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Post by Greg C. on Apr 14, 2006 20:29:11 GMT -5
why couldnt you guys do all the yelling on the run?
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Post by neferetus on May 2, 2006 0:13:48 GMT -5
why couldnt you guys do all the yelling on the run? Well, the battle was cut considerably, as you know. Originally, it was supposed to run 8 minutes, which is one minute shorter than John Wayne's entire Alamo battle in his film. We certainly did shout, scream, and hollar "REMEMBER THE ALAMO!" But all off camera. The tracks were supposed to have been overdubbed during the charge scenes. Here's a photo of some of us extras dubbing the vocal track for the San Jacinto charge at Bastrop, in May, 2003---THREE years ago, this month, already! .
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Post by neferetus on Jun 3, 2006 19:07:13 GMT -5
Three years ago today, the extras and reenactors on the Hidden Pines Ranch San Jacinto set, near Bastrop, shot scenes of rushing the barricade, followed by the Santa Anna surrender scene by the Houston Oak. Filming of the sequence took all afternoon and until dark, as the scene was shot and reshot, with each successive take moving in a little bit closer to the principal characters. While there was a lot of dialogue exchanged between Houston, his officers and Santa Anna, the little tag on at the end of the film goes by in but a few seconds. Oh well, that's show-biz.
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Post by neferetus on Jun 4, 2006 11:33:43 GMT -5
Three years ago today, June 4, 2003, Texian extras were chasing soldado extras down the hill toward Peggy Lake, on the San Jacinto set of THE ALAMO, near Bastrop. Here's some photo memories of the day... On the road toward Peggy Lake. Extras in the woods above Peggy Lake. Texian reenactor Larry Grimsley, resting along side a soldado, in the woods above Peggy Lake. Nefarious Ned Huthmacher, damn near dead, in the woods above Peggy Lake. 'Dead' soldado extras, resting where they lay, Peggy Lake Woods. Reenactor Larry 'findem-killem' Grimsley and some extras, in the Woods above Peggy Lake. Does anyone out there recognize themselves in the photos, or any one else, for that matter?
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Post by neferetus on Jun 9, 2006 22:34:58 GMT -5
Although he would pick up his lunch at the VIP mess tent, Dennis Quaid seemed to prefer eating the meal in the comforts of his air-conditioned trailer.During their stay in Bastrop, Dennis Quaid and John Lee Hancock were presented with placques from the City Fathers.(Photos courtesy of the Larry "findem-killem" Grimsley Collection)
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Post by Bromhead24 on Jun 10, 2006 9:56:30 GMT -5
I wonder what the production company did with the 700 Brown Bess's they bought for the film?
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Post by neferetus on Jun 13, 2006 11:59:55 GMT -5
As the reenactors used their own horses during the filming of THE ALAMO (2004), the mounts had to be tested to see how they would react to battle conditions. In this photo, a machine gun is fired off within point-blank range of the horses' ears, to see if they would spook during all of the explosions and gunfire during filming. Here, horses are tested to see how they will react to smoke. Here, in these next two photos, costumed reenactors give their horses a little exercise. (That Coors truck was not full of beer for the thirsty reenactors; it was our shower facilities.) (Photos courtesy of the Jerry Laing Collection.)
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Post by neferetus on Jun 15, 2006 8:30:22 GMT -5
It was off to the make-up tent every morning to get properly dirtied up. (All they really had to do was wait for about a half hour on the battlefield for the sweat and dust to do its job.)"Nefarious" Ned Huthmacher Larry "findem-killem" GrimsleyJerry "JALamo" Laing
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Post by neferetus on Jun 15, 2006 23:23:05 GMT -5
Picking up props and then waiting in queue to board the bus to the set.
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Post by neferetus on Jun 15, 2006 23:25:03 GMT -5
THE SURRENDE OAK, with the Mexican camp to the far left, in the distance. "You want blood; I want Texas".
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Post by neferetus on Jun 21, 2006 22:52:10 GMT -5
THE ROAD TO SAN JACINTO
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Post by neferetus on Jun 22, 2006 8:36:15 GMT -5
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Post by Bromhead24 on Aug 6, 2006 18:55:54 GMT -5
Did the production provide the powder or did you have too. Also, was there a "Safety Officer" there to make sure nobody loaded an actual ball..??
