We've
seen the serious side to the movie, now lets see some funnies and bloopers
made while
they filmed the movie. I'm told that Mel has a great sense of humor and
sometimes it's a bit
bizzare. The following are some stories told by some of the actors, extras,
and re-enactors. If
any of you have anything you could add to this page please contact me at
patriot2000girl@hotmail.com
Ok guys hang on to your tummies while you laugh at some of the tension breakers.
From
Zach
Today
was my day to die on "The Patriot." We spent most of the day shooting
wide angle shots of Mel running up a hill beating the crap out of several
people and once he reaches the top, he pulls his pistol and shoots me in
the chest. Before he reaches the mark to shoot, he has to punch a stunt
guy several times. The first take everything was perfect. The second,
he lost
his pistol in the fight and the director yelled cut. The third time around,
he lost it again and proceeded to pull this rubber tomahawk from his belt
and run at me screaming and hitting himself in the head with it. Once he
got to me, he daintily touched me on the hat with it like a fairy godmother
and I promptly fell like a sack of potatoes, laughing all the way.
He was a
great guy and I had the more fun on this film than on any project I've
ever done.
A
New One From The Highlander!!!!!!!!!!!
We
were filming the Cowpens Battle one day when the temp. was around 25 degrees.
All of
the
Militia were standing in line. The crew were all bundeled up in coats,
hats, and gloves. We
were
wearing just our costumes and we were freezing. I was wondering if
I would ever get the
feeling back in my fingers, and toes. Mel came walking down the line to
get to his starting
mark. Glen, who was standing beside me said " Hello Mel." Mel
said " Hi guys. How are you
doing?"
To which I replied "Cold!" Mel said "You're d--n right it's f-----g
cold!" He walked a couple
of
steps further, turned, came back and said "You know what you guys should
do? You should
take off all of your clothes, and run around." We gave him a look
like "Yeah right!' He said
"You've
got to mess with these people's heads. Keep them off balance." then
he walked away.
I was standing there thinking " If Mel Gibson took off his clothes and
ran around it would be
very
funny". Not to mention a great oppurtunity to get a picture that
the tabloids would pay a
fortune for. "But, if we extras were to take off our clothes, we
would be fired, and escorted off the set."
From
The Highlander
During
the filming at the Fort Carolina location there was a scene where
Mel
and Jason confront each other as Mel is leaving the fort. Mel has
walked in under a flag of truce so, Jason can not harm him. Jason
tries to provoke Mel into striking him first by saying a line that went
something like this: " You! So, you're the ghost are you? I recognise
you from that farm, and that stupid little boy. Did he die?
I hope so!" They did several takes of this scene. After about the
5th or 6th take, Jason walks up to Mel and says "You! So you're the
ghost are you? You know I don't usually go for the lads, but you
are a dashed good looking fellow." Mel, and everyone within earshot cracked
up.
While we were filming the Cowpens battle the militia, and colonial soldiers
had to run up a very steep hill over and over again. We ran up the
same hill every day for over a week. As a result of all the running
the grass on the hillside became very slick. The boots and shoes
that most of us were wearing had slick bottoms with no tread whatsoever.
People
would try to run on "action" and have to slip and slide while trying to
get traction. On one take I am running up the hill when I hear someone
to my right exclaim " F- - - this S - - - !" I look over and see
Mel, who has slipped and stumbeled to his knees. He got up, turned
and walked out of the shot. A few seconds later "cut" was called.
We all got a break for a few minutes before the next take. When Mel returned
something about his boots looked odd. It
turns
out that wardrobe had cut the soles out of the boots, and Mel was wearing
the boot tops over a pair of hiking shoes. The supporting actors didn't
get treatment as special as that. They all had sand paper glued to
the bottom of their boots. As for the poor extras, we had to continue
slipping.
From
Chuck
Martin's
Militia running from the British charge dives to the ground in front of
the American line. The Continentals fire into the British and then
instead of yelling "prime and load" which is the appropriate command, the
actor Chris Cooper yells "lock and load" (which is OK for Platoon).
Later in the same scene, the Americans are charging up the hill behind Ben Martin into the British. On one take as we run up the hill, the directors yell their now famous "Cuuuuttt, cut, cut...". We stop and somebody to my right asks why we were stopped so fast. I reply that maybe we got there too quickly. Someone to my left says "No...I forgot to go!" I turned my head and right beside me was Mel. He had simply forgotten to run.
At the Yorktown set, George Washington enters the fort with his entourage of mounted officers. A camera is set up on a dolley on a track and as it rolls down the track the soldiers on the ramparts are to follow the camera which is seeing Gen. Washington's viewpoint. One of the crew tapes a dollar bill on to a pole and then holds it above the camera. Everybody then watches "George" go by.
