangin on it. A white tee-shirt with thing arms that also had a bottom which looked a like the old bathing suits of that day. There was then a pair of tan pants (I guess we can call them sweat pants) to go over this.
The t-shirt which I asked Deborah about is called a scivvy or an all-in-one. The scivvy fit fine and again, I felt a sense of relief that I would be in the scene. Then Deborah took off the tan pants for me to try on...I noticed the tag that they were a lot smaller than my waist size. We tried two different styles. The length was perfect, the waist was about 4 inches too small.
Again, Deborah, took some measurements and then left for about 10 minutes. I thought she would be coming back with another pair of pants. Instead she came back with Maria V., the seamstress. I guess I had seen people sewing as I walked in earlier, but I thought they were repairing costumes or creating special costumes.
I put on the tan pants again, an Deborah took a scissor and cut the back of the pants about 8 inches down so they opened up in the back and then I could button them in the front. The seamstress, Maria, then looked at it took some measurements and then also looked and said we need to also drop the pants about 1 1/2 inches in the crotch too (phew I was glad about that..it would have been a very uncomfortable day)..She took them away and I believe she did her magic. I will find out later today when I show up on set at the Statesville Civic Center.
We started talking about my blog and how it would be really great if I could get more work after the Charlotte filming. After I missed getting a part as a "fireman" in Statesville and finished Greensboro filming, I had called back to see if I could get any other role to just be a part of the Statesville, NC filming.
Well, a few days later (last Wednesday) my phone rang and he said there was a part as in a 1920's athletic club scene which called for some "larger" men. He said I would be working out and might be featured on camera including doing something like riding an exercise bike (I didn't know they had them back then). He also told me that George Clooney and Renee Zellweger would be in the scene. I had only scene Renee Z once back in Charlotte, so I am looking forward to this opportunity.
On Thursday, I went back up to the Casting HQ in Statesville, got my hair styled and trimmed even shorter since I won't have a hat on for this scene and the top which was kept longer needs now to be realistic. My eleven year old son took the trip up there with me as well. I met with Deborah B. again, one of the main costume designers who works in this expansive wardrobe warehouse. (She also comes on the set for part of the day also).
She took me back first to a box of "sneakers" from that period. Unfortunately, they ones in the box were Men's size 6 to 8. I wear a 10 to 11 size. I thought for a minute again. Well, I won't be in this scene now...however she said wait a minute and came back with a box of white shoes which look like golf shoes with rubber soles. She took out a pair and told me to try them on. My son was watching me try them on and saw the smile come back on my face when they fit.
I then was taken to a dressing room area where there was a table to the left and a rack with some clothes hangin on it. A white tee-shirt with thing arms that also had a bottom which looked a like the old bathing suits of that day. There was then a pair of tan pants (I guess we can call them sweat pants) to go over this.
The t-shirt which I asked Deborah about is called a scivvy or an all-in-one. The scivvy fit fine and again, I felt a sense of relief that I would be in the scene. Then Deborah took off the tan pants for me to try on...I noticed the tag that they were a lot smaller than my waist size. We tried two different styles. The length was perfect, the waist was about 4 inches too small.
Again, Deborah, took some measurements and then left for about 10 minutes. I thought she would be coming back with another pair of pants. Instead she came back with Maria V., the seamstress. I guess I had seen people sewing as I walked in earlier, but I thought they were repairing costumes or creating special costumes.
I put on the tan pants again, an Deborah took a scissor and cut the back of the pants about 8 inches down so they opened up in the back and then I could button them in the front. The seamstress, Maria, then looked at it took some measurements and then also looked and said we need to also drop the pants about 1 1/2 inches in the crotch too (phew I was glad about that..it would have been a very uncomfortable day)..She took them away and I believe she did her magic. I will find out later today when I show up on set at the Statesville Civic Center.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Leatherheads - Day 8 - How Filming is done out of order
May 3, 2007 - We are now in the parking lot filled with old cars. The stadium is adorned with the red white and blue banners you see hanging in stadiums during the world series. In front is a banner that says the name of the teams playing in this game.
Even though this is 5 days later in Greensboro, the filming is actually the beginning of the game we filmed in Charlotte. The scene we will film shows the fans walking into the stadium. The stadium looks so realistic with the 1920's cars in the parking lot and all the extras in costume.
We do shots from a few different angles walking into the stadium. I am walking with my buddy Rick and we learned from Charlotte that walking slower gives you more camera time and more time to react and create different gestures for the scene.
