Were Any Of You 'Extras' In "Gettysburg"?

PlowKing

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It's almost 20 yrs. since Ted Turner's production of "Gettysburg" was released, and I was just wondering if anyone on this board was an extra in that movie. It seems that they needed literally thousands of extras for that movie. Or did any of you know anyone who was an extra / re-enactor? I'd love to hear the stories.
 
I was not an extra myself, though I once went on a tour with a battlefield guide who was, and he told a couple of stories.

There is a scene early in the movie where Confederate officers, mounted on horseback, are discussing what to do next as what appears to be an endless stream of extras dressed as infantrymen passes by behind them. The guide was one of the infantrymen in the background.

The guide said that there were supposed to be hundreds of extras to participate in that scene, but when it came time for the shooting, only about 50 had shown up.

So the director simply had them march in a circle - behind the mounted officers, around behind the cameras, back behind the officers again, and so on.

The guide said he recognized his own straw hat passing through the picture three or four times during that scene.

Then, later in the movie, there is a scene where Martin Sheen as General Lee rides past the troops preparing for Pickett's charge. On the screen, you see all the extras (this time, many more than fifty) cheering wildly, and you hear "Lee! Lee!" over and over again.

When the scene was shot, the extras were told to cheer as loudly and enthusiastically as they could, but they were also told that the sound would actually be dubbed in later. They could yell anything they wanted to, since what they actually yelled would not be heard in the movie.

So when you watch that scene and you see those extras cheering, half of them are actually yelling "Tastes great!" and the other half are yelling "Less filling!" :smile:
 
I know a guy who was an extra. He's in his 70's now. One story he told me was that when they weren't filming, Martin Sheen was leading protests for whatever cause he espoused at the time.

He also said that the scene where Sheen rode past the troops and everyone started chanting "Lee", "Lee", was entirely spontaneous. Not my words - his.
 
One time when I was travelling across, Iowa and stopped a a recreation of something or other, I got to converse with an artilleryman who had a six-pounder. He knew what I was thinking before I said it. Yeah. The Union didn't have six-pounders, We played Confederates.

So, somewhere in that Confederate lineup, he was there.

Those reenactors didn't get paid. They maybe, at best, got fed. But I'll bet that everyone of them enjoyed the hell out of it.
 
I was an extra in the movie - my unit, the 1st Mississippi Light Artillery, traveled by van from Mississippi to Gettysburg for the filming of the Pickett's charge scene - it was amazing! The very first day of filming we were in the military park, recreating Pickett's charge on the very spot that it happened. While we did not get paid for being extras, we did get reimbursed for the expense of hauling a cannon over 1,ooo miles. We also got medals, a certificate of appreciation, and a small print depicting Pickett's Charge. During the course of the filming I also got to meet Martin Sheen, who was really nice - he went out of his way to talk with us and sign autographs. One day after filming we were out sightseeing and stopped at the Cashtown Inn to look around. While we were standing on the porch, Sam Elliott walked out from inside. He was very friendly, and talked with us for a few minutes. One of my friends told him, "We sure are glad you are in the movie, but we wish you were playing a Confederate." He replied, "If it was for real, I would be."
I have a good many photographs I took while the filming was going on - if anyone would like to see them, I would be happy to post some.
 
I was an extra. We were called " Background artists". Back in Sept. of 92 I was able to grab 3 days off from work. I went with a buddy out to Gettysburg to be in the movie. It was supposed to be called the Killer Angels after the novel, and it was supposed to be made for the TNT network as a 3 night mini series. Reportedly Ted Turner was so impressed with the shooting, he decided to put it on the big screen. My friend had made all the arrangements for us to participate in the shooting schedule. He was fortunate enough to have also been out there earlier in the summer to do the Picketts Charge scenes. When I went out, they were doing Chamberlain and the 20th Maine. We also only had about 50 - 60 guys doing the scene as well, they constantly juggled us around to look like we had greater numbers. Between the shots were were able to socialize with the actors. Got my picture taken with Jeff Daniels and also C Thomas Howell. In Gods & Generals ( which I also was able to get into ) they kind of restricted Jeff Daniels from fraternizing with us because they said he was prone to forgetting his lines. When the movie was completed we were sent A baseball hat, a t-shirt, a copy of the movie ( VHS at that time ) and a set of discharge papers. I still have all of this stuff. BTW, the ball cap and t-shirt have Killer Angels printed on them instead of Gettysburg. We slept in a tent in a separate area and fed us 3 meals a day from the craft services.
 
I just started in reenacting when they filmed for the movie. My friends got me outfitted out, we drove to the filming, filmed one day and had to leave because my friends daughter got in a car accident. Almost all of our company was in the movie except for me. But it was fun for the one day i was there and part of the next. Kept doing the same thing over and over and then sitting around for hours.
 
One time when I was travelling across, Iowa and stopped a a recreation of something or other, I got to converse with an artilleryman who had a six-pounder. He knew what I was thinking before I said it. Yeah. The Union didn't have six-pounders, We played Confederates.

So, somewhere in that Confederate lineup, he was there.

Those reenactors didn't get paid. They maybe, at best, got fed. But I'll bet that everyone of them enjoyed the hell out of it.
Ole, There is a guy sitting on the grass while Chamberlain is giving his speech to the 2nd Maine that looks exacttly like you, I thought for sure you were in the movie
 
I was an extra in the movie - my unit, the 1st Mississippi Light Artillery, traveled by van from Mississippi to Gettysburg for the filming of the Pickett's charge scene - it was amazing! The very first day of filming we were in the military park, recreating Pickett's charge on the very spot that it happened. While we did not get paid for being extras, we did get reimbursed for the expense of hauling a cannon over 1,ooo miles. We also got medals, a certificate of appreciation, and a small print depicting Pickett's Charge. During the course of the filming I also got to meet Martin Sheen, who was really nice - he went out of his way to talk with us and sign autographs. One day after filming we were out sightseeing and stopped at the Cashtown Inn to look around. While we were standing on the porch, Sam Elliott walked out from inside. He was very friendly, and talked with us for a few minutes. One of my friends told him, "We sure are glad you are in the movie, but we wish you were playing a Confederate." He replied, "If it was for real, I would be."
I have a good many photographs I took while the filming was going on - if anyone would like to see them, I would be happy to post some.

Great stories!!! Please post them. :smile:
 
I know a guy who was an extra. He's in his 70's now. One story he told me was that when they weren't filming, Martin Sheen was leading protests for whatever cause he espoused at the time.

He also said that the scene where Sheen rode past the troops and everyone started chanting "Lee", "Lee", was entirely spontaneous. Not my words - his.


Hard to believe that Gettysburg is also 20 years old now.
 
Just watched it again including the credits to look for names that I'm now more familiar with. That was quite a list of reenactor units! I was dissapointed for some reason that it was in numerical order rather than by state and then by number.
 
I did student teaching with a guy whose reenactment group was in Pickett's Charge. I can tell you pretty much where he was, and the scene where you can definitely see him. He pretty much echoed the sentiments above. Went on and on about going to Gettysburg and sleeping on the ground for three days. At the time I thought he must be nuts. Now I envy him.
 
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