During
the filming in the millet field in September, the American and British
lines advance towards each other amid explosions and then fire at each
other. After one particular take, we turn around to go back to our
starting point and regroup. I take off my cocked hat and notice that
there are white flecks on it. I brush them off and am puzzled by
how they got there. The special effects guys repack the explosion
pots and we do the next take. As we move towards the British line
something streaks just over our heads, hits the ground about 50 feet ahead
of us, tumbles another 20 feet toward an explosion pot, and then the pot
blows up. WOW! The effect was spectacular but we were startled.
We still moved forward and fired at the British and then we heard "cut".
We started talking excitedly about the thing that flew over our heads.
As we walked back to the starting point again, I found "the thing".
It was the remnants of a bag of Gold Medal flour. Apparently, the special
effects guys were firing bags of flour out of the
cannons
to give the effect of billowing smoke. This particular bag of flour just
didn't completely disintegrate. One of the special effects guys gave
us a wry smile and said "Aw, it wouldn't hurt you if it hit you".
Right!....let him get hit with one.
In November, we got to watch some of the "dailies" which were raw footage of various scenes. In one, the camera is on the long boom and it moves in front of the British line as they advance across the ground. Very impressive until you see one British soldier fall right on his face, get up, and then immediately fall on his face again. This time he stayed down. Hillarious!
From our own Darklord
In this scene Mel is talking to Joey and some guys are loading a wagon
right behind Joey. Mel tells Joey that he can't pay for the stuff
and Joey says pay what you can when you can. Meanwhile Heath and Lisa are
over to Mel's left talkin and making gaa gaa faces at each other.
Heath being Mel's son, Joey says "He sure takes after you" or something
like that and they Joke about something. Then Mel says something
about time to go and looks over to
Heath and says "Corproral, take your time." Then the kiss scene will
be inserted and Heath runs and jumps on his horse. It was kinda funny
on one take Mel has a little trouble getting on his horse and then Heath
comes runnin over, steps up on a stone step, then up onto the hitchin post
and jumps right up on his horse. Mel looked over at him and
said f--- you. hehe.
I can relate to the blooper that Chuck sent. In that take I was working
the
cannon second from camera left. The guys to my left shot the
bag of flour. As I recall it hit or almost hit one of the Blue Dragoons
horses. I think the guy got a little hot about it, but hey, we didn't
pack 'em, we just shot 'em. We did have a good laugh about it though.......
Then I think we went to sleep for a day or two.
Another something that was quite amusing: a lack of *facilities*
if you get my meaning. The nearest porta john was quite a hike away,
so during the course of the day people would turn around and take a few
steps out into the field and do their business. And makeup /wardrobe
/some reenactor women just walking around. I guess if ya gotta
go.......
From
Libertyboy
While we were preparing to film the scene
when Mel rides onto the field with the flag to encourage the defeated American
troops...Mel waited on his horse in front of our company. Listening to
his 'small-talk' with a horse-handler was very amusing! "This F--king
horse won't move!" , and "These F--king stirrups are F--king uneven!",
he stated as he
smoked a Marlboro.
The same day, just before lunch, Mel grabbed a bullhorn to address us (
soldiers) while out on the set. [ In the reinactor camp the supply
of firewood had run out. We were afraid to go into the swamp to get wood
because some quicksand had claimed the life of one of the cowboy's horses
in September. There were a few other complaints, including the lack of
porta-potty breaks. In general, there was increasing signs of a mutiny
in the Continental ranks. Guys all around me were starting to bitch and
grumble about unfair treatment.] "I hear you guy's are still
out of firewood in camp, and have been pissing your pants while in the
ranks because you're not getting enough breaks!" he acknowledged, and continued..."well,
I'll make sure everything is taken care of. I also want to announce that
tonight in basecamp in the catering tent, we are going to show you guys
a screening of some completed scenes, including the battle we shot in Setember!
The scene where the soldier's head is shot off by the
cannonball is F--KING COOL!!! I would like to thank you all for participating.
You are a very important part of this movie."
Every morning in base-camp we were rudely awoken by fife and drum at 3:15
a.m. Seldom did we get more than four hours sleep each night after working
14-16 hour days. When we were through makeup, everyone hung around
the catering tent drinking as much hot coffee as possible. Besides being
extremely tired, some mornings dipped to 25 degrees F., and we froze our
butts off! It was necessary to get as much caffeine pumping through
our veins as possible. Several 10 gallon plastic coffee urns were
drained by us every morning. After a two mile hump to the Cowpens Battlefield
set, most of us (500-800 soldiers) had to 'go to the bathroom' really
bad! The nearest porta-johns were over two hundred yards away, set up behind
the camera lines. So as you might suspect, we just walked about 30 feet
behind the
battle line formation and emptied our swollen bladders onto the field.