George Clooney in in his white t-shirt and pants as director this morning. He is not in this scene. As the directors tell the production assistants, you hear the familiar loud refrain "Pictures up, Rolling, Action, Background Action". When they say background action, that is when the extras start their movement. We then move to the edge of the road to walk in from the street. I am about 20 feet from George Clooney as he peers into the camera to make sure he has the right shot.
After this we go to break and head back to the Extras Holding area in the white tent.
Before we get in, Michelle, one of the production assistants says "I need nine men, for the next scene". Again, this is sort of a being in the right place at the right time. Christian K. and I volunteer for this and we are led back to the stadium.
Now we see a contraption of pipes that makes rain and we are told we will get umbrellas and walk under the water. However at the last moment a decision is made to hold off on that scene and we are told to hangout in the stadium There are the 9 men, the "vendors", and a family.
Now we walk into the stadium and are told to take a seat anywhere. Surprise!....this is a baseball stadium with a beautiful green manicured infield. We realize no football plays will be filmed here.
We wait around for about an hour or so and nothing is happening. We realize they are filming scenes outside the stadium There is a giant construction crane. We understand now that it has a hose and somehow is dumping water on the top of the stadium to make it look like its raining outside. I wonder if computer graphics are going to put people in the scene.
We then wait around even longer and then we see activity inside the "tunnel" leading into our section of the stadium. Cameras are being set up on te concourse area and also looking down our gate area where you enter to get to your seats. We now see George Clooney in a tuxedo and John Krasinski also. They are filming their entrance into the big game. They both are again about 20 feet away. This is really the first time I saw John Krasinski close up. The basic scene are the two stars of the football game signing autographs.
We watch as the production crew raises a white background. It is a giant sail inside a rectangular metal structure about 20 feet by 20 feet. It is held down and tied down by four technical workers. I ask what it is used for. They tell me it helps to cut down the wind so the wind does not get into the microphone. I thought it was a background for filming so you wouldn't see the baseball field. I just learned another new detail of production
Now finally after waiting for about 2 hours, we are told to come back down toward the front of the stadium. However, when we reach the end of our area, we are told to hang out by the concession stand. They line us up to buy the old peanuts, souvenirs and other paraphanalia. they give some of us replica One dollar bills from that era.
They put us in three lines to make our way to buy our conccessions. However, when they set up the shot, the assistant director and George Clooney realize they can't get a clear shot of the souvenirs and food and other replica items.
They then tell my line to move out of the scene and down out of camera range. So we then think again, we missed the shot or scene after sitting around for 2 hours. After about 5 minutes of the director and cameraman setting up the shot. Ian Calip, the Asst Director, is at my shoulder and then George Clooney walks up to the other side of me and turns and tells our group he wants us to cut through the line to make our way to other sections of the stadium. Well, to me it seems like what happens as you push your way onto a New York City Subway car. They adjust the people in line to put a little space between them and at that point when action is said, we push our way through the line and make it past them. We are about 5 to 10 ft from the camera. We are talking and saying "excuse me", "coming through", "trying to get to my seats", etc. some are pushing back or blocking us to make it look realistic. When we finally make it through they are still rolling so some of us are sent back into the scene and told to get in line and try to buy some concessions. We do about 5 takes of this scene. On the last take, I get in line and still have the dollar bills in my coat pocket, so I then get back in line and wave my bill in the air as I try to get the vendor to sell me some peanuts. I grap my bag of peanuts. The conccession vendor takes my dollar an they yell "Cut". (By the way George Clooney was directing from behind us to the left of the concession stand. He was about an inch from me on about 5 different occasions)...He even jokingly said to Ian "Your fired" and was also joking with a young boy who is a main part of the scene.
As we walk out of the stadium to go back to Extras Holding George Clooney is walking past us. A women who has been shooting since Charlotte says to George "You are so much better looking in person", George turns and smiles, I then say to her within earshot of George "What about me?", he smiles again.
Time for the lunch tables. They are setup outside the tent...chicken, macaroni and cheese, lasagna and vegetables. We grab our stuff and walk into the tent to take our seats.
At the end of lunch, the casting director's production assistant Michelle starts to yell that we are "wrapping" for the day for many of the extras. She calls out different groups, woman and children "Get dressed , time to go home, thank you for coming today", all self dressed actors "Get dressed, time to go". Press people "stay". Well, I consider myself "press" from the other scenes in Charlotte so I wait around. It is now about 3 pm. I am torn about leaving and staying...hundreds of extras make it through the lines outside back in their regular close...the transistion for the woman are the most drastic as they go from bobbed hair hat and elegant clothes to jeans and a t-shirt.
