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Spoilers May Be Below!
Page 40
Spoilers May Be Below!
From The PostCrescent
Oshkosh museum gets 'Public Enemies' propsBy Crystal Lindell Gannett Wisconsin Media April 30, 2008
OSHKOSH Most of the "Public Enemies" set displays may have been taken off the buildings in downtown Oshkosh, but at least a few are around town.
AdvertisementBrad Larson, Oshkosh Public Museum director, is working with the film production company to get various prop pieces from the local filming of "Public Enemies" the 1930s-era gangster film staring Johnny Depp for display at the museum.
Dave Fulton, the film's publicist, said the museum will be getting parts of the 1930s-era Walgreen set, which was used to cover The Exclusive Company, 311 N. Main street, and a picture signed by principal cast members, including Depp.
"One of the responsibilities of the museum is to record and preserve major events that occur in this community and clearly having 'Public Enemies' in this town is a major event," Larson said. "It's something that people, I dare say, will remember for many generations."
During filming, part of Algoma Boulevard and Main, Market and Washington streets were closed and decorated to look like a 1930s-era downtown, complete with fake cobblestone streets, old-fashioned awnings and storefront windows filled with 1930s merchandise.
Fulton said film crews usually aren't able to leave props behind because they are either rented or reused, but this was something Oshkosh requested.
"We did have a good time there," he said.
Larson said he still is in talks with "Public Enemies" staffers to see whether there are additional items that the museum might be able to get.
"If we have enough artifacts, then we could put together an exhibition," he said.
From The Northwestern
Commentary: Being Public Enemy "extra" a real eye-opener to method of moviesBy Brian Binder
So Johnny Depp looks up then asks me "Are you cold?"
I went to the extras casting call with friends, but never really thought I'd hear anything back. Saturday April 5th I got a call on my mobile that came up as unavailable so I let it go to voicemail. Then my land line rings. "Hmm...someone really wants to get in touch with me."
"Hello?"
"Hi, Brian? This is casting for Public Enemies, would you be able to film this week?"
Seriously, me!? Wow! I was totally floored! That Monday, I had to go in for hair and costume. Then, I'd be in a scene on Friday as a reporter.
Monday morning I went in and tried on different shirts, pants and jackets until they thought I had the perfect combo, then I waited for my haircut. Most of the other guys didn't get it too bad, but I felt the clippers tight against the sides of my scalp and feared the worst. A quick look in the mirror afterward confirmed it. I got whitewalls! Ah, it's only hair, and it's growing back.
I had to call in Thursday night for the time and location of the shoot. When I called, the location was Wittman Regional Airport, but the time was still up in the air. One of the things I was learning about the movie industry was that things happen last minute and are subject to change at a moment's notice
Friday morning I called back and was told to be there by 11 a.m., and when I showed up, it was already packed. I checked in, found my friend Chad, grabbed some food not knowing when we'd eat next and waited. Everything seemed very disorganized and chaotic, but there was some method to the madness. Hair and makeup gave us the once over. Then, we got called by number for our costumes.
Around 2 p.m., they rounded up the reporters, we piled into vans and were driven to the Basler Flight Services hanger. People along the fence were waving at us like we were famous. It was starting to feel really surreal. They split our group in half. I was now one of eight photographers and went thru training with 1930s-era cameras. The scene involved John Dillinger landing at Chicago, and we were in the crowd waiting for his arrival. There were over 100 extras including a line of Chicago police holding everyone back, detectives, reporters and photographers, general onlookers and what they called "deep background" people.
Johnny Depp's stand-in did the rehearsals on the ground and his stunt double went on the plane when it flew. It was very cool seeing the Experimental Aircraft Association's Ford Tri-Motor airplane flying and being circled by a helicopter filming it. They filmed a landing scene and some overhead crowd shots then we had a little down time. All of a sudden, there was a buzz, Johnny was on set! Everyone was looking at him, but we were told numerous times to respect his privacy so no one bothered him.
By then, it was about 6 p.m., it was starting to rain, the temperature was dropping and we were shooting the real thing. They fired up the motors on the plane, the door opened and out came Dillinger with detectives. More detectives met them planeside, then brought him thru the crowd to the motorcade.
Between takes Johnny was standing within five feet of me, he had two assistants, one had an umbrella and the other draped a coat over him. I'm felt cold in a heavy wool coat. He was only wearing a long sleeve shirt and pants so he must have really been feeling it.
We did about 20 takes, trying to get just the right shot. They stopped one halfway thru. Johnny was close to me. He looked up then asked me if I was cold. "Whoa, did Johnny Depp just talk to me?"
Soon, it was 9 p.m., and had been raining all night so we were soaked. While it was a unique experience, most of us just wanted it to be over so we could sit down and get warm. I was wet, I was cold and my feet hurt from standing for such a long time. After a few more takes, they ran out of flares used to light the scene, and we were done. Back to Wittman to change, eat and sign out. I got out of there a bit before 11pm, so, yeah, it was a long day.
Everyone asked if I got to see or meet Johnny. Yes, and it was cool to see him that close. But I was more impressed with everything that happens behind the scenes. I couldn't believe all the people involved. There were hundreds of crew members, and they were incredibly nice to the extras. Going in, I thought we would just be peons, but the crew made everyone feel appreciated on set.
You have this idea in your head that making movies is very glamorous, but that's not the case, it's actually a lot of hard work. This one scene will be 20 seconds in the movie. It took over six hours to complete.
I don't know if I'll make it into the movie or not. But it was still an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Brian Binder grew up on the Southside and is a life-long resident of Oshkosh. He is a graduate of UWO and works at J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.
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