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Post by neferetus on Aug 11, 2006 22:16:48 GMT -5
Did the production provide the powder or did you have too. Also, was there a "Safety Officer" there to make sure nobody loaded an actual ball..?? The 50, or so reenactors served as safety officers at San Jac.
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Post by neferetus on Aug 11, 2006 22:19:10 GMT -5
Oh, production did indeed provide the paper cartridges. After each take was 'in the can', a safety officer would go around collecting all of the unused cartridges.
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Post by neferetus on Aug 28, 2006 16:22:53 GMT -5
Joe Basquez, who wrote and recorded all the music for his CD "EXTRA NOTES: 13 Days At The Alamo", was an extra in THE ALAMO (2004). By strange coincidence, he spent 13 days on the Dripping Springs set, portraying a citizen of Bejar. Below are his notes for each day of filming in which he appeared:
DAY ONE:"The set is absolutely beautiful and impressive. With everyone running around in period costume, it was very surreal and definately felt like a trip back in time.
DAY TWO: "WE walked in from the right side where Davy Crockett was giving a speech. We walked right to the front and were only about six feet away from Davy. What a break!"
DAY THREE: I was placed at a table with four other men and one senorita. My back was to the camera. The senorita was instructed to flirt with me until I rejected her since, as our AD put it, I was an upstanding, maried man."
DAY FOUR: "We were filming the Fandango scene, and I was seated in the patio are of the Cantina with two gentlmen and two ladies...that lasted about two hours, and I spent the rest of the night in the holding area, knocking down cofee and hot chocolate. It was very cold that night."
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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Post by Greg C. on Aug 28, 2006 17:48:11 GMT -5
looking forward to reading part two
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Post by neferetus on Aug 30, 2006 14:44:32 GMT -5
JOE BASQUEZ'S EXTRA NOTES, Part II
DAY 5: "As Davy went from the stairway to the main room, I came in from the side clapping and enjoying the hootenanny...we did several takes...all in all, it was great fun and the night went by quickly."
DAY 6: "Between takes, Bily Bob kept plucking 'Smoke On The Water' on his fiddle. I challenged him to play 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' but he couldn't remember how it went. He then proceeded to pound out the drum solo with his hands on the back of his fiddle."
DAY 7: "We had a short night. They finished shooting different angles from the same scene as the previous night...very interesting, watching the process. The principal actors are very good and very professional."
DAY 8: "The highlight of the day was when two Longhorns got loose and people started scattering everywhere to get out of the way. Someone wanted to know if this is how the 'Runing of the Bulls' in Spain got started."
DAY 9: "I was given a cane and a milk pitcher for my props. Nobody told me where to stand so I found an empty spot and claimed my territory. Everyone was told to run like we were scared but I elected to limp since I had a cane."
TO BE CONCLUDED
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Post by neferetus on Aug 31, 2006 14:24:41 GMT -5
JOE BASQUEZ'S ALAMO NOTES Part III
DAY 10: "If there ever was a miserable day to be on the Alamo set, it was Monday, April 14th. The wind was blowing hard, and it was cool in the morning. By middday, it was hotter than a tortilla griddle. There was a ton of dust in the air."
DAY 11: "We then moved across the plaza to film William Travis and his men arriving at the plaza. Again, I was given a good position and crossed in front of the horses as they arrived. We filmed three different angles of the same scene."
DAY 12: "The sky was cloudy, which made the lighting conditions perfect for the Jim Bowie entrance to Bexar. We filmed several takes, and I was part of the cheering crowd as they rode into the town. They decided to have everyone pantomime...oops! So much for Spanish 101."
DAY 13: " He (Jason Patric) was extremely friendly and spoke about how honored he was that director John Lee Hancock asked him to be in this movie. He expressed what has generally been the consencus motivation for most of the extras I have spoken with. The history of the Alamo looms large in everyone's minds."
It was truly a wonderful experience to have been part of this epic project. I wish to express my sincere thanks to Chris Castaldi, second second assistant director, for his direction and tremendous support for all of the extras on this film. I would also like to thank Billy Dowd for the phone call that gave me the opportunity to participate. And to all the talented extras that I met on the set- thank you for sharing your opinions, your talent and your life's experiences with me. I will treasure these memories always. JOE BASQUEZ
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Post by Bromhead24 on Sept 6, 2006 22:49:13 GMT -5
I would love to do something like that..
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