Post by neferetus on Jan 23, 2007 13:56:26 GMT -5
Here's an article from the Bryan-College Station Tx. Eagle, regarding some seventh grade students from the Sam Rayburn School and how they met with Cid Galindo and Joe Perez (extras in THE ALAMO, 2004) and Greg Dimmick (Author of SEA OF MUD).
History meets Hollywood for local students
By ARENA WELCH
Eagle Staff Writer
When Cid Galindo and Joe Perez arrived at Premiere Cinema in a limousine Friday, excitement buzzed through the group of seventh-graders waiting to enter the Bryan theater.
As the Sam Rayburn Middle School students shuffled inside, their excitement grew. But all of the talk and rowdiness ended when the program, "Alamo Day 2007," began.
Cid Galindo tells Sam Rayburn student Casey Skalaban, 12, of Bryan a story about the filming of the movie The Alamo while signing autographs Friday morning at Premiere Cinema in Bryan.
Gregg Dimmick, an avocational archaeologist who studied the 1836 marches by the Mexican army, told the students about artifacts he had discovered in Wharton, where he lives.
"History is all around you," Dimmick told the students. "It's fascinating how it can jump up and grab you."
About 400 seventh-graders from Sam Rayburn attended the program in two shifts Friday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The students had been watching The Alamo in class.
Galindo and Perez, who were extras in the movie, answered questions about their experiences playing a Tejano defending the Alamo and a colonel in the Mexican army.
Galindo, a 1981 Bryan High School graduate who lives in Austin, portrayed one of nine Tejano defenders in the film. He noticed that the characters played by extras were unnamed, so he did a little research and made a list of names of men who died defending the Alamo.
"We were just kind of bodies in the background," Galindo said. "But I said, 'No, no. These guys had names.'"
But what the students seemed to want to know was how Perez got to have his picture taken with Billy Bob Thornton, who played Davy Crockett in the film.
Perez, who lives in Los Angeles and owns a popsicle distribution company, said he had heard that Thornton really liked the frozen desserts.
"I ran into him on the set one day, and said, 'Hey, you like popsicles?'" Perez told the students, provoking laughter.
The actors made it easier to understand what happened at the Alamo because they spoke in terms the students understood, said 12-year-old Sarah Badillo.
"Their stories were so realistic, it felt like you were actually there," she said.
Kathryn Moore, 12, said she learned a lot of details from the actors that she otherwise wouldn't have known - that the guns used in the film were real, the costumes were so elaborate that they took 20 minutes to put on and that the movie took longer than just a couple of weeks to film.
"Not many kids get to get into the real details of the Alamo," Kathryn said. "It's a lot more than just a fight that happened in the history books."
Kyle Jones, a Texas history teacher, also showed the students two segments of bonus footage from the DVD. Jonas Suber, 12, said he liked watching the movie and bonus footage because it made what happened seem more real.
"You can always read and look at pictures, but the movie shows what happened and people talking," Jonas said. "There's no narrator, just actual people playing the part."
Jones said he thought the program would be a good way for the students to learn about the battle for the Alamo.
"It's meshing history and Hollywood together," Jones said. "As a teacher, you have to compete with iPods and video games. In order to keep the students' attention, we've got to do the flash and pop and bam."
• Arena Welch's e-mail address is arena.welch@theeagle.com.
History meets Hollywood for local students
By ARENA WELCH
Eagle Staff Writer
When Cid Galindo and Joe Perez arrived at Premiere Cinema in a limousine Friday, excitement buzzed through the group of seventh-graders waiting to enter the Bryan theater.
As the Sam Rayburn Middle School students shuffled inside, their excitement grew. But all of the talk and rowdiness ended when the program, "Alamo Day 2007," began.
Cid Galindo tells Sam Rayburn student Casey Skalaban, 12, of Bryan a story about the filming of the movie The Alamo while signing autographs Friday morning at Premiere Cinema in Bryan.
Gregg Dimmick, an avocational archaeologist who studied the 1836 marches by the Mexican army, told the students about artifacts he had discovered in Wharton, where he lives.
"History is all around you," Dimmick told the students. "It's fascinating how it can jump up and grab you."
About 400 seventh-graders from Sam Rayburn attended the program in two shifts Friday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The students had been watching The Alamo in class.
Galindo and Perez, who were extras in the movie, answered questions about their experiences playing a Tejano defending the Alamo and a colonel in the Mexican army.
Galindo, a 1981 Bryan High School graduate who lives in Austin, portrayed one of nine Tejano defenders in the film. He noticed that the characters played by extras were unnamed, so he did a little research and made a list of names of men who died defending the Alamo.
"We were just kind of bodies in the background," Galindo said. "But I said, 'No, no. These guys had names.'"
But what the students seemed to want to know was how Perez got to have his picture taken with Billy Bob Thornton, who played Davy Crockett in the film.
Perez, who lives in Los Angeles and owns a popsicle distribution company, said he had heard that Thornton really liked the frozen desserts.
"I ran into him on the set one day, and said, 'Hey, you like popsicles?'" Perez told the students, provoking laughter.
The actors made it easier to understand what happened at the Alamo because they spoke in terms the students understood, said 12-year-old Sarah Badillo.
"Their stories were so realistic, it felt like you were actually there," she said.
Kathryn Moore, 12, said she learned a lot of details from the actors that she otherwise wouldn't have known - that the guns used in the film were real, the costumes were so elaborate that they took 20 minutes to put on and that the movie took longer than just a couple of weeks to film.
"Not many kids get to get into the real details of the Alamo," Kathryn said. "It's a lot more than just a fight that happened in the history books."
Kyle Jones, a Texas history teacher, also showed the students two segments of bonus footage from the DVD. Jonas Suber, 12, said he liked watching the movie and bonus footage because it made what happened seem more real.
"You can always read and look at pictures, but the movie shows what happened and people talking," Jonas said. "There's no narrator, just actual people playing the part."
Jones said he thought the program would be a good way for the students to learn about the battle for the Alamo.
"It's meshing history and Hollywood together," Jones said. "As a teacher, you have to compete with iPods and video games. In order to keep the students' attention, we've got to do the flash and pop and bam."
• Arena Welch's e-mail address is arena.welch@theeagle.com.
