The Movie Life

Woodlawn

Rated PG for racial tension and mild violence

You can watch the trailer for this movie here.

This adventure started for us back on November 2, 2014.  We spent at least 8 hours being Extras for countless days. . . We stopped counting after 8 days. :)

On the very first day we were on set, the make-up/wardrobe crew and the directors "loved [Matt's] look", and they wanted him to be in the movie.  That's the last we heard of that though.

About a month later, our family got an email to attend one more scene to be extras.  We almost didn't do it, because at that point we had already done countless scenes, spending countless hours, staying on set until 2am countless nights, and were were just plain old tired.  On a Saturday morning, an hour before the scene, we decided, what the hay, we'll do it.  So we all ran around trying to find an outfit that looked 70's-ish, jumped in the car and did one last scene. Who would've guessed that that one last scene would've given us the opportunity to meet and chat with John Voight for 15 minutes?!?! AND would've given Matt his first ever acting role in a movie (his childhood dream!)?!?  Well it did!

We saw chunks of the movie on April 1st.  We were all in clips of it.  It was so exciting to see us on the big screen!!

This past Saturday (Aug 29), we attended the Red Carpet Premiere at the BJCC in Birmingham, AL.  I would classify this as an experience, not just going to see a movie.  There was cheering, clapping, flashlights, etc.  What an experience!

Here's to the end of me blabbing about it and to the start of the pictures. . . .

ON SET

(In no particular order)

The bus burning and riots - this scene took hours to shoot, but only takes a few seconds in the movie.

This is the police car that I was standing behind.  Again, it is only seen in the movie for a split second.

Waiting for our scene.  As an extra, you do this A LOT. :)

Matt posing with his "son" (in the movie).

The cast's chairs.  Nope, Matt didn't get one. tee hee

Again, waiting.  That's what we did!

This is Caleb Castille's stunt double (Tony Nathan in the movie)

This night was FREEZING!!! We had to take off our coats and hats for each scene because we were pretending it was August.

Us and the creepy dummies

They loved his look... I did not.  I couldn't wait until he shaved!!

This is how they make it rain in the movies.

The make-up/wardrobe lady came running out of her trailer to grab a hold of Matt and tell him that she loved his look.  She told him that she couldn't have done it better herself.  What a nice compliment!

There were so many of these trailers full of props and wardrobe.

This night was FREEZING! (again ;) It was Dec 6th) Another 'summer' scene.

I'm smiling here only because my teeth were chattering and I couldn't close my mouth. lol (jk)

Joy Brunson (Johnnie in the movie)

This was right after Matt did his scene.  We are with Andy Erwin (one of the directors)

This was at the end of the LAX scenes (along with another extra).  John Voight is one of the nicest people I've ever met!  He insisted on getting his picture taken with us.  The directors wanted us to clear the building, but John insisted getting his pic with us first.  He also talked to our boys for at least 10-15 minutes.  Oh, and this whole scene got cut out of the movie. :(

The kids very first bus ride. The driver didn't know where to take us, so he started driving to the wrong set. (There are multiple sets going on at one time.)

But Matt saved the day!  He went up to the bus driver and told him he was going the wrong way.  We ended up turning around and going to our LAX scene.

Our 70s child

These are extras that we saw so many times on set.  Barry and Rhonda

Andy Erwin (co-director)

John Erwin (co-director, screenplay)

These are the stairs where the boys and I talked to John Voight, mostly the boys.

Our picture with one of the actors (can't remember his name), but this whole scene got cut. :(

A pic of the movie stars right before Matt's debut.

Not the most flattering picture of me. . . getting my make-up put on at about 5am

In the trailer, you actually see Matt and I in the background.  In the beginning stages of the movie, you saw us close up.  In the final product, well, we know who we are in the scene. You'll have to buy the movie, and pause it, and then you might see us. ;)

I met this sweet fellow extra at the school stabbing scene.  Natalie and I after a long day of shooting.

All of us teachers

We finally got to meet Kevin Downes (after the teacher/firefighter scenes)

Like father/like son

Enjoying time with my sweet girl on set (with a bunch of dummies) ;)

We weren't sure if we were going to meet Kevin Downes, so we found this dummy look alike. hehe

On night one, the boys had to go up and down the stairs many times.  The phrase "Back to One" became a huge hit with the kids.  It was (and is) used frequently at our house with the kids.  Gavin was huge on 'being in character' in this pic and would get upset any time one of his brothers would talk about anything that was not from the 70s.  He's so method. ;)

POST PRODUCTION

He got his t-shirt in the mail!!

Proud actor.  Official cast member.

The first viewing we had in April.  The viewing where all of us were actually in the movie... 

Matt & I before they began showing us clips

The Wrap-Up party was for cast and crew only.  Matt and I went, but a lot of the people there knew us as the extras.  So we got a lot of looks of "What are they doing here?"  Awkward. ha!  But hey, we got free food, talked to some of our favorite make-up and wardrobe people (who referred to us as their favorite on-set family), and chatted with the directors.  It was quite the experience!!

Karaoke going on behind us.  No we didn't participate - that would've broken up the party real quick. :)

On our way to the BJCC for the premiere of Woodlawn (We borrowed a neighbor's van so we could all ride together)

After getting our tickets and entering the BJCC

Me and the kiddos eager to see ourselves on the big screen!

All dressed up (which never happens anymore!) and eager to see him on the big screen.  His actual part only lasted about 3 seconds.  But, he's officially an actor!!  So who cares! LOL

There's his name in the credits!!! (Look 2/3rds the way down)  And with the part of the scene that they left in the movie, I would've called him the "rude fan" not "racist fan".

The cast and crew that was present at the premiere up on stage after the movie.

Tony Nathan's coach in the movie

Matt with the Cinematographer.  For those of you who know him, this was a big deal!!

Matt with the assistant coach (in the movie)

Waiting to go on the Red Carpet, which ended up not happening.  It started to rain and they had to cancel it. :(

Excited to see their scenes.

Getting some time with my girlie before the movie. :)

And that's a wrap!