Well, we think we are going to get one last scene as press for the day. However they finaly say "Press, time to go home, thanks." Well, this means a lean payday today since every hour past 8 hours we get paid overtime (time and a half)...I figure with gas and my two hour drive time, I probably have made about twenty bucks net for 12 hours of work and drive time..."Great work if you can get it" (lol).
Well I guess this is the end of the road for my leatherheads career. I was not able to fit into the fireman's outfit they wanted for the night time filming in Statesville, NC. This day turned out to be fun and interesting. Almost like a reunion since I didn't think I was coming back after Charlotte. I was able to get some great pictures with the costumers, hair and makeup and the "concession vendors".
Well that's a wrap!! It was a great ride. I guess George Clooney is getting ready for the Cannes Film fesitval. He also just signed on to do a comedy with the Coen Brothers.
It is now about 2 pm and we head back to the extras tent to eat lunch
Even though this is 5 days later in Greensboro, the filming is actually the beginning of the game we filmed in Charlotte. The scene we will film shows the fans walking into the stadium. The stadium looks so realistic with the 1920's cars in the parking lot and all the extras in costume.
We do shots from a few different angles walking into the stadium. I am walking with my buddy Rick and we learned from Charlotte that walking slower gives you more camera time and more time to react and create different gestures for the scene.
George Clooney in in his white t-shirt and pants as director this morning. He is not in this scene. As the directors tell the production assistants, you hear the familiar loud refrain "Pictures up, Rolling, Action, Background Action". When they say background action, that is when the extras start their movement. We then move to the edge of the road to walk in from the street. I am about 20 feet from George Clooney as he peers into the camera to make sure he has the right shot.
After this we go to break and head back to the Extras Holding area in the white tent.
Before we get in, Michelle, one of the production assistants says "I need nine men, for the next scene". Again, this is sort of a being in the right place at the right time. Christian K. and I volunteer for this and we are led back to the stadium.
Now we see a contraption of pipes that makes rain and we are told we will get umbrellas and walk under the water. However at the last moment a decision is made to hold off on that scene and we are told to hangout in the stadium There are the 9 men, the "vendors", and a family.
Now we walk into the stadium and are told to take a seat anywhere. Surprise!....this is a baseball stadium with a beautiful green manicured infield. We realize no football plays will be filmed here.
We wait around for about an hour or so and nothing is happening. We realize they are filming scenes outside the stadium There is a giant construction crane. We understand now that it has a hose and somehow is dumping water on the top of the stadium to make it look like its raining outside. I wonder if computer graphics are going to put people in the scene.
We then wait around even longer and then we see activity inside the "tunnel" leading into our section of the stadium. Cameras are being set up on te concourse area and also looking down our gate area where you enter to get to your seats. We now see George Clooney in a tuxedo and John Krasinski also. They are filming their entrance into the big game. They both are again about 20 feet away. This is really the first time I saw John Krasinski close up. The basic scene are the two stars of the football game signing autographs.
We watch as the production crew raises a white background. It is a giant sail inside a rectangular metal structure about 20 feet by 20 feet. It is held down and tied down by four technical workers. I ask what it is used for. They tell me it helps to cut down the wind so the wind does not get into the microphone. I thought it was a background for filming so you wouldn't see the baseball field. I just learned another new detail of production
Now finally after waiting for about 2 hours, we are told to come back down toward the front of the stadium. However, when we reach the end of our area, we are told to hang out by the concession stand. They line us up to buy the old peanuts, souvenirs and other paraphanalia. they give some of us replica One dollar bills from that era.
They put us in three lines to make our way to buy our conccessions. However, when they set up the shot, the assistant director and George Clooney realize they can't get a clear shot of the souvenirs and food and other replica items.
They then tell my line to move out of the scene and down out of camera range. So we then think again, we missed the shot or scene after sitting around for 2 hours. After about 5 minutes of the director and cameraman setting up the shot. Ian Calip, the Asst Director, is at my shoulder and then George Clooney walks up to the other side of me and turns and tells our group he wants us to cut through the line to make our way to other sections of the stadium. Well, to me it seems like what happens as you push your way onto a New York City Subway car. They adjust the people in line to put a little space between them and at that point when action is said, we push our way through the line and make it past them. We are about 5 to 10 ft from the camera. We are talking and saying "excuse me", "coming through", "trying to get to my seats", etc. some are pushing back or blocking us to make it look realistic. When we finally make it through they are still rolling so some of us are sent back into the scene and told to get in line and try to buy some concessions. We do about 5 takes of this scene. On the last take, I get in line and still have the dollar bills in my coat pocket, so I then get back in line and wave my bill in the air as I try to get the vendor to sell me some peanuts. I grap my bag of peanuts. The conccession vendor takes my dollar an they yell "Cut". (By the way George Clooney was directing from behind us to the left of the concession stand. He was about an inch from me on about 5 different occasions)...He even jokingly said to Ian "Your fired" and was also joking with a young boy who is a main part of the scene.