At any one moment, there were at least a half dozen guys whizzing into
'the wind'. A few female P.A.s bitched about it, but we told them we didn't
have much choice--the porta-johns were to far away. We apologized, and
told them they weren't required to watch, anyhow! None of us gave it much
thought, besides, several officer's horses added gallons of additional
'waste-water' and mounds of crap where ever they pleased! When it was time
to film the first 'take' of the day, the stunt coordinator went down the
ranks to pick Continental soldiers who were to fall down as casualties
after being over-run by the British, and forcing us to retreat up the hill.
He
picked me to be one of them, but I made up an excuse. There was no way
I was going to lay on the urine-saturated field behind us! After 'action'
was called out, and on cue, I broke and began running up the hill. And
wouldn't you know it...I tripped over an FX detonation wire, and fell flat
on my face onto the 'wet' grass! All I could do was to laugh quietly
over my misfortune. When 'cut' was called, I sat up and reminded the 'casualty'
next to me what we were laying in. "Oh, Shit!" he responded. I corrected
his choice of words by replying...."No, it's PISS!!!!!
From
Brenton
There was a funny moment on the set, When
Heath and Mel were walking and Mel says "where did you learn that riding
and shooting," and Heath says "from my father." Well Mel messed up his
lines and said "where did you learn all that riding and SHITTING,(instead
of shooting) and then added "and how to screw up your lines?" Heath cracked
and
couldnt continue. It was pretty funny that day.
There was also one part where Jason was on his horse and they were filming one scene and the horse had to go so..you know it did! It was hilarious, Jason said "Hollywood or not, when you gotta go, you gotta go!" Just thought I would share those with you. Well thanks everyone.
If anyone has seen the blooper reel they have seen this, but we were filming the scene for the Cowpens battle scene they were using me as part of the hero band I think thats what they called it. It was supposedly a group of soilders who had shown great bravery in the war, anyway we were marching up the hill and there was a camera over head, one of the DA's come by and told us it was the same camera used in Godzilla, well when we were marching in the middle of the shot they swung it by us and someone hollered "Run!! Its Godzilla" so we all started running back down the hill. Everyone cracked up and just couldnt stop laughing, In fact I could have swore Roland cracked a smile.
Hey Annie, well we all have picked on Mel and Jason about their bloopers
but you wouldnt believe the things that happened to the extras. One day
we were filming a scene at the Continential camp and Mel and Roland were
viewing shots on the director's screens and Roland said he wanted to redo
one scene and just left Mel hanging, I was standing as close as I could,
you know its not everyday you stand by a legend like Mel, well if you remember
we
were told not to say anything or talk to them before a shot and they told
us that we could get in trouble for it, well Roland walked off and Mel
looked around and said "Well what am I supposed to do?" And this one extra
standing by him slapped him, and I dont mean lightly, this guy wacked him
on the arm and said, "stick with me man I'll show you what to do", Mel
just kinda grinned and walked off, you should have seen all the DA's and
everybody crowd around
that
guy and blessed him out, I dont think he ever came back. Boy gives you
an idea of all real brilliant ones we had out there.
From Carolina Fifer
Another View of the Godzilla Crane Camera
(you can find a picture of this camera on Bob's site "The
Making of the Patriot")
On Roland's birthday, the Continentals were asked to joke with Roland by
recreating a scene from Godzilla. We were asked to march down the
hill until given a cue ("Godzilla", I think, was the cue).
Upon hearing the cue we all turned and looked up at the camera with arms
held over our heads like the scene in Godzilla and ran away screaming.
Roland got a big kick out of it saying something like "What is this?
This is not what I wanted." Then, the Panther cheerleaders
came out and gave him a birthday cheer. The British added their own
humor by "mooning"
everyone
on the hillside.
During the early part of the filming of the Battle Of Cowpens (before the British were drawn down the hill past the ruins into the trap set by Martin) Mel ended one take of him riding up to the line on horseback by stating that he hated horses. He then took the rubber musket and held it by his teeth, held the tomahawk in one out-stretched hand and a knife in the other. I hope that someone took a picture of that as it really looked cool and broke some tension that was building on the set.
Sometime during that sequence of shots, I had one of my Mel moments.
Mel was walking from the set to where Roland and the set monitors were.
I was playing a tune on my fife with my back to Mel when one of the guys
in the Hero company (a company of Continentals all shot up and covered
with bandages) told me to look out. I looked over my shoulder and
stopped playing as I saw Mel poised with his tomahawk ready to bury it
in my back. He said,
in a Braveheart/Patriot voice, "I don't like that music" and raised the
tomahawk higher. I replied "I am sorry, I didn't know that the music
bothered you". Mel patted my shoulder and said "Actually, I think
it sounds cool" and walked over to where Roland was. Unfortunately,
I can't find anyone who may have taken a picture of that.