As we walk out of the stadium to go back to Extras Holding George Clooney is walking past us. A women who has been shooting since Charlotte says to George "You are so much better looking in person", George turns and smiles, I then say to her within earshot of George "What about me?", he smiles again.
Time for the lunch tables. They are setup outside the tent...chicken, macaroni and cheese, lasagna and vegetables. We grab our stuff and walk into the tent to take our seats.
At the end of lunch, the casting director's production assistant Michelle starts to yell that we are "wrapping" for the day for many of the extras. She calls out different groups, woman and children "Get dressed , time to go home, thank you for coming today", all self dressed actors "Get dressed, time to go". Press people "stay". Well, I consider myself "press" from the other scenes in Charlotte so I wait around. It is now about 3 pm. I am torn about leaving and staying...hundreds of extras make it through the lines outside back in their regular close...the transistion for the woman are the most drastic as they go from bobbed hair hat and elegant clothes to jeans and a t-shirt.
Well, we think we are going to get one last scene as press for the day. However they finaly say "Press, time to go home, thanks." Well, this means a lean payday today since every hour past 8 hours we get paid overtime (time and a half)...I figure with gas and my two hour drive time, I probably have made about twenty bucks net for 12 hours of work and drive time..."Great work if you can get it" (lol).
Well I guess this is the end of the road for my leatherheads career. I was not able to fit into the fireman's outfit they wanted for the night time filming in Statesville, NC. This day turned out to be fun and interesting. Almost like a reunion since I didn't think I was coming back after Charlotte. I was able to get some great pictures with the costumers, hair and makeup and the "concession vendors".
Well that's a wrap!! It was a great ride. I guess George Clooney is getting ready for the Cannes Film fesitval. He also just signed on to do a comedy with the Coen Brothers.
It is now about 2 pm and we head back to the extras tent to eat lunch
Monday, May 07, 2007
Leatherheads - Day 8 - New location Greensboro, NC (May 3, 2007)
Wow, this is early, especially for someone who is a nightowl....I wake up at 4 am and get on the road by 4:45. I drive 90 miles to Greensboro using mapquest directions to find the parking lot in front of a church. Ah, this is not such a nice part of town and the directions send me in the complete opposite direction. Luckily, one of my strong points is that I have an amazing sense of direction (and I never stop to ask directions either)....so after driving about 4 miles in the wrong direction I turned around and drove back about 6 miles.
Wow, the shuttle bus driver was the same guy who was in Charlotte blaring Jimi Hendrix on the radio..I think its just some sixties music now. He drives us to the War Memorial Stadium. This time there is no permanent building. Just a very large tent for extras holding and two tents for wardrobe and a makeup/haircut tent.
I grab some breakfast and they keep us in the tent for a long time. There are dozens of first timers here today getting fited. Finally, they allow our table to go and get dressed. I go to the table to check in and they had been flipping out a bit because there were no clothes under my 3532 number ((brown coat, flat hat that I wore in Charlotte)...I was now #5001 and had a completed different look including a fedora. The amazing thing was that within three weeks time the costumers had dressed almost 1500 additional people (5001 minus 3532).
I made sure I had my camera phone with me and took pictures along the way today in wardrobe, makeup and hairstyling. It is now about 8 am and time to start the day.
I have the same expectation as day 1 in Charlotte of just being a fan in the stands. I show up in front of the stadium and find over 20 vehicles cars, trucks and even and ice cream truck from that era.
Time to for shooting. I walk up to the set and find one of my "buddies" from Charlotte and stand next to him. I think we are just haning out waiting for the directors to give us instruction of where to stand. Ginger, the costumer, who I got to know well in Charlotte, smiles at me as she straightens my hat and scarf and says "You always find a way to get into the shot". I smiled as I realized at that point again, we would have some camera time.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Leatherheads - Day 7 - It's a Small World and the final shots of the Game
Today is the last day of shooting in Charlotte and I am again standing on the sidelines of the visiting team..(not sure if I can divulge the name). The Coach of the team is Wayne Duvall. a larger than life character. I had been near him all week but did not want to bother him as he was one of the "actors". I finally just reach out my hand to him and said "My name is Andy Kaplan" nice to meet you. We then got into a discussion which I guess happens often on film sets..."Where did you grow up", I asked. He replied "Silver Spring, MD". I told him my sister now lives near there and I asked where he went to High School (it was a leading question). When he told me he went to high school there as well. I asked him if he knew Dickinson College. He then smiled and said, "Yes". All my brothers children went there and I am going there for my nieces graduation in May". I told him I founded and was chair of the Dickinson Club of Charlotte and was the 2006 Dickinson Alumni Volunteer of the Year. Well, it is a small world.
All morning they were filming the final scene of the game and perfecting some of the shots so the editors will have more interesting shots to work with. Camera's are set up in the far stands to get a distant shot of one of the important plays of the game. This time I am running down the sideline (as directed by John, Assistant Director) and just by luck end up at the end of a crowd about a foot from George Clooney who is playing a football player. Knowing this may be my last minutes as an extra, I have now learned to find the camera and make sure I can be seen clearly. I am not sure if this will be a far shot or they zoom in.
One interesting shot of the day were 3 football players laying on the ground together and the cameramen were up on stepladders shooting down at the players as they rolled around. Another shot of interest was when a single camera was pointing up to the sky (it laying on the ground) and George Clooney and one of the crew were tossing the football like a "hot potato" over the camera dozens of times.
At the end of the day, we did a scene where the game is ended and we walk off the field. We did about 6 takes of this walking in all different directions and at different paces. In each take about 50 of us walked from different places and did about 3 different walks. I walked from the side of the stadium to the middle of the field to the director in what I call a "New York Walking pace" and then we turned around and walked reguarly back to another part of the sideline, then I decided that as a "sideline photographer" it would be authentic to be running so the two of us ran back into the field. At that point the director named John, directed us to walk very very slowly toward the corner of the endzone continuing until we hit the wall. This I guess will look like we are exiting the stadium Our educated non-professional guess is that this may be the last scene in the movie where the credits are rolling. Again, only the editors will know. Maybe it will be me and my buddy walking into the sunset instead of George Clooney.
There are still three more weeks of shooting in Winston Salem and Statesville, NC. I live about 40 minutes from Statesville and 90 minutes from Winston Salem. I am hoping for a part in Statesville, so I can restup...I had about 45 hours of sleep in the last 9 days.
All morning they were filming the final scene of the game and perfecting some of the shots so the editors will have more interesting shots to work with. Camera's are set up in the far stands to get a distant shot of one of the important plays of the game. This time I am running down the sideline (as directed by John, Assistant Director) and just by luck end up at the end of a crowd about a foot from George Clooney who is playing a football player. Knowing this may be my last minutes as an extra, I have now learned to find the camera and make sure I can be seen clearly. I am not sure if this will be a far shot or they zoom in.
One interesting shot of the day were 3 football players laying on the ground together and the cameramen were up on stepladders shooting down at the players as they rolled around. Another shot of interest was when a single camera was pointing up to the sky (it laying on the ground) and George Clooney and one of the crew were tossing the football like a "hot potato" over the camera dozens of times.
At the end of the day, we did a scene where the game is ended and we walk off the field. We did about 6 takes of this walking in all different directions and at different paces. In each take about 50 of us walked from different places and did about 3 different walks. I walked from the side of the stadium to the middle of the field to the director in what I call a "New York Walking pace" and then we turned around and walked reguarly back to another part of the sideline, then I decided that as a "sideline photographer" it would be authentic to be running so the two of us ran back into the field. At that point the director named John, directed us to walk very very slowly toward the corner of the endzone continuing until we hit the wall. This I guess will look like we are exiting the stadium Our educated non-professional guess is that this may be the last scene in the movie where the credits are rolling. Again, only the editors will know. Maybe it will be me and my buddy walking into the sunset instead of George Clooney.
There are still three more weeks of shooting in Winston Salem and Statesville, NC. I live about 40 minutes from Statesville and 90 minutes from Winston Salem. I am hoping for a part in Statesville, so I can restup...I had about 45 hours of sleep in the last 9 days.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Leatherheads Day 6 - The play of the game
Most of htis week is filming of a football game. As you can imagine like most sports films we have important plays in the game. Today, they worked on the final play of the game all day. I started in the end zone on the home team side next to some "band members". I reminded me of a smaller version of the Stanford Band. A friend playing a police officer was also nearby. I was basically just background at this point as the play was taking place way down the field.
I have learned from the assistant directors that movement is preferable in a scene so I walk up the sidelines once they yell action. You actually hear the words,
Pictures Up!, Rolling, and then "Background Action" to know when it is time to move about in the scene.