You
may find a story behind one of the pictures (Mel Gibson Pictures # 25)
on your web site interesting. The picture shows Mel standing in front
of a close-up camera as seen through a couple of Continentals, who, by
the way, were members of the Hero Company. When given the cue "Mel,
Action", Mel, at first, did nothing. After repeatedly doing nothing
after being given his cue, Mel finally asked "What action? What do you
want me to do?" It appears that the
directors
placed Mel without telling him what to do. I took a picture of the
scene which looks almost identical to the one on your page.
During the filming of the Battle of Camden in September 1999, the human needs of the reenactors and extras (water, bathroom breaks, a chance to sit down out of the shade) were almost totally ignored. It took a couple of medical emergencies before the production assistants were instructed to "water us down" between every take of a scene that we were doing.
Prior to the medical emergencies we were moved from one spot to another repeatedly so that the directors and producers could visualize camera angles. We were moved to one spot. "No that doesn't look good - try another spot. No that didn't work - go back to the first spot." After being moved about over and over again, while dreaming about water, the reenactors and extras began referring to themselves as "BIOPROPS".
From The Bear
Another view of the "Godzilla Crane Camera"
A pratical joke that the directors pulled on Mel Gibson and the French General (Chucky), was a scene we had practice numerous times of us walking up a hill and we formed ranks. Mel Gibson and the General would ride up the hill on horses and form up with us. Well after we had practiced it and had it down, Mel and the General were down the hill waiting for the scene to start. One of the assistant directors came over to all of us and told us that the director had done "GODZILLA", and he wanted us to do the following. He told us that there was a boom crane camera behind us approximately 30-40 feet off the ground and that when Mel and the General came up to form ranks, they would yell out "GODZILLA LIVES". He wanted the whole rank to turn look up at the camera like Godzilla was going to eat us. He wanted us to scream, throw our hands up, etc. Well we formed ranks, Mel and the General come through on there horses and just when Mel is ready to say something, you heard in the background "GODZILLA LIVES". Annie, it was great and all of the reenactors did a fantastic job of screaming, yelling, etc.and everyone including Mel got a good laugh out of it. Hopefully they will have it at the end of the movie as an out take.
Thanks to Sharon for this one
A couple of funny stories from Bill
" The Dragoon uniforms were, to be precise, green and red. They were concerned
that the audience would not know the difference, so they made the uniforms
red with large green lapels. They kinda looked like Christmas Elves. In
fact on several occasions when they would ride past us, the infantry would
break out into singing Jingle Bells, it was quite comical.
BIll
Speaking of Jason Isaacs
He also knows how to have fun on the set.
In one particular scene we were filming, Tavington is sitting on his horse
while Martin (Gibson) is pleading with him not to order the hanging of
a continental soldier. Martin pleads "Please, by the rules of war you cannot..."
At this point Tavington is supposed to draw his pistol and point it at
Martin and ask "Would you like a lesson in the rules of war?" But just
as he draws and points his pistol, the horse he is on turns its head
and
now Jason has the pistol pointed right into the side of the horse's head.
Without missing a step, Jason exclaims "Now see what happened? You've got
me so pissed off I'm gonna shoot
my
own f***ing horse!" That absolutely brought the house down!! It took a
solid 5-10 minutes for everyone to regain their composure!!"
This from the Corona Coming Attractions site
February 2, 2000... A new anonymous scooper tapped us on the shoulder and told us this:
"The wrap party for the North Carolina shooting crew of The Patriot was held two Fridays ago, January 21, 2000. It was held in a night club in Charleston, NC.(I can't remember the name). (pssst...... tell this guy it's SOUTH CAROLINA!!!!) Supposedly the editing crew edited together a 15 minute blooper reel that they showed to the cast and crew that night. The first blooper was a slow motion shot of Mel Gibson running with the revolutionary flag and then tripping up... the huge flag slowly fluttering down upon him.
My Own
You
all know about my "passion" for this movie..*L*...I was the same way at
work, where I met a LOT of the public. While they were filming "The Patriot"
here, everyone who darkened our door knew about my "passion" and my love
for the one and ONLY Mel. Everyone was so nice to me, and contributed to
my photo album very generously. One day a friend who works at the newspaper
came in. In a VERY secretive voice he told me he had a picture I just HAD
to have for my collection. It was sooooo great that I just have to share
that picture with all you. Click on the link below to view my WONDERFUL
PICTURE.