As the play moves up the field toward the endzone of I move with it and by the end of the morning end up next to the cheerleaders 3 men and 3 women and end up doing my pantomine talking and photography.
They continue to move fans in the stands around behind us as fillers. They fill in the first 5 rows of the stadium in about 6 sections. We have a long hot morning.
Ginger who is one of the wardrobe people, comes up throughout the morning to work on extras to make sure they are authentic and their scarves, hats and coats are on correctly. She has straightened my hat a few times. Our pants also need to be hiked up to show our socks...think of an old man pulling his pants over his belly and that is what a lot of us had to do during filming. Of course this was hidden by our overcoats.
Ginger, who has a resemblance to Carmen Diaz was really in her element as a wardrobe expert. She was really a stickler for detail and even noticed the little things such as whether we wore the same tie each day or how our winter scarves were tucked under our coat. As far as my brown jacket, I would have these wardrobe experts tie a square knot to make it look authentic.
Most of the day was fairly uneventful, except it occured to many of us it is taking 6 days (60+) hours) to film these scenes. George Clooney is all over the field that day. He is a player on one of the teams. Both teams are on the filed for most of the day. Some are professional actors such as Ed Miller (who is from Los Angeles), others are from local casting.
The players were having to do many of the scenes repetitively while camera's and audio folks captured a variety of shots from closeups and dialogue to shots from a distance...This is a romantic comedy, so there were a couple of scenes that had George Clooney laughing right after shooting.
The players on both teams were playing in the "elements" (which I can describe in detail, we'll have to wait for the film promotion to start) and they had "heaters" on the sidelines to warm them up when they were done shooting.
We are told they need an extra day to shoot so we will be back on Tuesday...
I have learned from the assistant directors that movement is preferable in a scene so I walk up the sidelines once they yell action. You actually hear the words,
Pictures Up!, Rolling, and then "Background Action" to know when it is time to move about in the scene.
As the play moves up the field toward the endzone of I move with it and by the end of the morning end up next to the cheerleaders 3 men and 3 women and end up doing my pantomine talking and photography.
They continue to move fans in the stands around behind us as fillers. They fill in the first 5 rows of the stadium in about 6 sections. We have a long hot morning.
Ginger who is one of the wardrobe people, comes up throughout the morning to work on extras to make sure they are authentic and their scarves, hats and coats are on correctly. She has straightened my hat a few times. Our pants also need to be hiked up to show our socks...think of an old man pulling his pants over his belly and that is what a lot of us had to do during filming. Of course this was hidden by our overcoats.
Ginger, who has a resemblance to Carmen Diaz was really in her element as a wardrobe expert. She was really a stickler for detail and even noticed the little things such as whether we wore the same tie each day or how our winter scarves were tucked under our coat. As far as my brown jacket, I would have these wardrobe experts tie a square knot to make it look authentic.
Most of the day was fairly uneventful, except it occured to many of us it is taking 6 days (60+) hours) to film these scenes. George Clooney is all over the field that day. He is a player on one of the teams. Both teams are on the filed for most of the day. Some are professional actors such as Ed Miller (who is from Los Angeles), others are from local casting.
The players were having to do many of the scenes repetitively while camera's and audio folks captured a variety of shots from closeups and dialogue to shots from a distance...This is a romantic comedy, so there were a couple of scenes that had George Clooney laughing right after shooting.
The players on both teams were playing in the "elements" (which I can describe in detail, we'll have to wait for the film promotion to start) and they had "heaters" on the sidelines to warm them up when they were done shooting.
We are told they need an extra day to shoot so we will be back on Tuesday...
Leatherheads - Day 5 - George Clooney Directing
Friday morning, I woke up at 5 am and arrived at the set at 6:30 am. I figured at this point I had only about 20 or so hours of sleep this week, but was still excited with anticipation of the days activities.
We park our cars at the lot near Bobcat arena and take a shuttle bus over to Memorial Stadium. The bus driver has a large jar i the front of his bus for two police officers slain in the line of duty in Charlotte a few weeks ago. He asks for donations to the almost full jar.
When I arrrive, I go to a table where the casting director's staff has us fill out our daily forms or timesheets with name ss@ etc. At the top of the form it says we are working on Leatherheads from Speakeasy Productions.
By the time I am dressed, coiffed and put my sunscreen on, I arrive at extra's holding at about7 am. I have my food and then sit with others and talk about today's activities. We are told they are adding an extra day of shooting on Tuesday.
In the morning, my first shots are fan in the stands. We end up cheering, booing etc.
The day is fairly uneventful until the end of the day. The last shot of the day I am a photographer again on the visiting team sidelines. I am at the 40 yard line standing near the sidelines. One of the assistant direcots comes up to me and tells me to move back behind the team bench about 10 feet off of the firld. He places other extras in specific places as well. I am thinking I will be more of a background player again.
Then all of a sudden, he places the Head Coach of the team to my right and the team mascot and trainer are nearby as well. The Head Coach, played by Wayne Duvall (Robert Dubal's cousin)is a fiarly large man which a deep luud voice you would expect from coaches.
The next thig I see are the two cameras in front of us with all the direcors sitting in back including George Clooney as he is not in this scene as an actor. Tape measures are run from the cameras to us to measure the focial point so we will be in focus. There is also a camera on a golf cart type vehicle that will be going down the sidelines. Now I realize why we were put back behind the benches. It needed the space to ride inside the sidelines.
We then do about 4 or 5 takes of this shot. In one of them the coach takes the old camera I use as a photographer and starts to look at it and pretend to talk to me.
I realize now that this is even a better chance for me to appear in the movie with a close up from 3 camera angles. I turn to the actors to my left and say..."it doesn't get any better than this".
We park our cars at the lot near Bobcat arena and take a shuttle bus over to Memorial Stadium. The bus driver has a large jar i the front of his bus for two police officers slain in the line of duty in Charlotte a few weeks ago. He asks for donations to the almost full jar.
When I arrrive, I go to a table where the casting director's staff has us fill out our daily forms or timesheets with name ss@ etc. At the top of the form it says we are working on Leatherheads from Speakeasy Productions.
By the time I am dressed, coiffed and put my sunscreen on, I arrive at extra's holding at about7 am. I have my food and then sit with others and talk about today's activities. We are told they are adding an extra day of shooting on Tuesday.
In the morning, my first shots are fan in the stands. We end up cheering, booing etc.
The day is fairly uneventful until the end of the day. The last shot of the day I am a photographer again on the visiting team sidelines. I am at the 40 yard line standing near the sidelines. One of the assistant direcots comes up to me and tells me to move back behind the team bench about 10 feet off of the firld. He places other extras in specific places as well. I am thinking I will be more of a background player again.
Then all of a sudden, he places the Head Coach of the team to my right and the team mascot and trainer are nearby as well. The Head Coach, played by Wayne Duvall (Robert Dubal's cousin)is a fiarly large man which a deep luud voice you would expect from coaches.
The next thig I see are the two cameras in front of us with all the direcors sitting in back including George Clooney as he is not in this scene as an actor. Tape measures are run from the cameras to us to measure the focial point so we will be in focus. There is also a camera on a golf cart type vehicle that will be going down the sidelines. Now I realize why we were put back behind the benches. It needed the space to ride inside the sidelines.
We then do about 4 or 5 takes of this shot. In one of them the coach takes the old camera I use as a photographer and starts to look at it and pretend to talk to me.
I realize now that this is even a better chance for me to appear in the movie with a close up from 3 camera angles. I turn to the actors to my left and say..."it doesn't get any better than this".
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Leatherheads Day 5 - End of the day surprise
Friday, April 20th (pm) Today went along rather uneventful. In the morning we were doing reaction shots as "fans" in the stands. The directors and production crew had to get us to realistically react to a football scene.
The walks hundreds of us out to the stadium and bring us down aisles. With only a few hundred extras (I think there may be around 500 now), they bring us down the aisles of Memorial stadium and start to get up to fill up the first 5 rows of the stadium in about the first 3 or 4 sections from the endzone.
Our job as fans is to react in a variety of ways to get very good action shots. There is no actual game going on. We are looking out on the field at camera's, production crew, microphones, carts, etc. I assume the guy in the movie credits called the Grip is somewhere out there as well, but still want to find that person as for years I wondered by a key grip is.
All the production crew are on radio freqnencies to each other (including different channels depending on what job you have). The directors and production assistants continually talk with each other throughout the day to coordinate everything from who should be taken from Extra's holding, to when they are ready to shoot the scene to where to place the actors in the scene.
I am sitting in the 2nd row next to two women, both dressed in those beautful 1920's hats and clothes. On my left,(in real life) is Jody, a real estate agent who lives just West of Charlotte. On my right is Sharon who calls herself a "Jill of all trades". She teaches Swing dancing, creates antique jewelry, does photography and interior design. While waiting around Jody takes a call on her mobile phone she pulls out of her 1920's purse. It is from her 9 year old son, who is also an extra in the movie sitting somewhere else in the stadium.
The directors now tell us to be ready and describe the scene we will be looking at and how we might want to react (cheering, booing, bored or like nothing special is going on).
The first scene is a play that is a big play for the other team. So our reaction is to be upset at the defense of our team for letting up a big play. In the stands also the prop people have handed out props from that time period such as buttons, game programs and cigarettes.
One of the things we also have to do is to have some fans start standing, but not all at the same time. The directors instruct all people with a birthday in April, Stand up. As the plays develop on the field the rest of us will stand to cheer or boo the play. Today we also do some acting like talking to the person next to us, pointing at the play, or congratulating each other after a big play.
After that, they moved us to the endzone for more shots. However, the asst director said anyone on the sideline needs to be out of the shot. I left to go to the sideline as a photographer again. As I moved from the stands to the field I stopped by to see the propmaster. He let's me pick my camera (a 1920's vintage camera) from the prop table. I enter the field and we are instructed to go to the place where we were standing previously. For me that was on the 45 yard line right next to the cheerleaders, coach and trainer in front of the team bench.
I am standing on the sideline and all of a sudden I am told to move back off near or behind the bench. There are now about 20 people behind the cameras with two cameras pointing at me. One is from the left at about 10 o'clock the other is straight ahead at noon..The third camera is down the sidelines to my left at about 2 pm.
The production assistants take a tape measure to measure the focal point.
The director places Wayne Duvall (Coach) to my right) there is also a trainer with the team mascot nearby as well as well. When they call for action, I realize at this point it doesn't get any better than that. This might be my moment as we are looking at a play on the field and reacting to it. Could this be my close up? Only the editors will know. It was a great way to end the day and start the weekend.
The walks hundreds of us out to the stadium and bring us down aisles. With only a few hundred extras (I think there may be around 500 now), they bring us down the aisles of Memorial stadium and start to get up to fill up the first 5 rows of the stadium in about the first 3 or 4 sections from the endzone.
Our job as fans is to react in a variety of ways to get very good action shots. There is no actual game going on. We are looking out on the field at camera's, production crew, microphones, carts, etc. I assume the guy in the movie credits called the Grip is somewhere out there as well, but still want to find that person as for years I wondered by a key grip is.
All the production crew are on radio freqnencies to each other (including different channels depending on what job you have). The directors and production assistants continually talk with each other throughout the day to coordinate everything from who should be taken from Extra's holding, to when they are ready to shoot the scene to where to place the actors in the scene.
I am sitting in the 2nd row next to two women, both dressed in those beautful 1920's hats and clothes. On my left,(in real life) is Jody, a real estate agent who lives just West of Charlotte. On my right is Sharon who calls herself a "Jill of all trades". She teaches Swing dancing, creates antique jewelry, does photography and interior design. While waiting around Jody takes a call on her mobile phone she pulls out of her 1920's purse. It is from her 9 year old son, who is also an extra in the movie sitting somewhere else in the stadium.
The directors now tell us to be ready and describe the scene we will be looking at and how we might want to react (cheering, booing, bored or like nothing special is going on).
The first scene is a play that is a big play for the other team. So our reaction is to be upset at the defense of our team for letting up a big play. In the stands also the prop people have handed out props from that time period such as buttons, game programs and cigarettes.
One of the things we also have to do is to have some fans start standing, but not all at the same time. The directors instruct all people with a birthday in April, Stand up. As the plays develop on the field the rest of us will stand to cheer or boo the play. Today we also do some acting like talking to the person next to us, pointing at the play, or congratulating each other after a big play.
After that, they moved us to the endzone for more shots. However, the asst director said anyone on the sideline needs to be out of the shot. I left to go to the sideline as a photographer again. As I moved from the stands to the field I stopped by to see the propmaster. He let's me pick my camera (a 1920's vintage camera) from the prop table. I enter the field and we are instructed to go to the place where we were standing previously. For me that was on the 45 yard line right next to the cheerleaders, coach and trainer in front of the team bench.
I am standing on the sideline and all of a sudden I am told to move back off near or behind the bench. There are now about 20 people behind the cameras with two cameras pointing at me. One is from the left at about 10 o'clock the other is straight ahead at noon..The third camera is down the sidelines to my left at about 2 pm.
The production assistants take a tape measure to measure the focal point.
The director places Wayne Duvall (Coach) to my right) there is also a trainer with the team mascot nearby as well as well. When they call for action, I realize at this point it doesn't get any better than that. This might be my moment as we are looking at a play on the field and reacting to it. Could this be my close up? Only the editors will know. It was a great way to end the day and start the weekend.
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